A Secret Way to Communicate with your Dog and Cat
I’ve written before about the importance of body language in communication,
especially with dogs. Many animal trainers are a wealth of information about body
language and body cues and how they can influence your pet’s behaviour. Body
language will always remain of principle importance in communicating with the
animals around you, but there other signals we can provide to animals to help them
understand that we mean no stress and we want them to feel relaxed.
These other signals are chemicals called pheromones. Pheromones are naturally
released by animals to communicate with other animals of the same species. A cat
can not detect dog pheromones, and a dog can not detect cat pheromones. These
pheromones provide information about how that animal was feeling at the time the
pheromones were released. For example, a dog who is frightened at the vets will
release alarm pheromones in the waiting room. Even after he has left, his pheromones
will remain behind to communicate to other dogs that there may be a reason to be
frightened. The dogs that enter the clinic over that day will be more anxious, nervous
or even grumpier than they normally would be.
Cats are often seen to ‘smooch’ on objects by rubbing their cheeks along surfaces.
For example, when you are about to feed your cat, she will rub her cheeks along your
legs as well as on the wall near her dish. The glands in her cheeks are releasing
‘happy’ pheromones, she is communicating to other cats that this is a good place to be
– here is where the food is.
This is all very interesting, but how is this information useful to you? Today we have
available to us synthetic ‘happy’ pheromones for dogs and cats. You can use these
synthetic pheromones as a spray to help communicate to your puppy that this is the
appropriate place to toilet – it makes him feel extra special when he does wees in the
right place. Or, you can use a diffuser system to help your cat feel relaxed and
content when you shift into a new house. We have both dog and cat happy
pheromones, and these are available in spray and diffuser systems for both species. A
normal happy dog and cat probably won’t notice the synthetic pheromones because he
or she will be releasing plenty of their own happy pheromones. These synthetic
pheromones will be incredibly useful for new puppies and kittens; changing home
environments such as shifting house or introducing a baby; as well as for those
animals with selected behavioural disturbances. They will give you the ability to
communicate naturally to your cat and dog on a new level.
We routinely use pheromone sprays at the Trafalgar and Newborough Centres to help
to reduce stress for our canine and feline patients.
Pheromones have no unwelcome side effects and are not addictive. If you think that
your dog or cat may benefit from the use of pheromones around your house please
pop into the clinic for a chat. We are always keen to help you to communicate better
with your pets.