Signs that your cat is already suffering from significant whisker stress...
You have surely watched your cat eating or drinking from time to time. If your cat eats or drinks almost exclusively or mainly from the centre of the bowl, there may well be a good reason for this. This behaviour of your cat provides an insight into how she feels in this situation: probably not very comfortable! The reason is simple: if your cat's whiskers constantly touch the sides of the bowl while eating or drinking because the bowl is too narrow and has a rim/side wall that is too high – perhaps even vertical – this can easily overwhelm its extremely sensitive receptors or overstimulate its synapses through constant stimulation. This, in turn, often leads to what is known as whisker stress. In any case, it is simply unpleasant for your cat.
If you notice one or more of the following signs, it is quite possible that your cat is already suffering from significant whisker stress.
One of the characteristics of whisker stress – if not the main characteristic par excellence – is that cats regularly spurn most of the food on the edge of the bowl. It is simply too unpleasant, if not painful, for them to expose their whiskers to permanent, severe irritation at the edge of the unsuitable bowl. The cat therefore prefers to concentrate on the food in the centre.
Another characteristic is that your cat stops eating after a short time. She would rather go without than go through the above ordeal for longer.
A no less typical sign of whisker stress is when a cat fishes its food out of the bowl and prefers to eat from the floor. While this behaviour is always funny to watch and can even be done purely for fun, it should definitely be taken seriously.
Even if cats repeatedly walk up and down in front of a filled, narrow food bowl (or water bowl) with a high, steep rim/side wall, possible whisker stress should always be considered.
If your cat acts hungry but still doesn't want to eat from its (unsuitable) bowl, whisker stress is certainly not ruled out.
A rather rare but still possible sign of whisker stress is aggressive behaviour towards other cats when eating.
It's important for you as a cat owner to understand that while all of these feeding problems indicate whisker stress, they can also be signs of other health issues. Always rule these out by taking your cat to the vet and discussing your observations if you notice one or more of the behaviours mentioned above. Something more serious than whisker fatigue could be to blame, such as kidney disease, dental disease, or gastrointestinal disease, among others.
