Your pet suffering from separation distress is not unusual. Animals tend to develop deep connections to the people caring for them. It’s only natural for them to feel uneasy when they cannot be around those people for a long time.
The cat or dog you have at home is not immune from experiencing that kind of anxiety. You need to help them deal with it so they can remain at ease while you spend the day at the office.
We’ve detailed more than a few ways to handle separation distress in pets previously April 2, April 9 and April 16. Let’s wrap this mini-series up by detailing four more methods of battling separation distress in pets.
Downplay the Times You Leave and Get Home
It’s hard to stop your pet cat or dog from feeling anxious whenever you leave. Staving off those emotions becomes even harder for your pet if you make a big deal of those moments. If you want them to not stress out about your departure, you have to downplay the event yourself.
When you leave for work, don’t make a grand show of petting or hugging them before you walk out the door. Give them a quick pet or two but don’t linger near the doorway.
You have to continue downplaying things when you get home. It’s going to be tough, but you should ignore your pet when you first walk inside the door. Wait a few minutes before you start paying attention to your pet.
Showering your pet with attention the moment you arrive is only going to teach them to get worked up over your arrival. They may get anxious waiting for you to get home because of that.
Stick to a Specific Departure Time When You’re Heading to Work
Introducing some kind of routine to your pet’s life is not a bad thing. However, you should avoid creating a routine that is far too rigid.
We all know that certain happenings at work can prevent us from heading home at the exact same time every day. You don’t want your pet expecting you to be home by 8:00 p.m. when that is not always possible.
While establishing a routine for your arrival is not ideal, you can at least create one for your departure every morning.
Create a set schedule to follow in the morning. If you intend to play with your pet or take them out for a walk during that time, make sure you include that in your schedule too. The important thing here is that you always leave home at the same time.
Departing at the same time every day will keep your pets from being caught off guard. When the time comes for you to leave, they’ll understand what’s happening and become less anxious about it.
Leave Some Background Noise On
The sound of a familiar human voice can be comforting to your pet. If you have to leave for a while in order to run some errands, consider leaving a program on so its sounds fill your home.
What you want to do here is to turn on a show or podcast that you watch or listen to frequently. The familiar voice coming through the speakers is something your pet cat or dog may recognize and it will help them feel more at ease.
Alternatively, you can also record an audio message that will automatically play at a certain time. Hearing your voice will certainly calm your pet down as you step out to handle some other matters.
Use Special Products/Supplements to Ease Pet’s Separation Distress
Lastly, you can also use supplements and other special products to treat your pet’s separation distress.
PetMD has put together a list of supplements that can work for dogs in this article. Meanwhile, The Spruce Pets also has suggestions regarding products you should use to help your pet cat calm down.
Just remember to check with your veterinarian before giving any supplements to your pet. You don’t want to use anything that could jeopardize your pet’s wellbeing after all.
Hopefully, you’ve found our short series on treating separation distress in pets to be quite useful. There’s no denying the fact that separation distress can be tough on pets, but you can make it significantly more manageable by trying out our suggestions.
Getting your pet used to your working schedule will be a gradual process. Ease them into the transition by relying on us here at TAILored Pet Services. You can inquire about our services by either visiting our website or calling us at 425-923-7791.
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