Stress Response

Stress response is a non-specific reaction that animals have to various stresses or stimuli. It is regulated by the nervous and endocrine systems. When the body is stimulated, the sympathetic-adrenal medullary system is activated, and a large amount of adrenaline and noradrenaline are released, causing a series of physiological reactions such as increased heart rate, elevated blood pressure, increased blood sugar, and heightened excitability of the central nervous system.

Different types of pets show different manifestations of stress response, and the degree of response also varies significantly. In general, once a pet experiences stress, it can lead to emotional and behavioral abnormalities such as nervousness, loss of appetite, hair standing on end, and accelerated breathing. In severe cases, it can lead to physiological diseases such as diarrhea, vomiting, and decreased immunity. For animals with fur like cats and dogs, stress response can also lead to premature shedding. In the most severe cases, stress response can lead to sudden death, such as someone forcibly walking a cat leading to the cat's sudden death. Due to species differences, solitary cats are more prone to severe stress responses, even leading to fatal conditions like feline infectious peritonitis (FIP). Under normal circumstances, feline coronavirus does not cause disease in cats and can coexist with them, but when a cat experiences a severe stress response and its immunity drops, the feline coronavirus takes advantage of the situation, leading to FIP. Although stress response has many negative effects on animals, it is essentially an ability to cope with emergencies, rapidly increasing the animal's reaction speed, muscle strength, and explosive power. This sudden increase in ability, while affecting the balance of various systems in the body and leading to the harmful side effects mentioned earlier, plays a crucial role in the survival of animals.