Chronic stress in cats causes insidious welfare compromise and predisposes to illness, yet its signs are often subtle and easily normalized by owners who mistake stress indicators for personality traits.
Chronic stress represents a pervasive and underappreciated welfare problem in the domestic cat population. Unlike acute stress responses, chronic stress causes subtle behavioral changes that owners normalize over time. The stoic adaptation that serves cats as a prey species conceals significant welfare compromise from untrained observers. Stress-related disease is the symptomatic evidence of welfare compromise that finally prompts veterinary consultation, by which point significant suffering has already occurred. Proactive stress identification through environmental assessment prevents disease and improves the daily welfare experience of cats.