Understanding Pet Behavior: How to Tell if Your Pet is Anxious or Stressed

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If you’ve ever gone through a stressful event, you likely know firsthand that stress can cause humans to exhibit some strange behaviors. If that stress continues unchecked for an extended period of time, it can begin to have both mental and physical consequences. This is also true for our furry friends. Dogs and cats can also experience stress and anxiety, but since they cannot verbally express their feelings, it can be quite difficult to identify what is causing their sudden odd behavior. In this post, we’ll talk about the science behind stress in pets, how to identify a stressed or anxious pet, and what to do if your pet is showing symptoms of stress.

The Science Behind Stress in Pets

Just like in humans, stress causes an involuntary biological response in our pets. Stressful situations activate the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) and sympathetic-adrenal medulla (SAM) axes, which in turn trigger short-term reactions designed to help the pet cope with the stress. However, if the stress goes on long enough, it can lead to what is known as ‘oxidative stress’, an imbalance in the body that damages cells and contributes to chronic health problems.

Studies have shown that chronic stress can even lead to obsessive-compulsive behaviors in pets, such as excessive licking or chewing. These behaviors are often linked to dysfunctions in neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin. Over time, this sustained stress can contribute to cardiovascular issues, gastrointestinal diseases, immune dysfunction, and behavioral problems.

Signs of Stress in Cats

Cats are some of the most subtle creatures you’ll ever encounter, so spotting signs of stress in your pet cat can be difficult. However, most cats will exhibit at least one, but often multiple, of the following symptoms when they are under stress:

  • Rapidly moving, jerking tail
  • Laid back ears
  • Keeping the tail close to the body
  • Hissing
  • Growling
  • Hiding
  • Eliminating outside of the litter box
  • Sensitivity to sensory stimulation (feline hyperesthesia syndrome)
  • Eating things that are not food
  • Hair loss

Signs of Stress in Dogs

While dogs are certainly more expressive than their feline counterparts, it can still be hard to tell what is wrong when their behavior suddenly changes. Signs of stress in dogs to be on the lookout for include:

  • Avoiding eye contact/turning away
  • Very visible white of the eyes (known as “whale eye”)
  • Yawning
  • Licking the lips excessively
  • Drooling
  • Panting
  • Tucking the tail under the body
  • Pacing
  • Freezing in place
  • Compulsive licking of the body until a wound is created

Why Pets Become Stressed

Physical, emotional, and environmental factors can all be sources of stress in dogs, cats, and other pets. Some of the most common stressors for pets include:

  • Major lifestyle changes (moving, big schedule change, etc.)
  • Loud noises (thunder, fireworks, gunfire, etc.)
  • Illness/disease
  • Pain
  • Not being exposed to enough stimuli on a regular basis (leads to overreaction when new stimuli are encountered)

Stress in small doses is usually not a bad thing, since it teaches the pet how to properly respond to a similar stressor in the future. But prolonged stress can and will have a detrimental effect on the pet’s health and well-being.

Helping Your Pet Cope with Stress in Tampa Bay

Are you worried that stress is affecting your pet? The first thing you should do is attempt to identify the potential source of the stress. Using the common stressors listed above, make small changes to your pet’s routine and living arrangements to see if anything helps relieve the stress-induced behaviors. Make changes one at a time so you can easily tell which change yielded the biggest improvement. If you’ve tried everything you can think of and your pet is still showing signs of stress, it’s time to schedule an appointment with a qualified veterinarian who can make sure your pet’s behaviors are not due to an underlying medical condition, plus can offer actionable tips for reducing your pet’s stress level. From lifestyle changes to behavioral therapy to supplements and medications, a vet can help create a stress treatment plan that works for you and your pet.

If you’re in Tampa Bay and need help with a stressed pet, Affordable Pet Hospital is here to help. Our caring and compassionate team is ready to support you and your pet through times of extreme stress, keeping your pet healthy and happy. Schedule an appointment with us by calling 813-991-9898 or request an appointment online.