How can I help my cats cope with stress?

[ShinyGreenElephant]

I've got two beautiful cats, both 14 years old. Still in good health but obviously they're old ladies now and love their peace and quiet. 3 years ago we got a new kitchen and they absolutely hated it and us - they scratched the house to bits and weed absolutely everywhere not just while it was going on but for ages afterwards too, and one of them became quite aggressive for a while. Were getting a new bathroom next week and I'm worried about how they will cope.

They wouldn't tolerate a cattery at all, tried it years ago when we went away and they were desperately unhappy. We cant keep them locked downstairs away from the noise and disruption as one has her territory upstairs and one down so this would cause even more stress, it was a big part of the problem last time. I already have Feliway plug ins ready to put in around the house. Any other tips how I can make this easier for them?

Try Zylkene capsules. THey worked on my pair of very nervous cats when I first got them for around firework night & NYE. I open the capsules & sprinkle the contents on their wet food and they seem to enjoy the taste, so no forcing the cats to take pills.

Brilliant I will look those up, thanks

Start preparing them early by moving their resources (food, beds litter trays, scratching posts) into secure areas where they'll be confined whilst the work goes on. Put feliway plug ins in these rooms. Add zylkene to their food.
Leave a radio/cd player on with reggae or soft rock or classical music on (but only low tempo, not dramatic classical, relaxed reggae like UB40 is good)

Keep them confined in these rooms during work.

Once work complete give everything a good hoover and clean, spray feliway spray on floorings and new furnishings, pay special attention to front door/hallway area where new smells will have been tracked in.

Keep new bathroom off limits to cats for a couple of weeks until you've used it and it smells more like you. Put a couple of extra litter trays down in hallway, landing, areas where disruption has occurred.

Basically cats hate any disruption to their environmental scent profile and multiple triggers (noise, smells, restricted environment) happening in a short space of time will be stressful. So spreading out the stressors, and minimising them where possible by using feliway and zylkene will help.