Yes, this is normal — and no, it’s not spite.
Your dog or cat isn’t punishing you. They’re just as unsettled by all this change as you are, and it shows up in the easiest place first.
A dog or cat having accidents, or otherwise regressing in previously solid habits, during the first weeks of a major household change is a well-recognized stress response, not a deliberate protest. The mechanism is fairly straightforward: routine disruption, new smells, new sounds, and less consistent attention all add up to genuine stress, and stress commonly shows up as exactly this kind of regression in habits that were otherwise reliable.
Why the “spite” explanation doesn’t quite hold up
The instinct to read this as intentional — “getting back at me,” “acting out because of the baby” — is understandable, especially when you’re already exhausted and this feels like one more thing added to an overwhelming stretch. But attributing intent this way doesn’t actually match how stress-related regression works in either dogs or cats, and treating it as deliberate tends to lead toward punishment, which typically makes stress-driven behavior worse, not better.
A Little Support for Every Stage
Helpful checklists, guides, and resources to make each stage a little easier.
What actually helps
What actually helps is largely the same thing that helps with any other stress adjustment during this period: keeping feeding times, walks, and litter box maintenance as consistent as you can manage, even if everything else in the house is in flux. For cats specifically, a litter box that’s been moved, is less frequently cleaned during a busy stretch, or now sits somewhere noisier than before can be a direct, physical cause worth checking, separate from the general stress explanation.
When to actually check with a vet
If accidents are frequent, sudden, or paired with other symptoms — straining, blood, obvious discomfort — that’s worth a vet visit before assuming it’s purely behavioral, since a genuine medical issue can look identical to a stress response on the surface.
For most pets, this eases within a few weeks as the new routine becomes the routine, rather than a series of ongoing changes. Patience and consistency, not correction, are what actually move it toward resolving.
Where this lands: this is a real, common, well-understood response to a lot of change happening at once — not a judgment on you, and not spite from your pet. Consistency where you can manage it, and a vet visit if anything seems physically off, cover the actual response here.
Consistency helps, but so does giving your pet somewhere to actually settle. Here’s how to set up a real decompression zone for the loudest stretch of the first weeks.
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