Calming a anxious Peterbald in a cold flat

Cat anxiety is real and genuinely underestimated — cats are masters at masking stress, which means by the time you're noticing it, things are often already fairly uncomfortable for them. With a Peterbald specifically, you're dealing with a breed that has almost no insulating coat, so cold draughts aren't just unpleasant — they're a genuine physical stressor that can feed directly into anxious behaviour. Pheromone-based products are the most effective calming tools available, but placement matters enormously. Before I point you in the right direction, can you tell me what you're seeing from her — hiding, vocalising, over-grooming? And is the flat always cold, or is this a recent change like a broken radiator or moving in over winter?

That picture makes a lot of sense. Three months in, new environment, cold and draughty — for a Peterbald that's a triple whammy. The shaking is almost certainly both: she's physically cold, and the chronic low-level discomfort is keeping her in a stressed state. Hiding under the bed confirms she's looking for security she isn't finding elsewhere. Two things are happening simultaneously — she needs warmth restored as a baseline, and she needs the environment itself to feel safer. What room does she spend most of her time in, and does she have any spots she consistently returns to, even if it's just under the bed?

Perfect — that gives me exactly what I need. My recommendation is the Feliway Classic Plug-In Diffuser. It releases a synthetic version of the feline facial pheromone — the one cats deposit when they rub their face on things they feel safe around — and it works continuously in the background to reduce environmental anxiety. Plug it in the bedroom, away from the draughty window, ideally at cat height and not behind furniture. It won't work overnight, but most cats show a meaningful shift within two to four weeks. Critically for a Peterbald: also get her heated blanket sorted before anything else, because no pheromone product will fully work if she's physically cold and uncomfortable. The diffuser addresses the psychological layer of her anxiety; warmth addresses the physical root. Get both right and you should see her back on the sofa within a month.

Yes, there's a Feliway Classic Spray, and using it on the sofa is actually a reasonable idea — spray it about 15 minutes before you want her to use the spot, not while she's there, and let it dry fully first. But I'd treat that as a secondary tool, not the main one. The diffuser does the heavy lifting by maintaining a constant baseline in the room. The spray is useful for targeted spots or one-off situations like a car journey. For your setup — a draughty flat where the anxiety is ambient and ongoing — the diffuser is the right core product. Get that running in the bedroom first, sort the heated blanket, and then use the spray on the sofa as an extra nudge once she's already starting to settle.

Good plan — and honestly, the blanket might make the biggest immediate difference. Peterbalds can't self-regulate temperature the way coated cats can, so warmth is foundational for them in a way it isn't for other breeds. Give the diffuser a full month before you judge it, and try to keep it consistently plugged in rather than switching it off between uses. If she's still hiding after four to six weeks with both things in place, it's worth a vet check to rule out anything else going on — but based on what you've described, environment is almost certainly the driver here.