Stress and anxiety can have debilitating effects on a human's health. Stress in cats acts much the same way. Not only can it exacerbate existing physical conditions, but it can lead to a number of problems often considered behavioral, such as litter box avoidance, aggressive behavior, or depression and withdrawal.

Most stress in cats is caused by changes in routine, strange cats wandering into their territory, a lack of resources, sickness, boredom, pain, and lack of socialization.

There are numerous cat stress signs to spot, although they’re not always obvious. Signs of stressed cats can include: becoming more withdrawn or hiding more than usual becoming less tolerant of people hesitating or becoming reluctant to use the litter tray, go through the cat flap or sit on your lap

Cats will often display a combination of signs to show they’re stressed, including changes to their behaviour, body language, and habits. Sometimes their health will also suffer, and they might develop a health problem as a result.