Opinion On Cats Feeding On Your Energy?

SpecterOhPossum

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Example, I was very stressed a day back and worked myself into a terrible cold; when I was stressing; my cat was acting very crazy and weird which furthered my stress, then I got sick and couldn't do anything but sleep and then she became lethargic and kept sleeping on me; I wasn't eating and she stopped eating as much, today I felt better and got some stuff done, and now she was acting normal and back to eating like a pig. Thoughts? I'm still sick, by the way, but good enough to do stuff and all of a sudden, she's acting normal.
 
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SpecterOhPossum

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Cats are very good at reading non verbal cues, so they can pick up on your stress very easily, and being nervous by nature, that can stress them out, too.
Dang it, I wanted to be wrong. I guess I gotta learn to calm down; but it is nice for her to slow down when I'm sick and get calmer so I can rest up to health. Also, I like your comment tagline thingy
 

sargon

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Dang it, I wanted to be wrong. I guess I gotta learn to calm down; but it is nice for her to slow down when I'm sick and get calmer so I can rest up to health. Also, I like your comment tagline thingy
Yeah, my wife and I occasionally have to remind each other not to use an angry tone of voice after reading some upsetting news, so it can be tricky. And my signature? Thanks, though I really need to update ti since I have a second cat. you can make one fairly easily, it's in the profile options on the site, as I recall.
 

Etarre

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I absolutely agree that cats pick up on your emotions and match their day to yours. My husband expresses stress and anger more readily than I do, and while our previous cat was pretty good at ignoring him, our current cat is a bit more hesitant to approach him as a result. Our first cat was also an amazing little empath; she could sniff out a terrible mood and immediately delegated herself to help out by draping herself over you and purring incessantly until you perked up. It was great.
 

smosmosmo

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I really do think they're impacted by our emotions. For the longest time I didn't think my cat really cared since she didn't seem to be influenced by my changes in mood - she really isn't the type to comfort and cuddle me. I had an especially bad week recently though, and noticed that something just seemed off about Smo. It got to the point where she'd overreact to things (like being scolded over scratching furniture), and came to a head when she fear-peed on the bed in her sleep (triggered by something that normally wouldn't bug her so much). Since then I've been making an effort not to ruminate as much, I try instead to clear my head when I'm interacting with her. It's working too - she seems very relaxed now and purrs all the time when I go over to tell her I love her.
 

MoonstoneWolf

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I'm still learning the hard way that cats can pick up on stress. I got stressed about hiding the food bowls before workers came and all the good work I did with Sopdet is now gone as she picked up on my stress. It's a learning experience for sure. Right now she's crouched under the bench trying to figure out if it's safe to come up here or not. Yikes. I do need to check my stress levels for my health as well as the cats.

Which leads me to a question: Mods or anyone, do cat's sense illness in someone even if we don't succumb to that illness? Meaning if I'm sick but still push myself to do what needs to be done can cats sense or smell it like they say dogs can?
 

fionasmom

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Researchers in the area of emotions and coherence feel that all emotions are able to be transmitted between all living things and cats are no exception. I feel that animals are even more susceptible to reading emotion than humans and picking them up. To me, it is extremely touching and makes me wonder how miserable those animals who are faced with cruelty or fear really feel.

I also feel that animals are huge observers of subtle signs that we do not even see or register which is why they know that you are going to give them their medicine before you stand up or that something might be different because no one has left for work yet. My husband and I currently have to call each other from inside the house on our phones to secretly coordinate the administration of meds to one of the cats who I feel is psychic...and if psychic means extra prescience which we don't understand yet, they all have it. Hence your kitty who was concerned for your well being.
 

CatLover49

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Yes indeed cats can SENSE stress
..or that something is wrong...when I had surgery couple yrs back..my boy Snowball...whrn I came home from hospital he sat right by me..n followed me ALOT...He even seemed like he didn't feel well...But yea..I read somewhere that cats CAN pickup on their owners emotions...
 
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