Pet triggered anxiety

[Julianne65]

Hello. We adopted a lovely little 2 year old cat recently and although I love her she has triggered health anxiety in me and it's making me spiral. I am absolutely terrified that she will come to harm in some way.

Last night when I was going through the kitchen drawers I noticed a leaking battery (it has a little bit of white powder on it) and I became terrified that if I move it to dispose of it I will disperse the powder and I won't see it, she will put a paw in it and poison or blind herself when cleaning her fur.

My DH thinks I am being irrational. The battery is in a plastic tub with a lot of other batteries and I want to dispose of them all at the local shop and the tub too. He thinks I'm going over the top. I woke up at 4am this morning worrying.

Is there a way to make my brain think logically so I can deal with this in a reasonable and normal way? I have already considered putting on old clothes, rubber cloves and getting rid of them that way (walking to the shop in rubber gloves to dispose of them in the recycling tub wouldn't be too crazy would it?).

Thank goodness I don't have children! I wouldn't be able to function.

You need to look at the evidence. What are the chances if its in a plastic tub of your cat getting to it? I'm going to say slim to none. Keep that in mind. Also speak to your gp. I'm not a professional but as someone who suffers with ocd you sound like you may have traits and there's help available

Yes, this kind of thinking can be helped - but you do need to be willing to work at it. Rather than spiralling into worry you do need to think about the likelihood and level of risk and the consequences. Then you have to accept that there's a degree of risk you can't control.
My DD also has OCD and this type of thinking is very familiar to her - she's learnt to recognise (mostly) when it's an intrusive thought.
'Normal' levels of anxiety are perfectly good things - they've kept us safe for thousands of years, but when those anxieties impact on our ability to function and sleep something is out of balance.
Read up on some techniques to help yourself de-escalate from catastrophic thinking and if that doesn't help, go see your GP. Some people find CBT very helpful.

Ps. Your cat will be fine. Just get rid of the battery.

So what happens when you get rid of the batteries? What's the next trigger?

Hard to believe this has come out of the blue. Have you never been (over) anxious about anything in the past?

You are being totally irrational, but that is the nature of anxiety. Rather then keep on and getting worse, you should seek help now to control this.

I have had health anxiety but usually I am able to control it as it is my own health and I can tell how I feel and I can review my symptoms and talk myself down. I think this is because I have no real control of her to an extend and I can't talk to her and explain things to her lol.

Thank you to everyone. This has been very useful. I actually have an appointment on Friday with the doctor in regards to the menopause as I think I am perimenopausal and I understand it can also cause anxiety.