Anyone with a new pet at the holidays, whether the pet is in the White House, or your house, needs to provide extra attention. What we shouldn’t provide are extra calories from our wonderful holiday meals. So, let’s look at the attention we should give our new pets:
Calm petting. The more noise and commotion is in the house, the more our dogs and cats need a quiet reassuring hand to confirm all is well.
Calm hiding spot. If pets prefer to hide under a bed, they’re telling us they’re not feeling safe in their own home. Remove the extra noise by closing the door and putting on a calming CD. Open the crate or sleeping kennel and let your pet ease into its safest place.
Calming pheromones. Use DAP Comfort Zone for Dogs or Feliway for cats to provide the signal that all is well directly to the oldest part of the brain. The rhinencephalon registers the message from DAP or Feliway and bypasses the cognitive, thinking part of the brain. It soothes pets without their even being aware of it.
Calming routine. Pets enjoy routine exercise and play times and routine bedtimes. Even over the holidays when children and households are taking breaks from routine, pets need the same old exercise, feeding times, and bed times. If they get more exercise than normal, they should have more sleep than normal. Keep the balance.
What's coming?
In the next Caring for Pets blog, let’s look at holiday nutrition, especially holiday nutrition for a new pet.
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