You can apologize to your cat by spending time with it. This could be as simple as reading a book or listening to music next to your cat, or giving him a nice, long petting session. It could also mean that you have to set aside some time to play with your cat. Praise and compliment your cat.
But as it turns out, science shows us that cats are much more complex and emotionally attuned than we give them credit for. They may not say sorry the same way a human would. But they do apologise, in their own way.
Eventually, your cat will forgive you if you hurt it accidentally. You can always pat your cat, talk to it in a soft voice, the way you talk to a baby, and offer it a treat. Find time to spend with your cat to let it know it's loved and cherished.
“Cats don't forgive, and once they realize a person is causing them anxiety or hurt, they keep away.” So says John Bradshaw, an anthrozoologist at Bristol University and author of “Cat Sense: How the New Feline Science Can Make You a Better Friend to Your Pet.”
Initiate tons of playtime
So, while playtime can be a great way to rebuild trust and remind your cat why they love you, make sure they are enjoying it (see below for body language indicators). Bonus points if you can provide toys that occupy your cat without you present. This will serve them well while you are out.
Famously independent, sometimes falsely assumed to be immune to feelings, cats are in truth super-sensitive to emotions, sound, and stress. Perhaps because felines lack the eager-to-please openness of their canine colleagues, humans overlook the big and small ways they can break a cat's spirit.
Overhead movements or certain noises may frighten an abused cat, triggering a long-term memory of prior trauma. It's possible your cat will carry that unpleasant memory for the rest of his life.
The answer is that cats probably don't hold grudges, at least the way that we consider them.
These all cause psychological scars that can lead to the formation of PTSD, which may manifest months, even years, after the traumatic event. Sadly, even some dogs and cats that have lived for long periods of time in shelter environments have been shown to exhibit PTSD symptoms.
Animals may be neglected or abused, physically, sexually, and emotionally. The similarities of animal and child maltreatment makes it useful to draw from the terminology used for children when developing definitions for use in animals.
"Your cat is most likely staring at you while crying because they're trying to make sense of what they see and hear," McGowan says. Your cat might not understand human crying, but she'll gather as many clues as she can and use them to adjust her behavior.
Signs of Emotional Trauma in Cats and Dogs
Trauma can also manifest as “shaking, hiding, urination and/or defecation when the trigger attempts to interact, howling, pacing, excessive vocalization, and panting,” says Pia Silvani, director of behavioral rehabilitation at the ASPCA's Behavioral Rehabilitation Center.
Unprovoked aggression, whining, or whimpering. Overly submissive (rolling onto back, tail tucked, urinating) Suddenly avoiding any physical contact. Attempts to bite or scratch when petted.
Physically harming your cat can actually make the situation worse and cause her to lash out or become withdrawn. Also, cats have a hard time associating the physical punishment with the bad behavior, so you're not actually training her to stop doing it.
No. Here's the problem with spraying a cat with water: The only thing the cat learns is that when he sees the water bottle, it's time to run. “Run whenever you see this bottle” is not a particularly useful cue to teach, and running to escape punishment is not a positive way to interact with your cat.
Overall, our results showed that cats are able to integrate acoustic and visual emotional signals of a conspecific “hiss” and human “anger” and “happiness”. They also show a functional understanding of highly arousing emotions (i.e., cat “hiss” and human “anger”), regardless of the species that produced them.
Signs of a Depressed Cat
Changes in body language, including ears held back, tucked tail, and hairs standing on end. Meowing more or less than usual or making low-pitched, mournful meows. Lack of energy or a decrease in activity level. Retreating from humans or other family pets.
Cats can be loveable, friendly pets — but sometimes they might not like you very much. If your cat has a lowered or puffed-up tail, it could mean they are afraid or uncomfortable. Cats might also bite you or hiss at you if they aren't your biggest fan.
Cats are independent creatures and have their own emotions and moods. If your cat doesn't feel like getting scratched or coming for a treat, well, chances are, they're just simply going to ignore you and keep doing whatever it is they prefer to do, which may include napping.
Keeping your cat active through interaction with you using toys and games such as those that involve removing food from a puzzle can help to heal and divert the focus from a traumatic memory or experience—think of it as creating new memories to take the place of those that caused fear.
Unlike dogs, whose memory span lasts only five minutes, cats' memory works for 16 hours. Accordingly, cats may stay mad for up to 16 hours, but generally, it takes a few hours before they forget and forgive.
These OCD animal obsessions often focus on intrusive thoughts that you are a bad person or the fear that you might secretly want to harm your pet. Similar to obsessions in other forms of Pure-O OCD, these violent obsessions often evoke a preponderance of Pure-O OCD mental rituals.