Domestic Arguments Make Cats Anxious
There are millions of heated arguments between husband and wife, boyfriend and girlfriend every day. You can visualise it. There are probably 10 million of them happening right now in North America alone.
Update: I have been criticised in a comment for referring to America in the above statement. I am apparently America bashing. I am not. When a person writes about the domestic cat you almost have to write about North America because it is by far the largest domestic cat “market”. I instinctively refer to North America for this reason and because by far the most news about the domestic cat on the internet comes from the USA. It is routine. My reference is simply an example. There are probably a million arguments between people in Britain right now and some anxious cats as a result. It is not relevant where the cats are. The only relevancy is the behavior of people.
Heating arguments between spouses generate a lot of noise, animosity and a bad atmosphere. They create the kind of atmosphere and environment that is the opposite to what you want for your cat but do people recognise this?
A cat will tend to be upset by the noise. It depends on the cat. However, most cats will be edgy after a blazing row. A cat might be more difficult to handle. If you stroke a cat after a heated argument he might show signs that he isn’t happy with it. The opposite, perhaps, to his usual reaction.
We owe it to our cat to factor in the effect on our cat of what we do between ourselves.
I have a feeling that domestic arguments and violence have a greater impact on the cat than people give credit for. The cat is normally not in the equation. Arguing couples normally don’t give it a thought. They should. It may put the brakes on arguing.
Of course it also has an effect on the children. The effect can be quite serious and result in low self-esteem for the child for the rest of her/his life.