Last night, I had the privilege of sitting in on a very informative Twitter Chat about Pet Anxiety. With summer storms with lots of thunder popping up daily and the 4th of July on the horizon, what a great topic to be covered
It was hosted by @Pet360 of Pet 360, Guest speakers were @PatrickMahaney a holistic veterinarian specializing in acupuncture/pain management & @Thundershirt for dogs and cats to help relieve their anxiety and calm them down during stressful situations
Here are some of the questions and answers of the night:
Why does thunder scare dogs?
*Loud noises, including thunder, stimulates a dogs basic instinct to flee for saftey.
Why do dogs start pacing long before the thunder starts?
*Animals are keenly sensitive to environmental & barometric changes
Are there certain breeds/pets that are more prone to anxiety
*Yes in both dogs and cats
-Terriers, Retrievers, Sporting, (Weimaraner, Viszia, etc) & working dogs
(Border Collie, etc) are the most prone in dogs.
- Cats that are relatively "wild" like Bengal, Occicat & Savannah don't do
well with stress of domestic confinement.
How can I relieve this stress or anxiety?
* Exercise, distracting sounds, massage or medication.
-Medication should be used as part of the treatment for anxiety and should
never be the sole therapeutic option
What are some non-medication alternatives?
* Behavioral stimulation, including: exercise, environmental enrichment, acupuncture, acupressure, Chinese medicine food, therapeutic herbs, massages. etc.
What is considered environmental enrichment's?
*Interactive training, distracting toys...
How do pets develop these loud noise anxiety? Is it inherent fear or developed early in life?
*It is instinctual but can develop with repeated exposure
If one dog is afraid of thunder and the other one is not, should you separate them during a storm?
*It depends on how severe the anxiety is, especially if removing the companion dog makes it worse I wouldn't.
Don't those wraps help dogs with Thunder?
*Thundershirts can help pets with any type of anxiety
Is is safe to leave Thundershirts on for long periods of time?
*Yes many clients leave them on all day while they are at work
This is not all of the questions from the night but a basic recap. If you would like to learn more about Thundershirts you can click on this link
Learn more about Thundershirts
Thank you so much for posting this!
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting this. I used it as a basis for a follow up blog on my website (and linked back to you).
ReplyDeletehttp://www.patrickmahaney.com/animal-treatment/dr-mahaney-teams-with-pet360-and-thundershirt-for-pet-anxiety-twitter-chat/
Thank you Dr Patrick Mahaney
ReplyDelete