Calming Collars for Stressed Pets

If your pets are anything like our guys, when it comes to even the slightest change in their daily routine, like those special occasions when we entertain overnight guests, they are likely to become anxious, out of sorts, and look for places to hide.

For example, last summer when my husband and I took a short vacation, Bonny, a dear friend and professional cat sitter who was by no means a stranger to our boys, agreed to watch them. For several days both of them absolutely refused all the delicious meals she offered. Since they were suffering from separation anxiety, they embarked upon a major hunger strike, which is not at all healthy. In short they let Bonny know they were not happy campers. Her daily reports concerned me greatly. It took some fancy conniving and creative strategies on Bonny's part to get them to start eating again on a fairly regular basis.

Living in Florida presents another set of challenges in keeping our cats serene. During the summer months, we often get daily thunderstorms. These are not in the top ten on the hit parade of our kitties' favorites. The sound of thunder frightens them, and accompanying flashes of lightening are upsetting. Their method of dealing with this noisy intrusion is to dive under the woolly afghan draped on our sofa until the storm monster is done spewing its cacophony

And even though we have several Feliway plug-ins, which release regular puffs of a simulated calming pheromone placed around the house, depending on the circumstances, sometimes they don't seem all that effective.

So I was delighted to find a rather intriguing advertisement posted on Facebook the other day which claims to have a product with calming influence on both cats and dogs.

Calming Collars are based on aromatherapy. They contain two blends of dried herbs designed to help animals relax under conditions such as loud noises, storms, stress, separation anxiety and hyper-activity. The fabric collars made with adjustable plastic buckles are handcrafted and filled with precise measured amounts of herbs, which, even if eaten are perfectly pet safe.

The Calm Me Down Collar "takes the edge of scary situations," the Good to Go Collar helps to prevent car-sickness, and the Too Cool Collar uses polymer crystals that when wet, expands to keep the pet cool. Calm Me Down and Good to Go Collars are reasonably priced at $32.00. Too Cool Collar is priced at $16.00.

For more information visit the company's website at calmingcollars.com.

How do you deal with your pet's anxiety? Tell us in a comment.

Image Source: Flickr user rcockx