In this blog I’ll share with you 5 top tips that you can do to support your cats when you have visitors come to stay in your home.
When our daily routine gets mixed up or our version of ‘normal’ changes, our heads will go into overdrive.
How will the cats cope?
Will he/she start weeing/licking/hiding etc?
How will I cope with not being able to do my normal things?
I’m scared the cats will be stressed.
I’m worried about having someone in my space.
Why on earth did I agree to this?
I wish I hadn’t said yes.
I feel bad for not wanting them to come and stay.
And I’m sure the list goes on, and on and on. Our heads are meant to keep us safe, protecting us from life threatening situations. BUT in this day and age when there are no dinosaurs lurking outside the cave, our heads tend to latch onto whatever they can as potential threats. Change being a great source of anxiety, fear, worry and doubt for us cat guardians.
If you are an empath, like me, or a highly sensitive person, when your head takes the microphone it can cause a lot of stress and anxiety. Both mentally and physically, which of course our cats can sense, feel and even absorb.
Before I get started sharing with you how to help your cat(s) when guests come to stay, we need to find a way to help you first. As the good old aeroplane mantra says – Put your own oxygen mask on first before helping others.
You NEED to make time to nurture yourself. I’m not talking about taking a half day off from work and going to a spa (although if you can do that go for it!) I’m talking about making time to feel your feels.
As we say in the Become a soul led cat guardian programme :
Sit down with a journal, notebook or pad and list all the things you are worried about. And I mean ALL of them. The ones connected to the guests coming to stay, and all the others that sit in the sidelines of your thoughts. Things at work, home, family, money. Anything that takes up precious space in your head. Have a good old purge. Write them down as words, sentences, whatever you like. There is no right or wrong way to do this. Simply put pen to paper and get the little buggers out!
I’ve done this so many times in the past. And on occasion it has shocked me as to how much has been playing on my mind. The simple act of writing down your fears and worries gives them a little less power in your head.
Getting them out, shifts your vibration.
When you’ve done your list. Sit with it. Read it. Be present with it.
How does it feel to see so many? How did it feel to write them all down?
Once you have your list pick the top 3. The ones that worry you the most. The ones that keep you up at night, that occupy too much of your brain power.
You may be able to find ways to remove them, stop them from happening. Or you may have no power over them at all. But finding them and feeling into them is the first step to facing your fears and dealing with your guests coming to stay.
With my 1-2-1 clients, in the Become a soul led cat guardian community and in my own day to day life, I support the humans first. (Remember the oxygen mask analogy peeps?!)
So you’ve got out some of the noise from your head, you’ve seen it written in front of you in black and white and perhaps you have been able to deal with some of it. If you haven’t, don’t worry. Simply being aware this is going on in you is a start.
And then we can think about how to help our cats. Here’s my go to list of actionable steps that I take when someone comes to stay in our home:
I do this both out loud verbally and quietly through our soul-to-soul connection. I tell them who is coming and for how long. I tell them what I expect of them and how I will support them. I tell them what I need from them (i.e. to come home at some point in the evening) and I tell them how I feel about having the person coming to stay.
When people come into your home be it for 5 minutes or 5 days, your home changes. The energy, vibration, smell and physical environment. This impacts your cats territory in the home. Perhaps you have doors closed, extra luggage around the home or even other cats coming to stay. Remember the two points above (dealing with your own emotional health and talking to the cats). Talk to your cats and tell them why there are changes and understand that not only will your cats be sensing and feeling your anxiety they may have their own. So support them as best you can with putting their key scent markers in easy access places.
There is no better time than when there are changes in the home to dig out your copy of The Aromatic Cat or Cat Chakras. Get prepared with how you can offer your cat energetic, emotional and mental health support. Colour fabric, essential oils, the odd herb garden throughout the home, whatever you can rustle up. AND be sure to tell your guest what they are, that they are for your cat to support them. I.e. human hands off!
The Universe brings you all you need. If there is a big period of change coming into your life, it is a gift. Of course it may not feel like that (trust me I understand what it’s like when the anxiety bomb goes off in your head) BUT you always have a choice. This situation, the changes in your home won’t last forever. Change is about growth and how much you grow depends on how much you embrace the lessons that come to you in this period of the unknown. It’s going to take some courage to deal with changes in your home and I know you can do it. It’s going to take a mixture of emotions, actions and shifts for you to make it through this. And I know you can.
Surrender to what is, the more you hold onto how things ‘should’ be the more stressed, anxious and uptight you will be. Know that you will help everyone in the home if you make the space to support yourself.
You know your cat(s) better than anyone. You will all get through this period of change. Do the best you can and know that is enough.
Quick recap:
You’ve got this.
Holistic Cat Therapist, empath, author and cat mum.
Helping anxious humans with anxious cats.
Giving cats a voice and changing the world's perception of cats.
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