The holidays can be a joyful time for families, but they can be overwhelming for sensitive pets. Visitors, travel, and schedule changes are stressful, and that stress can take a toll on physical health.

When you are stressed, your immune system doesn’t work quite as well, and you might be more likely to get sick with a cold or flu. This is also true for dogs and cats. Sometimes, stress can trigger or worsen an autoimmune disease—a condition where the body mistakenly attacks its own healthy cells.

At Red Bank Veterinary Hospital in Hillsborough, our internal medicine team treats pets with a variety of immune-related conditions. Here’s what pet owners should know about stress, immune function, and autoimmune diseases in pets, and how you can minimize stress during and after the holidays to keep your pet feeling their best.

Stress in pets

Stress is the body’s natural response to a change, challenge, or demand. In people and pets, stress triggers the “fight or flight” response, which prepares the body to deal with a real or perceived threat.

Causes of stress in pets

In pets, common causes of stress include changes around the house, conflict with other pets, moving, construction, separation anxiety, noise phobias, fear, pain, and illness. When a pet is stressed, their body releases hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline. These hormones are helpful in short bursts, but persistent stress is harmful to the body.

Signs of stress in pets

Each pet expresses stress in different ways. Generally, you’ll notice a change in your pet’s behavior. Common signs of stress may include:

• Hiding or clinginess

• Loss of appetite or eating too fast

• Accidents in the house

• Shaking, panting, pacing, or drooling

• Excessive licking or grooming

• Hyperactivity or hypervigilance (being “on edge”)

• Vomiting or diarrhea

Holiday stress in pets

The holidays are a time of major disruption in most families’ schedules and households. Consider the changes your pet may experience during this time, such as guests coming and going, altered work and school schedules, unfamiliar decorations, travel, and boarding.

Even resilient pets who love guests and chaos can become stressed during the holidays. Like people, some pets are more sensitive to change than others, and you may not notice an obvious change right away. Sometimes, signs of stress or illness don’t appear until the stressful period has passed.

Stress and autoimmune disease in pets

Stress hormones can temporarily alter immune function by making the immune system more or less active. That means stressed pets may be more vulnerable to illness or flare-ups of existing conditions.

We know that certain conditions in dogs and cats are clearly linked to stress. These include:

• Upper respiratory and eye infections in cats

• Bladder inflammation (i.e., cystitis) or obstruction in cats

• Intestinal inflammation (i.e., colitis) in dogs

• Lick granulomas in dogs

• Overgrooming in cats

When it comes to autoimmune disease in pets, the connection with stress isn’t as clear. Studies in humans have shown that stress can trigger the onset of an autoimmune disease in a person with a genetic predisposition or make the condition harder to manage. Because these disorders behave similarly in people and animals, we can assume that pets with these disorders are also affected by stress.

Autoimmune diseases in pets can affect the blood cells, gastrointestinal tract, joints, skin, eyes, or internal organs, causing periods of illness and periods of feeling well (i.e., remission). But even in healthy pets, long-term stress can cause inflammation and other changes in overall health.

Helping your pet recover from holiday stress

Helping your pet settle back into their normal routine after a busy holiday can help to offset the effects of stress. Like people, pets feel better when their lives and routines are predictable.

Here are a few ways to support your pet’s recovery from a stressful season:

• Stick to a routine — Feed, walk, and interact with your pet at the same time each day.

• Encourage rest — Give your pet a quiet place where they can rest without being disturbed.

• Limit changes — Hold off on introducing new pets or other stressful events right away.

• Offer enrichment and exercise — Walks, play sessions, puzzle toys, and training help pets burn off nervous energy and generate feel-good, calming brain chemicals.

• Support calm — Ask our team about calming products, such as pheromones, supplements, or prescription medications that may help chronically stressed pets relax.

When to seek veterinary help

If you have any concerns about your pet’s physical or behavioral health during or after the holidays, call RBVH Hillsborough for help. Our primary care, emergency, and internal medicine teams work closely to manage autoimmune diseases in pets, from diagnosis and treatment to managing stress-related flare-ups and long-term care.

Contact us if you notice changes in your pet’s appetite, energy, habits, or behavior that appear after a stressful season. For pets with known or suspected autoimmune disease, schedule a visit with our internal medicine team.