Diary of a Cat Mom
Diary of a Cat Mom is a reflective cat podcast created and hosted by Dagmar Gatell about understanding cats more deeply â and creating a calmer, more connected life for both you and your cats.
Based on real experiences caring for over 50 cats throughout her life, each episode shares quiet observations, emotional moments, caregiving reflections, and gentle insights from everyday life with cats. From routines, behavior, and emotional wellbeing to grief, gratitude, overstimulation, trust, and the small meaningful moments many people overlook â this is not a traditional âhow-toâ podcast, but a space for understanding, awareness, and lived experience.
Beyond cat care itself, Diary of a Cat Mom also explores our connection to nature, emotional presence, personal growth, and the way our inner state can influence the animals who share our lives. Because living with cats is never only about feeding and routines â itâs also about energy, safety, trust, patience, and how we show up emotionally in the spaces we create together.
Created for cat lovers who see their cats as family, this podcast offers companionship, reassurance, perspective, and emotional support during seasons of caregiving, uncertainty, healing, change, and letting go.
Diary of a Cat Mom is a personal storytelling podcast and does not replace professional veterinary advice. Every cat is unique, and medical or behavioral concerns should always be discussed with a trusted veterinarian or qualified professional.
Youâre not alone on this journey.
Weâre learning, loving, and growing together â one paw print at a time.
Diary of a Cat Mom
Ep. 72 - Why Is My Cat's Hair Standing Up? đ±âĄ
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Why does your cat's fur suddenly stand up?
As a cat mom, I've seen this happen during happy moments, exciting moments, and even tense confrontations between outdoor cats. In this Diary of a Cat Mom podcast episode, I share what I learned about piloerectionâthe scientific term for raised fur in catsâand why the rest of your cat's body language matters more than the fur itself.
What You'll Learn in this Cat Podcast Episode
- What piloerection means in cats
- Why cats raise their fur when frightened, defensive, or excited
- The difference between playful puffing and aggressive body language
- What I learned during a territorial cat confrontation during TNR wor
- When raised fur may signal a health issue that requires veterinary attention
- Why looking at the whole cat is more important than focusing on one behavior
Timestamps & Chapters
00:00 Introduction
00:31 When My Cats Raise Their Tail Fur
01:14 A TNR Cat Territory Dispute
02:30 Looking Beyond The Fur
03:18 What Is Piloerection?
04:07 Excitement vs Fear vs Aggression
05:02 When Raised Fur May Signal A Health Issue
05:45 Reading The Whole Cat
06:23 Gentle Takeaway
This is where Iâve gathered everything that supports me and my cats:
https://diaryofacatmom.com/cat-care-resources/
About the Diary of a Cat Mom Podcast
Diary of a Cat Mom is a quiet, personal cat podcast created by Dagmar Gatell, sharing real moments, emotions, and experiences from life with cats.
This space is meant for connection, comfort, and companionship. Everything shared comes from lived experience as a cat mom and is not intended as professional veterinary advice. Every cat is unique, and for health concerns, itâs always best to consult your trusted veterinarian.
Most of all, please remember:
Youâre not alone on this journey. Weâre learning, loving, and growing together â one paw print at a time.
Diary of a cat mom. Today's diary entry while your cat's hair stands up. You're listening to Diary of a Cat Mom. Have you ever looked at your cat and suddenly noticed the first standing up along their back or their tail? It can look surprising, especially if your cat normally seems calm and relaxed. Sometimes it happens during play, sometimes during a confrontation with another cat. And sometimes it can leave us wondering if something is wrong. As a cat mom, I learned that raised fur is not always the same thing. The reason behind it depends on what the rest of the cat's body is telling us. I normally only see the hair stand up on my cats when I touch them near the base of their tail. Many of my cats, they enjoy that spot totally. They get excited, lift their tail high in the air, and fur on their tail puffs up slightly. They seem happy, energized, and playful. But a few times over the years during my TNR trap noodle and release work, I witnessed something totally different. Like there were two outdoor cats. You could see they were ready to fight for territory. At first they couldn't tell which cat was the aggressor and which cat was frightened. Both had their fur standing up and both looked very tense. So first I tried to call loudly to interrupt them, but none of the cats paid attention to it. So then I looked beyond the fur and I could see one cat had the ears totally positioned differently and was leaning forward, challenging the other cat. And the second cat looked more defensive. And in this moment I realized that the race fur alone wasn't telling me the whole story. Thanks God I had a water bottle, splashed some water in the direction of the oppressor, and the sudden interruption startled them and he ran away. So that was great. And allowing the situation to calm down. But what I learned is that raised fur in cats, which the name is pido reaction, is an uh automatic nervous system response similar to goosebumps in humans and cats. They raise the fur to appear larger when they are frightened or defensive or startled or sometimes aggressive. And the raised fur can make them look bigger and more intimidating. So that's the goal. But the raised fur doesn't always mean danger. Sometimes it happens when a cat is playing and becomes very excited or overstimulated. And sometimes only the tail puffs up when the cat experienced a burst of excitement. Sometimes it can be a sudden noise or movement what startles the cat and creates this. Or in colder temperatures, raised fur can even help trap warmth. So the biggest lesson for me was to stop looking only at the fur and start looking at the whole cat to really identify what is the situation. Like what's the position of the ears? Is the cat hissing or crowling? What's the body language? Is it leaning forward aggressively or trying to move away defensively? So the rest of the body language really tells the whole story. A wrist tail alone with puffiness can just mean perhaps it's excited, but with flattened ear and hissing and arched back, then it's an increscent. And so I learned really that it also can be like a health issue, like can come from skin irritation, pain or behavior issues. And in this case, it's really worth talking to a vet to find out more and get treatment for the cats. Today, when I see a cat's hair standing up, I don't immediately assume it's fear or a crash and or something else. Instead, I pause and look at the whole picture, the bigger picture, so that the fur is simply one signal, but the ears, the eyes, the posture, the tail, the breathing, the skin, and the overall behavior really tells the whole story. And often just giving a frightened cat a little space or separating two overstimulated cats for a short period of time can prevent that the situation becomes something bigger. So sometimes your cat's race first saying, I'm scared, another time it can say I'm excited. And then another time is really that you pay more attention to the other signals to identify what it could be if it's not frightened and not excited. But most important is that we love our cats and give them the time they need to create for them a kind environment so we can live with them in the most peaceful, healthy way possible. So thank you for being here with me today. This is Diary of a Cat Mom. Don't miss the next episode. There's always another lesson, another story ready to be shared. I will talk to you in the next entry. Diary of a cat mom.