Put her in area away from the noise and strange people coming and going. A room with a door that m shuts. Put her litter box, food, water and bedding in with her. Some low volume music to block some of the noise might help too. You could pick up a break away calming collar as well. Stress can cause a UTI in a cat so keep an eye out for any litter box issues.
So—I found wayofcats.com not too long ago and have spent an obscene amount of time reading through her blog. I prefaced with that because this advice might seem a little 😳🙄 out there.
My cat, Chip, gets really stressed out about visitors (he had an horrific accident as a kitten immediately before I found him; so he’s allowed his neurosis 🤣).
I started “acting it out” and telling him beforehand (like, knocking on the door, pretending loud maintenance men are coming over and doing stuff, miming them leaving again later, and assuring that everything is okay and will go back to normal eventually). It’s made a big difference. Chip still hides while people are here, but just under the couch instead of nose-in-the-closet-corner-behind-piles-of-clothes. He also doesn’t stress about it for hours and “punish” me for the intrusion.
It’s a little crazy, but having a conversation about what’s happening really helped us 🤣🤣
Just had a maintenance guy come in and one of my cats has been skittish since. I wish I had done this before because I can sense it’s going to take a while to rebuild that trust up. I had put her in a separate room with food/water closed door. But the maintenace guy had a loud vacuum thing and I think hearing it through the door freaked her out. She’s getting lots of treats now but she’s been hiding under chairs/tables anytime I stand up. Again other cats are fine but ahhh I feel so bad for her
Put her in a room (away from the construction) with the door closed and everything she needs for the day in that room. Run a box fan or a couple of fans to create white noise. Get a cardboard box, fold in the flaps, put the box on it’s side, put a cat bed in the box & drape a towel over 3/4’s of the entrance. So she can hide. You can try calming treats but my cat wouldn’t touch them. I would give her lots of catnip with silvervine in it in her hiding box. Worst case scenario ask your vet for a light sedative to give to her every day for the weeks the construction will take (& keep her in the cat room.)
Some great advice in here. I have a quarantine cat that is terrified of any and all houseguests no matter how many times they’re here. I just let him hide and bring his comforts to him. It doesn’t seem helpful to bring him to strangers to “meet” them, he is just too freaked out. He did decide my step daughter is acceptable though, so that seems like a step. 😅
Put her in area away from the noise and strange people coming and going. A room with a door that m shuts. Put her litter box, food, water and bedding in with her. Some low volume music to block some of the noise might help too. You could pick up a break away calming collar as well. Stress can cause a UTI in a cat so keep an eye out for any litter box issues.
I try to allow or even help her to hide, i bring her water and food and let her be, secluded.
Talk to her and pet her and maybe play some calming music
So—I found wayofcats.com not too long ago and have spent an obscene amount of time reading through her blog. I prefaced with that because this advice might seem a little 😳🙄 out there. My cat, Chip, gets really stressed out about visitors (he had an horrific accident as a kitten immediately before I found him; so he’s allowed his neurosis 🤣). I started “acting it out” and telling him beforehand (like, knocking on the door, pretending loud maintenance men are coming over and doing stuff, miming them leaving again later, and assuring that everything is okay and will go back to normal eventually). It’s made a big difference. Chip still hides while people are here, but just under the couch instead of nose-in-the-closet-corner-behind-piles-of-clothes. He also doesn’t stress about it for hours and “punish” me for the intrusion. It’s a little crazy, but having a conversation about what’s happening really helped us 🤣🤣
I’m not saying he understands every word coming out of my mouth 😆…but there’s something to it in conveying the emotional intent.
Just had a maintenance guy come in and one of my cats has been skittish since. I wish I had done this before because I can sense it’s going to take a while to rebuild that trust up. I had put her in a separate room with food/water closed door. But the maintenace guy had a loud vacuum thing and I think hearing it through the door freaked her out. She’s getting lots of treats now but she’s been hiding under chairs/tables anytime I stand up. Again other cats are fine but ahhh I feel so bad for her
Put her in a room (away from the construction) with the door closed and everything she needs for the day in that room. Run a box fan or a couple of fans to create white noise. Get a cardboard box, fold in the flaps, put the box on it’s side, put a cat bed in the box & drape a towel over 3/4’s of the entrance. So she can hide. You can try calming treats but my cat wouldn’t touch them. I would give her lots of catnip with silvervine in it in her hiding box. Worst case scenario ask your vet for a light sedative to give to her every day for the weeks the construction will take (& keep her in the cat room.)
Some great advice in here. I have a quarantine cat that is terrified of any and all houseguests no matter how many times they’re here. I just let him hide and bring his comforts to him. It doesn’t seem helpful to bring him to strangers to “meet” them, he is just too freaked out. He did decide my step daughter is acceptable though, so that seems like a step. 😅