Early signals
- Ears rotating sideways
- Tail flicking
- Crouched body
- Reduced play
Escalating signals
- Hiding more often
- Puffed tail
- Dilated pupils
- Growling or hissing
Health overlap
- Not eating
- Litter box changes
- Overgrooming
- Sudden aggression
Quick signal check flow
1
Remove the trigger
Give your cat a safe route away from visitors, noise, children, or other animals.
2
Track duration
Stress that resolves quickly is different from hiding or appetite changes that continue.
3
Separate behavior from illness
When stress signs appear with eating, bathroom, or pain changes, treat it as a vet question.
Risk levels
Watch
Brief tension around a clear trigger, followed by normal behavior.
Monitor closely
Repeated hiding, reduced play, or recurring stress in the same situation.
Call a professional
Not eating, litter box changes, pain signs, severe hiding, or sudden aggression.
Get a visual signal report
PetSignalAI reviews the actual photo or short video, identifies visible cues, and summarizes whether the situation looks like relax, monitor, or call-a-professional territory.