Cats are wonderful companions, but like humans, they can experience stress, anxiety, and agitation. Whether it’s due to thunderstorms, separation anxiety, a physical illness or the loss of a companion calming down a distressed cat is essential for their well-being.

As the parents of a 4 year old cat we’ve learned a lot over the years. Our boy Romeo gets really anxious during summer thunderstorms. He’ll hide for hours and needs coaxed to come out. When we go on vacation we can hear him calling us with loud meowing for the first 48 hours when checking on him from our security camera. That’s better known as separation anxiety.  These episodes clearly tug on our heart strings.

Here’s 5 Proven Ways to Calm Down a Cat.

1. Create a Calm Environment

We have 3 areas throughout our home just for him. They each have a cozy cat bed or cat-cave that he can use. Each has a few of his favorite things. The area(s) should be quiet and stress-free.

2. Stick to a Routine

Cats are creatures of habit. They like to be fed at the same time every day with the same type of food. They have their own play and sleep schedules too. Stick to your normal feeding, play and sleeping routines as much as possible.

3. Play Time

We schedule play time twice a day for Romeo. Each session lasts about 15 minutes in duration. Since it’s just my wife and I…we each do one of the sessions. If you have kids in the house get them involved in play time with your pet.

To keep play time interesting you need to rotate in and out cat toys. We keep a basket in our hall closet filled with balls, squeeze toys, catnip bags, fishing poles, catnip blowing bubbles and other things. Rotate in and out the cat toys every 5-7 days. Just like kids…cats will get bored when presented with the same things day after day. If you find that your feline friend is feeling stress…time for a play session for distraction.

4. Bonding Time

Nothing will calm down an anxious pet quicker than some one-on-one bonding time with their favorite person in the home. Sit down in a quiet area with your cat for a 10-minute petting session. If they enjoy their tummy rubbed…rub it. If they like their chin scratched, well scratch it. Give that one-on-one petting time and see how quickly their anxiety is relieved.

5. Aromatherapy

One thing our personal vet recommended was aromatherapy. We invested in 2 of those Feline Pheromones Plug-In Diffusers which work great. You can purchase them from Amazon and from various pet stores across the nation. They omit the phermones of a mother cat which helps to calm your kitty. It’s available in spray form too.

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