Dear Human 💕,

It looks like you’re having a panic attack.

Your heart is racing, you’re getting all tense, you start sweating, your breathing gets shallow, you get big eyes, and your tail gets all puffy.

Here’s what you need to know:

Your body is trying to keep you safe. If it senses that you might be in danger, it reacts immediately. There is no time to think.

It doesn’t matter, if your life is really in danger or not. The threat can be real or imagined:

• a dog growling at you
• a stranger a the apartment
• a job interview
• a presentation at work
• flying in one of those airplanes I keep seeing up in the sky when looking for birds
• the doorbell

If anything is perceived as a threat, your internal alarm system is triggered, and it is getting you ready to fight or escape. The only thing that matters in that moment is to survive. Nothing else matters.

What can you do, when the alarm system goes off?

Check out what’s happening around you.

If the threat is real – the dog is charging at you – run and hide in the closet!

If it seems your body is overreacting, appreciate that your body is trying to keep you safe. Then, try to calm your body down.

• • Focus on your breathing and take long, deep breaths

• • Splash some ice water into your face. Most cats don’t like it, but it seems to work great for humans.

• • Move. For me, racing up and down the hallway and “attacking” the scratching post works well.

After you calmed down, think about what triggered your alarm system.

For example, I asked myself are those visiting humans really dangerous?

You invited them in and you’re not hissing at them. You are feeding them a lot of treats. Usually, they end up sitting around the table with you, holding cards, rolling dice, moving little wooden cubes around. They have never tried to attack you or me. So, I think they’re safe to be around.

Stay safe.

Yours,
Cat 🐾

P.S. If your body is constantly in a state of alarm, it will wear you out. It will cause all sorts of issues for your body. Watch out for yourself!