Cats hate the new furniture changes - I think?

dotNdash

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Hello all! This may have already been addressed on this site (maybe addressed several times!), so if you want to direct me to some of those threads, that would be appreciated. Or, please respond here... would love some feedback.
I get that cats are sensitive lil behbehs, but I'm wondering... over the past two weeks, I've been re-doing my condo; moving furniture, bought a new rug, there's been a lot of "traffic" as friends have been in and out helping me. one of my girls is off her food and one of the two of them took a poop this morning on the new rug. Apparently, she has made her opinion known!
So my wondering is... are these typical kitty reactions to these types of changes? Do I take them to the vet? Do I give it a couple more days and let them calm down? Do I try a new food? What else might I do? All input welcome!
Thank you!
 

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Hi! Welcome!!

Some cats are definitely quite sensitive to change and unusual situations (all your visitors), so these reactions can be somewhat normal for them. An enzymatic cleaner will help with cleaning.

This may be of help in case your cat doesn't start eating normally very soon now that things are "settled" in your living space (I don't think a new food is necessary, at least not yet - keeping with the familiar may be what she needs);
Any Good Tips To Get Your Cats To Eat? Share Them Here!

However, long has it been since you've had them in to a vet? The vet may have some ideas for stress relief, although you can try music for them - classical harp music, or MusicForCats . com, or Relax My Cat have been known to help cats become more calm.

Mamanyt1953 Mamanyt1953 often suggests chamomile tea for cats;

Buy a box of chamomile tea bags in the coffee/tea aisle of the grocery store. Get PLAIN chamomile, no blends, which will be clearly marked. I recommend the commercial bags because they are all 100% German chamomile, which is medicinally active and safe for cats. The English variety which is popular in gardens is pretty useless medicinally, and TOXIC to cats. SO...brew a cup of the tea, and chill it in the fridge (it will keep in there for about 3 days). For internal, stress-related use, draw up 1-3 teaspoonfuls (1-3 TABLESPOONFULS for cats over 11 pounds) into a syringe or medicine dropper, put on body armor, and dose your cat up to three times a day.

I like trying the chamomile first because it is gently calming without actually sedating the cat. And a 20-count box (about 2 months worth) should cost you no more than 3-4 dollars.
 

ArtNJ

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Lets put it this way: its not at all unusual for cats to hide for up to say a day after a loud contractor finishes. Its not unusual for cats to be a bit cautious of new furniture, although I haven't really seen much of a reaction unless there is something pretty major going on. For example, no real negative reaction to an Xmas tree that I've ever seen, and similarly no negative reaction to a new appliance once the contractors are gone and they have calmed down. Anyway, you have an ongoing situation. That is going to scale it up of course. Its been ages since I had major work done over an extended period with cats, so my memory is hazy, but I would expect that if you have an ongoing project its going to take them longer to get back to normal.

Bottom line, they don't hate the new furniture, but they are stressed by all the commotion and change and need a bit of time to adjust. Pretty normal.
 
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dotNdash

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Hi! Welcome!!

Some cats are definitely quite sensitive to change and unusual situations (all your visitors), so these reactions can be somewhat normal for them. An enzymatic cleaner will help with cleaning.

This may be of help in case your cat doesn't start eating normally very soon now that things are "settled" in your living space (I don't think a new food is necessary, at least not yet - keeping with the familiar may be what she needs);
Any Good Tips To Get Your Cats To Eat? Share Them Here!

However, long has it been since you've had them in to a vet? The vet may have some ideas for stress relief, although you can try music for them - classical harp music, or MusicForCats . com, or Relax My Cat have been known to help cats become more calm.

Mamanyt1953 Mamanyt1953 often suggests chamomile tea for cats;

Buy a box of chamomile tea bags in the coffee/tea aisle of the grocery store. Get PLAIN chamomile, no blends, which will be clearly marked. I recommend the commercial bags because they are all 100% German chamomile, which is medicinally active and safe for cats. The English variety which is popular in gardens is pretty useless medicinally, and TOXIC to cats. SO...brew a cup of the tea, and chill it in the fridge (it will keep in there for about 3 days). For internal, stress-related use, draw up 1-3 teaspoonfuls (1-3 TABLESPOONFULS for cats over 11 pounds) into a syringe or medicine dropper, put on body armor, and dose your cat up to three times a day.

I like trying the chamomile first because it is gently calming without actually sedating the cat. And a 20-count box (about 2 months worth) should cost you no more than 3-4 dollars.
Thanks so much for the input... the chamomile tea thing fascinates me! I'm definitely going to try it! And the classical music as well. Actually, both of those things would be good for all residents, so that's an added bonus for me.
 

Furballsmom

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I hope that your babies calm down very quickly and come back to their regular attitude about life :) Let us know how things go :)
 
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dotNdash

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Lets put it this way: its not at all unusual for cats to hide for up to say a day after a loud contractor finishes. Its not unusual for cats to be a bit cautious of new furniture, although I haven't really seen much of a reaction unless there is something pretty major going on. For example, no real negative reaction to an Xmas tree that I've ever seen, and similarly no negative reaction to a new appliance once the contractors are gone and they have calmed down. Anyway, you have an ongoing situation. That is going to scale it up of course. Its been ages since I had major work done over an extended period with cats, so my memory is hazy, but I would expect that if you have an ongoing project its going to take them longer to get back to normal.

Bottom line, they don't hate the new furniture, but they are stressed by all the commotion and change and need a bit of time to adjust. Pretty normal.
Thanks so much for your thoughts on this... it's sort of what I've been thinking, but I just needed some validation. Appreciate it!
 

losna

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Our vet told us that moving furniture causes cats to "reset" their territory. Every time we move ours we can see them go through their territory claiming/battling again. It can be very stressful for cats, especially if you've paired it with an unusually high level of people in your home. You've described stress responses for cats, nothing out of the ordinary. How long they will take to return to normal will depend on their general anxiety/confidence levels.

I would suggest giving them extra treats, play with them more, anything you would do to help them be happy and gain confidence in the new environment.
 
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dotNdash

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Our vet told us that moving furniture causes cats to "reset" their territory. Every time we move ours we can see them go through their territory claiming/battling again. It can be very stressful for cats, especially if you've paired it with an unusually high level of people in your home. You've described stress responses for cats, nothing out of the ordinary. How long they will take to return to normal will depend on their general anxiety/confidence levels.

I would suggest giving them extra treats, play with them more, anything you would do to help them be happy and gain confidence in the new environment.
Great insight. I do have to remind myself that they're on their own timetable. A couple of days isn't very long in cat time.
 

losna

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Great insight. I do have to remind myself that they're on their own timetable. A couple of days isn't very long in cat time.
Yeha it's very short indeed! But it is a great tool to have in your arsenal if need be. We have two "layouts" for our furniture and whenever there is a major kerfluffle between our kitties, we switch between them. But that might be too stressful a tactic if your cats are on the more anxious side.
 

Lillyenn

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This is pretty normal. Even friendlier cats get overwhelmed by a bunch of people. My cats can only handle two visitors at the same time, and they still get a little jittery(and that's without me moving stuff around).
Did you change the placement of their litter boxes by any chance? Because if you did that could cause the pooping issue, or the box was simply too full at the time, did the kitty ever do something like that before to other rugs? About the food, you can always try new things, it's good for the kitties too but depending on how often did you experiment with new food, they might not like another change right now. How long has your cat been off her food?
If you have some old stuff that have their scent on it (or yours) , you can try and place it in the condo (it can be anything familiar a towel or a blanket for example). I think they are going to be fine after a couple of days of exploring the new surroundings and calming down. The vet is only necessary if the problem with eating and pooping remains, but I don't think it will.
 
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dotNdash

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Thanks to everyone who has provided perspective and tips regarding this situation. I truly appreciate the input. I've been playing "deep stress relief music for cats" via youtube since I got home from work last night. And have noticed that Dot will start eating if I'm petting her at her food bowl. So I'm pretty convinced they're working out their anxiety. Extra lovins and patience required!
 

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If this is an ongoing work/project then you might want to think about confining them to a distant room with all their needs contained in that room so they are not getting stressed over all the people coming and going along with the noise. If they tolerate the music, have it playing also so it masks most of the noise. This is just eliminating or reducing possible overload to their senses (new smells, motions, and sounds) that usually stress out cats.
 
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