Tips For Keeping Your Cat Calm During the Holiday Craziness
There’s no doubt that the holiday season brings plenty of excitement and joy to our lives. Unfortunately, there are also many sources of stress that come along with it. Whether it’s getting your house ready to host a big dinner party filled with friends and family, finding the perfect gifts for your pickiest relatives or arranging holiday travel plans, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by everything going on.Holiday stress doesn’t just affect humans — it can also be felt by your cat. Holiday decorations mean making changes to their daily environment that can be disorienting. Loud party guests can be overwhelming, and holiday travel can affect your cat whether you take them with you or not.Read on for some tips for how to calm your cat down and promote cat stress relief during all the holiday craziness. With these strategies, you and your fur baby are sure to have a much more relaxing, enjoyable time celebrating this year.
Set Aside a Space For Your Cat
Holiday activities like hosting large get-togethers or entertaining unfamiliar guests can be very stressful for our feline friends. The combination of loud noise and strangers causes significant disruption to your cat’s regular routine and the environment that they’re used to.To combat the anxiety these changes can cause, dedicate one space or room in your house to be off-limits to everyone but your cat during the party. This tip for how to calm your cat down means that Mr. Whiskers can spend the gathering relaxing in his own space while you enjoy your celebration. Try stocking the room with a selection of your cat’s favorite items, like a cat bed and a few toys. Don’t forget to make sure they have access to plenty of water and their Skoon litter box.
Spend Quality Time Together
Another tip for how to calm your cat down during the holidays is to make sure to spend quality time together, no matter how busy it gets. You’d be surprised at how much of a difference time together can make in cat stress relief. Cats can often feel ignored and lonely during the hectic holiday season, but you can easily prevent this by dedicating a little time each day to spend with your fur baby. Whether it means sharing the couch to watch a holiday movie, engaging in playtime with a new toy or simply making time to brush and groom your cat, it will definitely be time well-spent. This is not only a good strategy for how to calm your cat down, but it will help reduce your stress levels as well. 
Maintain a Routine
Between packed schedules, social engagements and errands that need to be run, holiday craziness can quickly disrupt your routine. If the busyness starts to change your cat’s routine too, it can cause significant stress. This is especially true for older felines, who rely on the predictability of an everyday routine even more than younger cats. An important technique for how to calm your cat down is to try to maintain their routine as best you can. Make sure they are fed at the same time as usual, even if that means setting up a timed feeder if you won’t be home. If you typically complete other activities like grooming or playtime at specific times each day, do your best to fit them in around your other holiday obligations to support cat stress relief.
Try Calming Products
If your cat is dealing with a high level of anxiety or is displaying a wide range of stress-related symptoms, one tip for how to calm your cat down is to try out calming products. There are many of these items on the market, including calming collars that come infused with pheromones that promote cat stress relief. There are also pheromone diffusers and swaddling vests that work to calm your cat down by applying soothing pressure to them. Finally, there are actually specific cat foods and treats made for this purpose that contain calming anti-anxiety ingredients. If you have concerns about trying any of these calming products, run them by your cat’s vet first.
Choose Cat-Friendly Holiday Decor
Your cat will likely need time to adjust to your holiday decorations because they change the look of the space your cat is used to living in on a daily basis. Holiday decor can also pose a direct threat to cat health if it’s not feline-friendly. To support cat stress relief and prevent any cat-tastrophes from occurring this holiday season, avoid dangerous decor. For example, steer clear of indoor plants like poinsettias, mistletoe and holly, which are toxic to cats. Breakable ornaments, tinsel and exposed electrical cords from lights or other decor should all be avoided or kept out of your cat’s reach.
Inadequate litter box set-ups can be a source of stress for your cat any time of the year. Litter that can’t absorb odors leads to a smelly box that no cat wants to have to deal with. Artificial scents, clumping properties and litter that sticks to your cat’s paws are all features of traditional litters that can irritate your cat and cause anxiety. The best tip for how to calm down your cat’s litter box stress is to choose the right litter to begin with.You won’t have to worry about any of these litter issues when you choose Skoon. Skoon is non-toxic and doesn’t contain any unnatural, toxic fragrances or additives. Finally, Skoon litter is non-clumping and non-tracking, so it stays in the box where it belongs. Not to mention, it’s perfect at keeping your house fresh and ready for holiday guests and festive get-togethers.This holiday season, choose Skoon to enjoy the best kitty clean-up solution on the market!Sources:https://www.comfortzone.com/behavior-blog/cats-holidays/8-ways-to-keep-the-holidays-stress-free-for-your-cathttps://www.onlynaturalpet.com/blogs/holistic-healthcare-library/holiday-stress-reducers-and-safety-tips-for-petshttps://www.petmd.com/cat/behavior/6-cat-calming-products-help-ease-cat-anxietyhttps://www.fearfreehappyhomes.com/is-your-cats-litter-box-stressing-him-out/
