Tag Archives: Feliway

Caring for your Cat, Cats

5 Easy Steps to Get Your Cat to the Vet Stress Free

Regular check-ups are vital in ensuring that our cats live healthy and happy lives. Unfortunately many Cats and their owners find visits to the vet can be quite stressful. There are lots of things we can do to make the vet visit more comfortable for our cats.  It really doesn’t have to be a stressful experience.


1. Get a good Cat Carrier

A Cat Carrier is not only the safest way to transport your cat in the car, it can also be a safe haven for your cat during your vet visit. The best carriers have both a top and front opening. One like the picture below is fantastic, it is sturdy and secure and the lid clicks off making it easy to get your cat in and out of the carrier.  Most of the examination can even be performed within the carrier to help reduce stress.

 

2. Get your cat used to the carrier

Some cats only ever go in their carrier to be taken to the vet so it is natural for them to relate the carrier to the entire experience. This can leave them feeling frightened of the carrier itself, some owners even report that their cats hide as soon as they even bring the carrier out. It is very important that we make sure our cats know that their carrier is a safe and happy place, you can do this by:

  • Leaving the carrier out at home, so it becomes a familiar and less scary.
  • Feeding your cat their breakfast or dinner inside the carrier.
  • Placing treats and toys in the carrier so your cat gets used to going in and out.


3. Make the carrier a nice place to be

Using Feliway spray in the carrier will help reduce anxiety associated with travel.   Ask us for more details on Feliway.

Image result for feliway

Place soft bedding in the bottom of the carrier, this will help prevent you cat from slipping and sliding around during travel.  Using bedding or an item of clothing that has your scent on it will make your cat feel more comfortable and secure.  Covering the carrier with a towel during transport creates a safe hiding place.  


4. Make sure the carrier is safe

In the car, ensure that carrier will not slide around or be jolted by bumpy roads.  Securing it with a seat belt will help.  Once you get to the clinic place the carrier up off the ground, as being on ground level can make cats feel vulnerable and scared.   If possible, try to sit in a quieter area of the waiting room away from dogs and noise. If you don’t have a towel of your own please ask one of our friendly customer care staff who will place a Feliway sprayed towel over your cats carrier whilst you wait to be seen by the vet.

5. Talk to us

If you are still finding it challenging to bring your cat to the vet, give us a call so we can discuss ways of making it less stressful. 

Call us now on (02) 6230 2223 to book you cats next check up or book online now by heading back to the HOME PAGE.

 

Behaviour, Caring for your Cat, Caring for your Dog, Medicines & Treatments

Calming the nerves of your anxious companion

Like people, many pets suffer from forms of anxiety. If your pet cannot settle during thunderstorms or fireworks or perhaps your pet cannot settle if you are not present, then talk with Dr Helen Purdam about some strategies to help the both of you cope.

It may be as simple as some crate training advice like setting up a safe den or fitting the pet with a thunder shirt. Having an Adaptil or Feliway diffuser near the pet’s den can also help them to settle.

For pets who need more support to become less anxious, we can provide a full behavioural consultation. Contact reception on 6230 2223 for more information.

Caring for your Cat, Caring for your Dog, Cats, Dogs, Today's News

Festive season for pets?

Spare a thought over the festive season for our pets.  Christmas is a fun time of year for humans but it disrupts our animals’ lives, causing stress and untoward changes in their behaviour.

Potential sources of stress include:

  • Car travel
  • Boarding
  • Visitors to their home
  • Parties and increased noise in the neighbourhood
  • Fireworks
  • Changes in routine
  • Visits to unfamiliar environments such as a holiday house or extended family

Many pets become anxious under these stresses. Their behaviour changes to cope with the stresses. These behavioural changes are usually temporary but occasionally turn into long-term, serious problems.

How can we reduce our pets’ anxiety this Christmas?

Reassure your pets in unfamiliar circumstances by allowing them to stay close to you and spending as much time with them as possible. If you have to leave them, give them something familiar like bedding or your shirt.

Provide a comfortable safe hidey hole with lots of fun things to do if visitors are expected or you are planning a party. Long lasting treats like stuffed Kongs and chew toys keep dogs engrossed and happy.

Avoid confronting a dog with anyone they fear. Children or big men frighten some dogs.

Don’t punish a frightened dog or make it face up to its fear. This usually makes an already tense dog more anxious.

Try not to initiate any more fears in your pet. A house suddenly full of noisy party-goers and no secure place to hide will make a timid dog frightened of more people.

Pheromones, naturally produced communicators, reduce anxiety significantly in many pets.   ADAPTIL® (containing Dog Appeasing Pheromone) and Feliway® (containing a calming cat pheromone) are synthetic copies of the animals’ own natural pheromones. They reduce behaviour changes resulting from stress or anxiety.

Feliway replicates the feline facial pheromone that cats rub around their environment so they feel relaxed and at home.

ADAPTIL (Dog Appeasing Pheromone) replicates the pheromone the dam releases when suckling her puppies. It reassures dogs of any age, reducing anxiety and preventing fear and stress related behaviours.

If behaviour resulting from fear and anxiety is out of proportion to what is happening or causes long lasting problems then schedule an appointment with one of our vets. They will work through a programme of retraining or behaviour modification in conjunction with a prescription drug, appropriate for your pet.

 

Caring for your Cat, Cats, general

Visiting the vet with your cat?

Veterinary visits don’t have to be stressful for you or your cat. Happy visits to the vet start well before the big day. Ideally we should acclimatise our cats to carriers and cars while they are still kittens.

How can we minimise these stresses here and now though?

  1. Ask reception to book you at a quiet time or when no dogs are around if possible
  2.    Socialise cats to the carrier and car:
    • Leave the carrier out permanently in your home.  Many cats will use it as a comfortable resting or hiding place or play around it, particularly if it has been about since they were kittens
    • Withhold food before travel to prevent travel sickness and consequent negative feelings about car rides
    • Short practice rides in the car followed by a good experience such as a favourite food help some cats to relax about cars
  3. Apply Feliway spray to bedding in the carrier regularly and just before transport. Feliway contains a natural pheromone that relaxes cats.  Familiar clothing from a favourite person before a visit or hospital stay may also calm your cat
  4. Cover the carrier with a towel or blanket or place one over the cat in the carrier so that she can hide if she needs to
  5. In the waiting room place the carrier up off the ground on a seat or bench and well away from dogs
Caring for your Cat, Cats, general, Today's News

Help! My cat is urinating indoors

Marking or toileting?

Spraying small amounts of urine against vertical objects such as chairs or walls is a territorial marking behaviour.   Male and female cats urinate in a squatting position leaving a greater volume of liquid.

Why do cats spray?

  • Entire male cats are the most likely to spray
  • Medical problems such as cystitis, diabetes, kidney disease and obesity exacerbate abnormal toileting behaviour.
  • Anxiety and stress are the most common causes of spraying.  Cats are creatures of habit and like to have their own space and toys. Even though they are willing to share a house and bed with you they need places and things of their own to be happy. If they think that something that belongs to them is being taken over by someone else they feel threatened. They have to let everyone know that it is theirs. The natural way to stake their claim is to mark it with the facial scent glands or urine. This is like writing their name on their things. Putting urine or facial scent on a thing or place makes a cat feel secure, especially if they feel out of place, nervous or afraid.

What makes cats anxious?

  • A new cat or kitten.  Introduce a new pet into the household gradually.  Let them get used to each other through a screen or glass door.  Exchange their bedding and let them sniff and sleep on it. Remember to reassure and cuddle the established pet as well as the cute new one.
  • A new baby.  Let your cat hear the sounds and sniff the clothes of a new family member from a safe, private place. Give the cat lots of attention.
  • Changes in furniture or carpets and disruptions such as building or painting.  Lock your cat in a room well away from tradesmen and the strange sounds and smells associated with their work.
  • A strange cat wandering in the garden or even through the cat flap.
  • The loss of a human or animal companion.  Strongly bonded cats will need extra care and attention if mourning a friend who has moved or passed away.
  • Incompatible cats, especially if a lot of cats live together.  Determine which cats do not get along and keep them in separate parts of the home with their own litter and sleeping areas.
  • Stress.  Enriching a cat’s environment minimises stress.

Cat scratching posts, toys that mimic prey, tunnels, outside runs and a variety of high spots and hideouts will keep your cat happy and stimulated. Vertical space is often more important than horizontal space. Some cats appreciate an indoor garden sown with grass, cat nip and cat mint. Find several toys they like and rotate them regularly.  Your company is important.  Even an old cat will appreciate a game with a ribbon on a stick or a glittery ball. Make your cat work for food by hiding it in various locations around the house or in food puzzles such as plastic containers with holes cut in the sides. More stress-busting suggestions for the indoor cat.

Routine is important for some cats.  Ten minutes each day play and grooming your cat to provide regular predictable attention that helps reduce their anxiety. Feed them at a set time.

What if I can’t identify or remove the source of the anxiety?

If you cannot identify or remove the source of the anxiety then provide your cat with a safe haven. A room where your cat can safely retreat or relax without fear of disturbance is ideal.  A small, enclosed and elevated space lined with your worn clothes is also good.  Most cats will mark a limited space with facial rubbing and bunting only.

Clean urine marked areas with a special enzymatic cleaner like Urine Off that eliminates the scent. If your cat can smell urine he will mark it again. You may have to lock him out of the room for a while to help him forget it.

Protect a habitual spraying site by placing dry food or a bed at the base.  Cats are usually reluctant to spray their own key resources. Food and beds are also reassuring and may reduce anxiety.  However, a stressed cat may move to other areas and mark there instead.

A natural pheromone spray called Feliway calms some cats and reduces the urge to spray and mark. Spray it on previously marked areas or plug a Feliway diffuser in or near the area he most marks.

Never punish cats. If caught in the act they can be picked up and placed on the litter tray, stroked and calmed. Never “rub the cat’s nose in it” as this will make a nervous cat even more likely to toilet indoors.

Cats with anxiety related behaviours like spraying often need anti-anxiety medications in addition to the above changes to resolve the problem.