Twelve signals, 5 minutes a day, 2 windows, one score out of 24. That is the whole method. Cats hide stress by going quiet, so the checklist is built to catch subtraction — less eating, less sleeping in the open, less coming to you — rather than drama. Score it daily for 7 days before you change anything, because a single bad day after a delivery is not a trend.
Pick 2 windows and stand still
Use 08:00 and 20:00, or the 2 hours your cat is normally most active. Each window is 300 seconds: 90 seconds standing still in the doorway without calling, 60 seconds at 1 m doing nothing, 90 seconds of ordinary routine such as filling a bowl, and 60 seconds writing the score. Do not test the cat, do not pick it up, do not offer a hand. A cat that performs for the observer is a cat you are measuring wrong.
The 12 signals, scored 0, 1 or 2
0 means absent, 1 means seen 1 or 2 times in the 24 hours, 2 means 3 or more times or present for more than 30 minutes. Maximum 24. The 12 items cover body language, movement, grooming, elimination, appetite and voice.
- 1. Ears: rotated back or flattened for more than 30 seconds, not just a 2 second flick at a sound.
- 2. Pupils: more than half the iris in normal indoor light, held for 60 seconds.
- 3. Whiskers and cheeks: whiskers fanned forward and cheeks pulled back, held while the cat is still.
- 4. Tail: tip flicking more than 3 times a minute at rest, or tail tucked under the belly.
- 5. Posture: crouched with weight on the hind legs, head below the shoulder line, for over 10 seconds.
- 6. Freezing: stops mid-step for more than 10 seconds during a normal routine such as feeding.
- 7. Hiding: more than 4 hours a day in 1 spot, or no appearance at either 5 minute window.
- 8. Grooming: bald patch over 1 cm, or 3 or more sessions longer than 5 minutes in a day.
- 9. Elimination: any spray, or 1 or more misses outside the box in 7 days.
- 10. Appetite: intake down more than 25 percent for 2 days, or 1 skipped meal.
- 11. Voice: more than 2 yowling bouts after 23:00, or hissing when you approach within 1 m.
- 12. Sleep: under 12 hours, or waking to sounds below 50 dB, 2 or more times a night.
Group scores tell you where to look
| Group | Items | Max | Alert at | First move |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Body language | 4 | 8 | 5 | Add distance and 1 high perch |
| Avoidance | 3 | 6 | 4 | Restore 1 hiding place and 1 route |
| Self care | 3 | 6 | 3 | Book a vet check in 7 days |
| Voice and sleep | 2 | 4 | 3 | Check night routine and light |
| Total | 12 | 24 | 8 | Change 3 environment items, re-score in 7 days |
A high body language group with a low self care group is usually an acute, situational stressor: a new person, a builder, a moved sofa. A low body language group with a high self care group is the opposite and the more worrying pattern, because the cat has stopped signalling and started paying in skin, weight or litter box behavior.
Reading the total in 4 bands
0 to 3 is a stable week and needs nothing beyond the log. 4 to 7 means 1 stressor is present: keep scoring for 7 days and change 1 thing, usually noise at 22:00 or a closed door. 8 to 13 means the cat is living with a chronic load and needs 3 changes in 14 days plus a re-score. 14 and above, or any score at 2 on item 10, needs a vet visit within 48 hours, because appetite loss and hiding together are the 2 signals most often tied to pain or dental disease rather than to furniture. Score 2 on item 9 with straining in the box, especially in a male cat, is an emergency: no urine for 12 hours is a same-hour clinic visit, not a behavior note.
What not to do while scoring
Do not score while you are stressed; owners under deadline score their cats 2 to 4 points higher on average, which is why the log needs the same 2 windows every day. Do not read 1 signal as a diagnosis: a tail flick at 18:00 after 9 hours alone is information about the day, not about the cat's personality. Do not punish a spray or a missed box, since every punishment adds 1 more stressor to the 12 you are already counting. Do not add a second cat, a puppy, or a renovation during the 7 day baseline. And do not stop scoring when the number falls, because the 3 weeks after a fix is where relapse shows up first.
Use the score to test 1 change at a time
Each change needs a number and a date. Noise at 22:00 becomes a 50 dB white-noise track from 21:30. Hiding becomes a covered box at 1.2 m by the window, plus 1 shelf on the return route. Appetite becomes 4 small meals a day at 07:00, 12:00, 18:00 and 22:00, weighed to the gram. Then re-score 7 days later; a drop of 2 points on 1 group is a real signal with 7 days of data behind it, and 3 flat weeks means the change did not touch the driver. Cats that score high on items 1 to 4 before a carrier comes out usually need a separate desensitisation plan, and the same is true for cats that score 2 on item 11 the night before a trip: see the vet visit stress plan and the car travel routine. If the score stays above 8 with no obvious trigger, check whether breed-typical activity needs are being met with the breed quiz before adding more hiding places.
Five minutes, 7 days, one page
Keep the page simple: date, 2 window times, 12 boxes, group subtotals, total, and 1 line on what happened that day. Seven rows fit on one sheet and 4 sheets cover a month. Bring the sheet to the vet rather than a description, since 28 days of numbers answers in 30 seconds what 10 minutes of talking cannot. The point of the checklist is not to prove the cat is stressed; it is to notice a shift of 3 points before it becomes a 3 month problem.
Frequently asked
Is 5 minutes a day really enough observation?
Two 300 second windows are enough to show a trend, provided they happen at the same times and from the same spot. A camera can add night data, but it does not replace standing there, because posture and freezing are the 2 signals a fixed lens usually misses.
Do I have to see a vet if the score is high?
A total of 14 or more, or a 2 on appetite, means a vet visit within 48 hours. A total of 8 to 13 starts with 3 environment changes and a re-score in 14 days. A male cat straining with no urine for 12 hours is a same-day emergency, whatever the score.
Can I compare two cats by their totals?
No. The sheet measures one cat against its own baseline, and two cats start from different points. A cat that normally scores 8 and drops to 4 needs more attention than a cat that has sat at 10 for months.