28/10/2026
🌟 What we do Wednesday! 🌟
🎇 Support anxious pets 🎇
🐾 At this time of year it's worth repeating this post. Remember that sometimes symptoms such as pain or nausea can present like anxiety, so if in doubt please get your pet checked.
🐾 Like people, our pets all have different personalities and some pets are more prone to anxiety than others. Sometimes anxiety in pets can be traced back to something specific such as lack of socialisation and habituation when very young, traumatic situations, multiple homes, presence of unfriendly pets in the home or area etc, but sometimes it is just part of that pets make up.
🐾 Anxiety in dogs tends to present with signs such as panting, crouching, hiding away, lack of engagement, destructive behaviours, tail between legs, ears back. Cats often hide away when anxious but signs such as inappropriate toileting and overgrooming are also common.
🐾 In some individuals anxiety is a constant underlying issue while for others it can have specific triggers such as being left or thunderstorms ⛈️. At this time of the year it is common to see pets that are anxious over the loud noises associated with fireworks around bonfire night, Diwali and New Years Eve 🎇🎆🧨
🐾 There are a few things that can be done to help our pets cope with anxiety:
🔻Consider whether the trigger can be avoided, for example, avoiding leaving dogs with separation anxiety, keeping small children away, walking away from traffic
🔻Provide a quiet, dark safe space, ideally somewhere the pet takes themselves to already
🔻Reduce the impact of the stimuli, for example keep in if fireworks outside, curtains closed, radio on
🔻Chewing can be a natural anti-anxiety behaviour for dogs so provide chewing materials
🔻 Feed a large meal before anticipated trigger event
🔻 Provide attention on their terms, reassure but try not to let your own anxiety about the situation transmit to them
🔻 Use plug in or spray pheromones or calming agents
🔻 Some people strongly recommend the use of Thundershirts
🔻 Seek the advice of a qualified behaviourist
🔻 Desensitise pets to their trigger, e.g. use programs such as Sounds Scary available via the DogsTrust 🎇 This is not a quick process but starting now might be helpful for New Year.
🔻 Medications to support while working on coping mechanisms 💊
🐾 If your pet is demonstrating anxious behaviours please contact us for further advice or direction to suitable qualified behaviourists ☎️
https://www.dogstrust.org.uk/dog-advice/understanding-your-dog/sound-therapy-for-pets
