A writer friend of mine came home from a convention to find that his two cats had expressed great displeasure at his absence… all over his bed. Someone suggested using calming pheromones to help the cats relax when they’re left alone.
It can be surprisingly easy for a pet to get stressed out. Some common causes for animal anxiety include:
- Moving
- Major changes in the daily routine of the household
- Addition or loss of a family member
- Addition or loss of another pet
- Noise phobia
- Separation anxiety
After relocating to the west coast with my two dogs, I noticed a few instances of stress — like when Lally “forgot” her housetraining and left a puddle in my bed. We moved, the routine changed, and there are familiar people missing from the normal routine; sounds like a recipe for pup anxiety to me!
Pet pheromones are synthetic copies of a momma dog or momma cat’s scent when nursing. For many pets (more than seventy percent in some trials) the pheromones have been shown to reduce anxiety-related destructive behavior. There are even calming pheromones available for horses.
And don’t worry about your house smelling like a pet store; the pheromone products are odorless to human noses. Only your pup, kitty, or horse will notice the calming scent. Most varieties can be plugged in to an electrical outlet, much like your favorite plug in air freshener. The coverage and duration of each different product can vary.
Pheromone products are NOT sedatives. You are not medicating your pet. Instead, you are presenting a scent that will be familiar from the very first days of your pet’s life. In the first three to five days after giving birth, a mother animal gives off a pheromone that creates a sense of well-being and love in her babies.
You can find calming pet pheromones at PetSmart, PetCo, other local pet stores, and some veterinarian’s office.