Do Pets Get the January Blues?
If your pet seems to be down in the dumps in the New Year, here’s why – and what you can do to help
After the excitement of the festive season, many of us get the ‘January blues’ as we adjust back to a regular routine again. There’s still a while before the evenings get lighter, and there’s no longer the thought of the holidays to look forward to.
But it might not just be us humans who are affected. This year, research from Guide Dogsopens in new tab found out that pets might experience their own version of the January blues, with shorter walks, less playtime and more time by themselves. They might not experience seasonal affective disorder like humans, but you might notice changes in your pet’s behaviour after the New Year.
So, what is it that triggers our pets, and what can we do to help them manage the transition back to normality? We’ve spoken to the experts to find out.
Do pets really get January blues?
Well, sort of – but maybe not in the way we think of it. They aren’t stressed about going back to work, trying to save money or making sure this is the year you keep up that gym membership or those Spanish lessons. But the impact of January on us can have a knock-on effect on our pets.
How much do you spend on your pet per year?
Almost a quarter (23 percent) of dog parents surveyed by Guide Dogsopens in new tab admitted to cutting walks shorter or skipping them, with 20 percent rushing through them. For 17 percent, playtime or training sessions were reduced, while 13 percent said their dogs were spending more time alone compared to the festive season. And 21 percent said that dark mornings meant delays in leaving the house, disrupting their dog’s routine, which is corroborated by a 2022 studyopens in new tab suggesting that intense weather can have an impact on our pets’ behaviour.
Over half (59 percent) noticed changes in the dog’s behaviour in January, with common signs including restlessness, lethargy, anxiety and boredom. And with a huge 94 percent of those surveyed believing their pets can sense human emotions, it’s not surprising that our own low mood in the New Year could rub off on our animals.
When humans get the January blues, it’s often seasonal affective disorder. This condition occurs when people struggle with depressive symptoms at the same time each year, and is usually associated with the winter months.
“The reasons our pets may seem ‘down’ at this time of year are often very different,” says vet and clinical animal behaviourist Dr Hannah Donovan of the Donovan Veterinary Behaviour Practiceopens in new tab. “From an indoor pet’s point of view, their world may look completely different in December and January, too. Many households change routine dramatically over the festive period, and while some animals cope well, others find this incredibly stressful.”
As she puts it, animals can suffer from the January blues, but not for the same reasons as humans.
Why January affects our pets
Post-holiday routine changes
Our routine is different over the festive period. You might have more time off work than usual, more frequent visitors, and greater opportunity to spend quality time with your pets. When your routine then changes again in January, with fewer visitors, a return to work and less chance to give your pets attention, they might find this difficult to adjust to.
Weather and shorter daylight hours
Pets might not get seasonal affective disorder like us, but they can still struggle with the weather. They might be stuck indoors more than usual, while decreased sunlight can impact the production of hormones like melatonin and serotonin. More of the former can make them more sleepy and less of the latter can lower their mood.
Reduced exercise and outdoor time
Dogs, in particular, can find this tricky to adjust to. Over the holidays, they might get taken for longer walks as people are off work, or have more time to play in the garden as their humans are on hand to let them in and out. With the return to work, walks might be shorter or more rushed.
End of festive treats and excitement
Many people buy their pets new treats and toys over the festive season, or even a pet-friendly Christmas dinner. While they don’t understand the concept of Christmas or other holidays themselves, they know they’re getting more treats than usual. Fast-forward to January, and they’re back to their usual diet.
How your January blues affects your pet
As the Guide Dogs research found, almost all of us believe our pets can sense our emotions. And there’s evidence that cats and dogs use things like our body language, facial expressions and tone of voice to work out how we’re feeling. Dogs and cats can even smell stress in humans, too.
Our emotions can rub off on our pets – which is unsurprising when you consider how much time we spend with our animals and the close bonds we share. Research increasingly explores how human depression affects pets. When their humans are stressed or down, both cats and dogs have been shown to comfort their humans or even become stressed themselves.
Signs your pet is responding to your low mood
Clinginess or withdrawal. Your pet might try to be close to you, following you around at home, lying next to you or resting a paw on you. Or, they might become more withdrawn and keep their distance as they try to figure out how you’re feeling.
Changes in appetite. Often, pets will respond to changes in emotional state by altering their feeding habits. You might find that they lose some interest in food, or – though this is less common – potentially look for extra treats or more food as a way to cope.
Destructive behaviour. If your pet starts scratching, chewing or exhibits other destructive behaviour, they aren’t being naughty or disobedient for the sake of it. They’re unsettled and stressed by the changes in emotion they can sense.
Lethargy matching yours. Often, pets will mirror their owners in this way. If you’re not as active as usual, your pet might match you and appear more tired or lethargic than usual.
Attention-seeking behaviours. Just as your pet might become more clingy, they might also try to get your attention by pawing you, nudging you, trying to give you toys or being more vocal.
The guilt cycle: how feeling bad can make things worse
If you’re feeling low and you think your pet might be picking up on it, it’s probably not going to make you feel any better – no one wants to think that they’re making their pet feel sad, stressed or miserable.
But feeling guilty can make things worse, creating a vicious cycle in which you feel down, your pet reacts accordingly, you feel worse, and your pet again reacts. Essentially, you’re feeding off each other’s emotions.
And, when we feel guilty, it’s natural to want to overcompensate by overthinking our pet’s normal responses, offering frequent reassurance or disrupting routines. This can make them more anxious, despite our thinking we’re helping to comfort them.
Pets function as emotional barometers of sorts, being sensitive to our emotions and mirroring or absorbing them. To that end, says Dr Donovan. “The January blues that pets experience stem from disrupted routines, overstimulation, lack of rest, reduced enrichment, sudden loneliness after extra holiday attention, or fear or stress leftover from visitors or fireworks.”
If we veer too far one way or the other in our guilt, either overstimulating our pets or withdrawing from them further, it could be counterproductive.
Tips for maintaining pet wellbeing when you’re struggling
Make walks and play sessions little and often. Rather than one long walk in the morning before work or a big play session in the evening, try to aim for little and often. If you’re able to take your dog on a short walk in the morning and another after work, or play with your pets in short bursts throughout the day, this can help keep them happy – and it’s not likely to be as overwhelming for you, either.
Try low-energy enrichment activities. If you’re finding it difficult to provide the enrichment yourself, consider offering your pet things like puzzle feeders, snuffle mats and lick mats to keep them entertained. If you’d like to engage with them without being too active, you could sit on the sofa with a dangler toy to keep your cat amused, or play fetch with your dog while sitting down.
Ask for help from friends or dog walkers. Maybe you’ve got friends or relatives who’d be only too happy to come over and spend time with your pet or take your dog for a walk for you. Or, money permitting, you could reach out to dog walkers in your area to see if they have capacity to take on new clients.
Keep maintaining a routine even when you don’t feel like it. This might be easier said than done, but maintaining even some semblance of a routine when you’re struggling will help both you and your pet. Keeping things like feeding times consistent will help your pets feel more stable, and can ease your own feelings of guilt, too.
Signs your dog has the January blues
When it comes to the January blues in dogs, there are signs to look out for. Helena Woodfieldopens in new tab, clinical animal behaviourist, outlines the following:
increased sleep
loss of joyful demeanour or excitable spark
less excitement for walks or other favourite things
loss of appetite
hyper-attachment
“Dogs are very intuitive and sensitive to people,” says Helena. “They’ve been domesticated over so long to co-exist with us in a way that no other animal really has been.”
If you’re not sure whether your dog might be susceptible to the January blues, or might simply adjust to changes in a normal manner, she has a simple suggestion to try: “If you ask yourself whether your dog is more likely to remember a really good experience or more likely to internalise the negative, that might tell you a bit about how susceptible they could be to the January blues.”
If you spot mild changes in your dog, and they go away within a couple of weeks, there’s probably no reason to be overly concerned. But if symptoms like reduced appetite, or persistent anxiety or lethargy, remain, it would be a good idea to speak to a professional.
Signs your cat has the January blues
If you’re concerned that your cat might have the January blues, veterinary surgeon and clinical animal behaviourist Dr Madeleine Tothamopens in new tab describes the following signs:
sleeping more
reduced play
changes in interaction with humans and hiding more frequently
overgrooming
aggression
“Cats are extremely sensitive to changes in routine, so as we change our routine for the winter, this can affect them,” says Dr Totham. “Cats value choice, control and consistency and if they do not have these they can become stressed.”
Because cats are so skilled at masking their feelings – and pain and illness – it’s important to tread carefully when you notice any changes in pet behaviour after Christmas. Something like sleeping more frequently or eating less could be a sign that they’re struggling to adjust to changes in routine, or it could mean that they’re unwell. If you’re in doubt, it’s best to consult a vet –and here’s why not to sleep on regular vet check-upsopens in new tab.
How to help your pet through January
If January seems to be a tricky time for your pet, there are things you can do. As mentioned, it’s important to maintain routines as much as you can to help them feel more stable, and monitor their diet to ensure they’re eating the right amount and make adjustments if needed.
If the weather isn’t the best, consider indoor alternatives to outside exercise. For dogs, enrichment types including fetch, tug and obstacle courses can help them let off some steam, while cats used to more outdoor access will likely enjoy enrichment activities like chasing toys and climbing. Try enrichment activities like interactive feeding and scent-based games, too.
Training games and sessions at home can be fun, too, with the joint mental and physical stimulation tiring them out more effectively and helping them build confidence. If you have a dog, you could arrange playdates with other canines they know or even invite a favourite human around, while cats might really benefit from gentle grooming sessions with the people they’re closest to.
Light therapy could also be a good option if you think your pet is affected by the lack of sunlight. Consider how you could increase light exposure indoors or use pet-safe daylight lamps – if you’re not sure where to start, speak to your vet.
When January blues might be something more serious
It’s not unusual for pets to be a little unsettled or stressed in the New Year, but they tend to settle after a couple of weeks or so. Sometimes, however, their symptoms can be a sign of something more serious, so it’s important to know when to seek veterinary advice.
If your pet becomes distressed when left alone, perhaps trying to escape, destroying objects near the door, pacing or being more vocal, with symptoms becoming less apparent when you return, this could indicate separation anxiety rather than simply the January blues.
Pets can be clinically depressed, too, and this is often triggered by things like a major change, grief or chronic stress. Among the most common signs are lethargy, withdrawing from interaction, loss of appetite and lack of interest in their favourite things. If these symptoms last, not becoming less severe with time, it could be depression.
And, sometimes, medical conditions can cause or exacerbate behavioural changes. Your pet could be in pain, or have an issue like hypothyroidism or dental disease.
If you’re concerned it might be something more serious than the January blues, symptoms last for longer than two or three weeks, or you notice any physical signs (limping, vomiting or a change in toilet habits) it’s best to consult your vet.
Changes in your pet in the New Year are usually temporary, however. Most likely, they’re just finding it a little tricky to adjust but they’ll settle back to normal within a couple of weeks.
Even just sticking to a routine as best you can and making a few small changes where possible can really help make life easier for your pets in January. For peace of mind, there’s no harm in speaking to a vet if you’re worried, but before you know it, they’ll almost definitely be back to their usual selves.
Frequently asked questions
What are the signs of January blues in pets?
increased sleep
lethargy
less excitement for walks or playing
changes in appetite
hyper-attachment
hiding, withdrawing or showing aggression
being more clingy
overgrooming
soiling in the house
How long do pet January blues last?
The January blues usually only last two or three weeks at most in pets. If symptoms continue, it’s important to speak to your vet to rule out any other causes.
Can pets sense when their human is depressed?
Yes – they can. It’s thought that pets can read our emotions through our body language, facial expressions and tone of voice.
