Don't Let Your Pet's Anxiety Stress You Out!
Anxiety in your dog or cat can manifest itself in a variety of ways. Your pets might shadow you while you're home, then destroy the house while you're gone. Anxiety is recognized more in our dogs than our cats, but cats can certainly suffer from it, urinating outside the litter box or scratching up your furniture.
Some pets might need actual medication to treat their anxiety, but there are plenty of things that can be tried before taking this measure. The first step is recognizing that there's a problem associated with anxiety, which your veterinarian can help you determine.
Pheromones
A mainstay of anxiety therapy is using pheromones to decrease stress and anxiety. With these products, your pet will be comforted by a familiar, naturally-based pheromone scent. For cats, the soothing scent is a feline facial pheromone, which cats rub on items in their environment to mark the item as "theirs." For dogs, the scent reminds them of their mom. Products include collars, room sprays and plug-ins. They help provide a sense of "home" to your pet. Some popular brands are Adaptil, Thunderease, and Sentry.
Swaddling
Just like babies can be swaddled to provide a sense of comfort and containment, your pet might benefit from clothing. The Thundershirt was originally designed with storm anxieties in mind. It's also beneficial for fireworks, as well as generalized or separation anxiety. Just put the shirt on your pet before a stressful event. These are less ideal for pets that don't like wearing clothes, so you will want to monitor your pet the first time or two you use shirt.
Supplements
There are a variety of herbal-based supplements that can be used to reduce anxiety in your dog or cat. They have a variety of natural components such as valerian, L-tryptophan, melatonin and L-theanine.
Supplements can be very useful for stressful situations such as thunderstorms, fireworks, or traveling. We’ve gotten very good feedback on all the items we sell for this problem, but not every product works for every dog. For situational stress, remember to administer these at least 30 minutes in advance of the stressful activity so they have time to take effect.
A newer method of treating anxiety through supplements is utilizing probiotics to calm the gut, which in turn calms the mind and is becoming increasingly studied.
CBD Oil
A popular method of controlling anxiety in dogs and cats is using CBD oil. This naturally occurring product affects certain receptors in the body, leading to reduced stress and anxiety. CBD oil may also be used if your pet has other health conditions, such as seizures, where they are at a higher risk for an attack if they are stressed or anxious. CBD oil appears to be safe and well tolerated, with few side effects reported. There are countless companies offering CBD now, so we caution you to understand what you’re buying and not just shop for price. We don’t sell CBD on our website, but we have it available in our store and welcome the opportunity to discuss the options and expectations. By speaking with you in person, we can share the feedback we’ve received from our many customers whose pets have found relief from it, and we can explain the methods and dosing they’ve found to work best.
If your pet is having episodes of anxiety, don't let it stress you! At Jake's Pet Supply, we pride ourselves on the variety of solution-based products we offer, plus our knowledge that comes from decades of hearing feedback on these solutions. Shop here to see a sampling of the products discussed in this article, or stop by and talk to us. If you're looking for some great suggestions on training your dog to overcome stressful situations, check out this wonderful article.
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