Calming a Scottish Fold anxious around noise

Cat anxiety is genuinely underestimated — cats are experts at masking stress, so by the time you're seeing clear signs like over-eating or skittishness around noise, it's usually been building for a while. Pheromone-based products are the most consistently effective option, but placement and consistency matter a lot. To point you toward the right thing: do you know what's triggering the noise stress — is it something like building work, kids, a TV, or just general household activity? And is this a recent change, or has your Fold always been sensitive to it?

That makes a lot of sense. Scottish Folds are often more noise-sensitive than people expect — they tend to be calm on the surface but they feel things quite deeply, and a consistently loud environment is exactly the kind of low-grade chronic stressor that builds up. The over-eating is a classic displacement behaviour; she's self-soothing. Has she got a quiet room she retreats to, or does she tend to stay in the main living spaces even when it's noisy?

That tells me she's not in full-blown fear mode — she wants to be around the family, she's just not coping well with the noise level. That's actually a good sign, because it means you don't need to overhaul her environment, you just need to take the edge off her baseline stress. My clear recommendation here is the Feliway Classic plug-in diffuser. It releases a synthetic version of the facial pheromone cats deposit when they rub their face on things — it's a 'this place is safe' signal, and it works at a constant low level throughout the day. Plug it in the living room where she spends most of her time, and give it two full weeks before you judge whether it's working. Most owners start seeing a difference in restlessness and repetitive behaviours — including stress-eating — within ten to fourteen days.

For your situation, one is almost certainly enough to start. Each Feliway Classic diffuser covers up to 70 square metres, but more importantly, you want it in the room where the stress is actually happening — which is your living room. If she also shows signs of anxiety upstairs, you could add a second one there later, but start with one in the main space and see how she responds. The refills last about 30 days and are easy to find on Amazon. One thing worth doing alongside it: give her a designated high-up spot in the living room — a cat tree or even a shelf — so she has somewhere to survey the room from a safer vantage point. That won't fix the stress alone, but it gives her more agency in a noisy space.

That's the right call. Give it a consistent two weeks — don't unplug it during that period even if you're not sure it's working yet. If after a month the stress-eating is still significant, it's worth going back to your vet to rule out any underlying issue, but for noise-related anxiety in a Fold this age, Feliway Classic is the first tool I'd reach for every time. Good luck with her.