Adopting a pet isn’t as easy as going down to your local shelter and picking out a bunch of kittens to go home with you. There are procedures to follow. Basically, any shelter worth their salt will put in the effort to check if you and your future best buddy are a good match. That can mean filling out a few forms or having a chat about whether you’ll have enough space for them at home and what your schedule is like.

After all, taking care of a pet isn’t all fun and games (though, admittedly, it’s a large part of it!)—you’re responsible for the life of another being. That means feeding it, giving it all the love and vet care it needs, making sure it gets along with all of your other pets, and that it acclimates properly to its new home.

For example, PDSA vet Anna Ewers Clark pointed out to Bored Panda that you have to think about the logistics of owning several pets. We had a chat with her about what to do specifically if your cat, a notoriously subtle and territorial pet, is feeling stressed out and anxious.

“If you have a multi-cat household showing signs of stress, then make sure you have at least one resource for every cat, plus one extra. So if you have two cats, provide three of everything—bowls, beds, litter trays, etc. Spread these things out around your house so that they can always avoid each other if they want to,” she said.

Vet Anna noted that even if some pets do prefer each other’s company, you should ideally have enough space for them so they can be alone if they want to. “It’s important to make sure your cats are able to get around without having to cross each other’s paths. This could be by making sure there are plenty of entrances/exits for them to use or by creating ‘vertical space’ with high shelves or furniture so your cats can pass each other at different levels,” she told Bored Panda.

However, recognizing if your pet is displeased might be more difficult than you’d expect. They won’t tell you that there’s something wrong outright like a human being would (though, to be completely fair, people tend to be very secretive and passive-aggressive, too). And while with some pets it’ll be very obvious when something’s wrong, others can show only very subtle, nuanced signs.

PDSA vet Anna shared that this subtle displeasure and stress can manifest itself in ways that require the owner to constantly compare their current actions to their previous ones. In short, you have to keep your eyes and ears open at all times. “Stressed cats may simply hide more, move around less, sleep more, over-groom themselves, or be more reluctant to play,” she said.

“They may simply spend less time in the house, preferring time roaming outdoors than having to spend time in ‘shared territory or start avoiding certain areas of the home.’”

Meanwhile, severe or chronic stress can have very serious negative outcomes. For example, in cats, it can make them physically ill and make them suffer from feline cystitis, a very painful bladder condition. “If your cat shows any difficulty in urinating, has blood in their wee, or changes their toileting habits, contact your vet straight away,” the vet said.