How to Tell If Your Pet Is Stressed and What To Do About it

Pets get stressed out just like we do and some can be in a constant state of anxiety depending on their personality. It can be something simple like; hearing a loud noise, travelling in the car, meeting new people, a party in your home or a vet visit.

Our pets world is a lot smaller than ours and they quickly get used to their surroundings and you as their human. When things change, some pets don’t deal with change well. You and the people in their family home are their pack and when new people, new things or new surroundings are introduced they can feel hugely threatened.

Signs Of a Stressed Out Pet

You need to get used to reading the signs to know whether your pet is stressed. Pets communicate through their body language so this is what you need to analyse for signs of stress.

Dogs

- Whimpering

- Yelping

- Trembling and shaking

- Agitation and growling

- Loss of bowel control

- Ears down or backwards

- Averted gaze

- Frequent yawning

Cats

- Hiding themselves away

- Panicked meowing

- Aggression towards people

- Urinating away from litter box

- Loss of appetite

- Diarrhea or constipation

- Lethargy

- Excessive scratching or grooming

Remedies to Calm Your Pets

There are many natural ways to calm your pet and help them through stressful situations. Once you find out which one your pet responds too best, you can pre-empt the situation before they get stressed in the future.

- Try a natural supplement. Silberhorn has developed a natural solution to calm you pets – Pet Calm. Containing; Hop, Skullcap, Valerian, St Johns Wort and Passiflora extract plus Capsicum powder as a transport herb, this supplement may help calm your pet next time they face a stressful situation.

- Use a DAP (Dog Appeasing Pheromone) collar or diffuser. These release a pheromones like their mothers released when they were puppies after birth. The smell helps to keep them calm and minimise behavioral problems.

- Exercise them and distract with a toy. A walk and run about after a toy can help them release some of the energy they’re using towards being stressed.

- Isolate from the stressful situation. If your pet is stressed about a noisy party or maybe meeting a new human, try moving them away from the situation into a quiet space. Close them into a familiar room and maybe even try playing soothing music to drown out any other noise.