There is no easy way to prep your cats for home renovations, upgrades, and contractors, but you can make them more comfortable.
Today we are sharing tips to help keep your cat calm during home renovations.
Just because your home is chaotic doesn’t mean your cat’s life has to be turned upside down during home renovations or when contractors are working at your home to update a room, fix an air conditioner, etc.
Keeping your cat affected as little as possible by all the commotion is what we are going for, and these are things we do for our cat as we are forever updating and renovating areas of our home.
Overall, some of these tips can be used for cats and dogs.
While some cats are pretty easygoing and don’t mind outsiders coming into their homes, others are territorial and don’t like to have people intrude into their homes and find them a threat.
Hopefully, you will find at least one tip to lessen your cat’s anxiety when you begin renovations or have contractors working in your home.
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Cat Anxiety
Your bathroom is about to get remodeled; a contractor has entered your house. When the contractor has summed up the process and left, your little Ms. or Mr is strutting against your leg, rubbing it, or he or she might be missing.
Suddenly you see her pacing in the hallway repeatedly, or you don’t see her at all.
You need to help your cat cope with remodeling because you have all the precursor warning sides of what will happen.
How To Know If Your Cat Has Cat Anxiety While You Are Remodeling
To help your cat cope with remodeling, you need to keep your cat calm during home renovations.
Most cat owners know when their cat is upset, stressed, and anxious, but just in case you don’t know, here are a few warning signs of cat anxiety.
- Cats shed when they are anxious.
- Cats hide when they are stressed.
- Your cat might not eat.
- Your cat may hide
- Your cat will not use the litter box.
- Your cat might use the litter box but not in it, instead next to it
- Your cat might rub everything it can when they are out.
- Hang tight to you, begging for way more attention than normal.
Remember, cats prefer controlled environments, owning the territory they live in and anyone entering their domain, and when someone enters their space, like a contractor, you need to help to keep your cat calm during home renovation but doing a few things to help their cat anxiety tamper down.
Tips To HELP Keep Your Cat Stay Calm During Home Renovations
Let’s take a quick look at how to help keep your cat stay calm during home renovations.
1. Move Your Cat To A Different Room To Help Your Cat Cope With Remodeling
We opened the basement up to our Bella to allow her to roam while the upstairs was being worked on, which allowed her some freedom and kept her happy.
Being downstairs kept her two flights away from the renovation, which allowed her to be a bit less twitchy, plus plenty of hiding spaces.
Plus, since she was not on the same level as the workers, she felt safer and had her hiding spots.
If you don’t have a basement, you can place your cat in any room, away from the noise and chaos, and crack the door, so the cat can come and go as it pleases.
Ensure you provide a litter box, food and water, and toys to keep your furry friend happy in that particular area in addition to their regular litter box.
The cats may not use the litter box, but it is best to provide it.
Leave a note on the door, alerting the workers NOT to OPEN THE DOOR so your cat can stay there and not feel threatened.
2. Keep A Normal Routine To Avoid Cat Anxiety
Cats are creatures of comfort and like their schedule, so try to stick to it.
Every day before our construction crew showed up, I would lay down the tarps, feed her, and hope that she would do her thing in the morning like she always did, and she did.
She knew that the tarps going down signaled the strangers were coming, and she took cover ahead of their arrival after eating and relieving herself.
Since this went on for over a month, she got used to our routine and went with it enough that she was comfortable for a bit.
3. Don’t Force Your Cat To Come Out And Interact With You Or The Construction Crew
Helping your cat cope with remodeling means letting your cat alone. Your remodeling crew will want to do their thing, and they don’t care if they meet your cat because if it hides, it is one less thing they have to worry about.
Not all cats like to be pushed into meeting people, and if you hold your cat in your arms and try to force them to socialize, you might get clawed, bit, or hissed at by an otherwise normal cat.
Cat anxiety is like a shy person who doesn’t want to interact, an introvert unless they figure a way on their own terms.
Leave that cat cope with the remodeling in its own way, and don’t pressure it to meet, come out, or be held unless you are ready to field the consequences.
If you do get bit, hissed at, or clawed, don’t get mad at your cat. They are experiencing cat anxiety, and you disrespected the line.
4. Give Your Cat Places To Hide TO Lessen Cat Anxiety
To keep your cat calm during home renovations, make sure there are plenty of places for them to hide out of harm’s way.
Whether you supply a cat hut, a clear space under a bed, a high shelf, or whatever makes them feel safe, make sure to have it set for them to run to.
5. Help Your Cat Cope With Remodeling With A Cat Calming Diffuser
If you have not yet tried a calming diffuser for cats, you need to because, for any cat anxiety, these are truly miracle workers.
You buy and plug them in, and your cat will calm down.
I suggest using the cat calming diffuser in a room where your cat might be so that they can be calm and have time to themselves and possibly one of their great power naps from feeling secure from the calming diffuser.
You can read over 8K reviews on how wonderful a cat diffuser can be for cat anxiety, so it will help your cat cope with remodeling stress.
Other Simple Ideas To Deal With Cat Anxiety
- turn on a radio
- provide a blanket
- turn on the tv
- leave your cat alone
- leave some treats in a bowl
Now You Have Several Ways To Keep Your Cat Calm During Home Renovations
Which tips will you use? Are there tips that we missed to help a cat cope with remodeling? Tells us, we’d love to hear, comment at the end of this post!
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