Is Your Cat or Dog Suffering from Separation Anxiety? Identify and overcome.

Is your dog or cat dealing with separation anxiety? Do they follow you from room to room in anticipation of your departure? Is your cat excessively meowing, or moaning? Have you noticed them excessively grooming themselves?  Rest assured this is very common especially if you have adopted a cat or a dog during this recent pandemic. Thankfully there are many ways to help your kitty or pup through those unpleasantries from things to purchase and methods to help them naturally cope with your absence.

Anxiety in cats can be a debilitating ordeal for the cat and their owner. There are many reasons our furry loved ones may feel anxiety. From a trip to the groomers or distress caused by changing environments can make any cat anxious. However, another trigger can be as easy as seeing or expecting their beloved person to leave their environment.  Many Dogs and cats will go through this and it’s up to the pet parents to help ease their discomfort. Some methods can include changing up your leaving rituals. Our pets are very sensitive to our non-verbal ques especially if your cat or dog are already pre-disposed to being anxious.  Before we get to separation anxiety in dogs and how to help alleviate their discomfort lets focus first on Cats and how to help them with anxiety.

• Start with shorter absences and ease your cat into you being away for longer periods of time.
• Create a den or a haven for your cat to feel safe in when you are gone.
• Remove departure ques. For example, put your shoes on a few minutes before you leave. Vs putting them on and then walking out the home moments after.
• For more serious cases, consider having a pet sitter come by to play with your cat for a few sessions while you are gone for extended periods of time.
• Leave on the Nature channel or a cartoon for your cat the noise could be comforting while you are gone.
• Create fun when you are not around by hiding toys and treats. This will help keep them preoccupied vs being anxious while you are gone.
• Keep departures and arrives low key. Don’t make a big deal about you leaving or coming back home. We completely understand It’s hard but in the long run it will help your cat get over their anxiety.
• In most severe cases holistic measures can be taken to reduce your cat’s separation anxiety. For example, a diffuser with a calming sent or CBD have been known to help. We always recommend you should check with your veterinarian first. With that said also look into Solventless CBD. They contain zero chemicals to extract the healthy plant-based properties found in the cannabis plant.

Dogs on the other hand, tend be more needy by nature. Dogs exhibit separation anxiety entirely different than cats. As mentioned, before you may notice your dog following you from room to room. Sometimes you may even feel that your dog is Practically standing onto of you and crowding your space. Other times you notice that your dog decides to be naughty and destructive. Maybe you have a Velcro dog on your hands. These are just a few symptoms of separation anxiety in dogs.  However, no need to worry like with cats there are methods that we can put into practice to help our beloved dogs get over their separation anxiety.

• Much like with cats we recommend that you start off with shorter absences.
• We highly recommend keeping departures and arrivals casual. Dogs can easily be excited, and this will not do them any good if you’re trying to get them use to you coming and going from your home guilt free.
• Practice with your dog the departure ques. For example, put your shoes on but don’t leave your house. Randomly grab your keys and put them in your pocket and casually go about your activities at home. With consistency your dog will stop associating these ques with your departure.
• Create a den for your pup with a blanket that has your scent on it.
• Leave on a cartoon or the radio. This will help your dog feel more at ease while you are gone.
• If you are gone for long periods of time due to work. See about having a pet sitter come by to walk your dog around the block or to let them out and play. This is always great stimulation for your dog.
• In extreme cases where your dog is destructive, we recommend alternative therapies to anxiety pet medication. We recommend you giving Solventless CBD a try. However, be sure to consult your veterinarian before administering CBD to your dog.
• Lastly, make sure to get your pooch's energy out before long periods of time being away from the home. This will help get their energy out, so the pent-up liveliness doesn’t turn into destructive behavior.

These are just a few helpful ways that we can improve our Cat’s and Dog’s separation anxiety. As beloved pet owners we do not want to see our pets suffering in any way. Their mental and physical wellbeing is paramount to our own emotional well-being. By knowing we are doing all that we can to help improve our pets lives daily. Through consistency, love, and continued education is how we can help them cope with anxiety at all stages that your cat and dog goes through. Keep in mind that CBD has been found to be effective at helping relieve anxious moments. Through temporary as needed use or for long-term chronic anxiety as a more holistic approach to traditional pharmaceuticals.

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