Season Change Brings Changing Cats

Cats live through their senses – light levels, temperatures, colors, odors, sounds – all these are constantly being taken in, monitored, assimilated and assessed by our cats and all these change with the seasons. So do the changes of seasons affect our cats? The clear answer is yes and it isn’t just feral or outdoor cats that are affected.

Generally cats are more active during Spring and Fall when the weather is more comfortable – not cold nor too hot. When it is hot they prefer to lounge around on cool surfaces and do not much and in winter cold, most prefer to curl up somewhere warm.

All this is more true for outdoor cats but applies as well to our house mates. All of cats’ instincts are hardwired so seasonal changes evoke ancient patterns of behavior. And seasonal changes may well include many more stimuli than we tend to notice.

The light is different, the air feels different, the sounds, whether from nature or passing vehicles, even peoples’ voices sound different and much of this is due to atmospheric changes brought on by seasonal changes.

Further, there is a designation for a seasonal problem to which people are prone called SAD, which may affect felines too. SAD  stands for Seasonal Affective Disorder and you can learn about it here.

Other changes brought about by the changes of the seasons may include your cats’ appearance – particularly the fur, and changes in eating habits. You can learn more about both those here.

It might be interesting for you to observe and see if you detect any differences in your cats appearance and behavior with the changing seasons. If you do, we’d love to hear what you’ve noticed. So if you care to, email us at thirstycats@gmail.com with the subject line of  “seasons”, without the quotes.