What can be done for these poor suffering creatures? I’ve talked about noise phobias before, but now we have a new tool in our fight against this major welfare issue.

Sileo: The New Noise Sensitivity Drug

Sileo (pronounced “SEE-layo” not “si-LAY-o”) is a syringe loaded with a gel containing dexmedetomidine, an alpha-2 agonist sedative. It’s the first time that a drug of this strength has been registered for dog owners to use.

Therefore, we have to be very careful, as you’ll see later. That’s also why dog owners can only get it prescribed after a checkup and a discussion with their vet.

Sileo is indicated for the alleviation of acute anxiety and fear associated with noise in dogs. Ironically, (but perhaps understandably given the difficulty) Sileo has not been evaluated during thunderstorms even though they are likely to be its main use. It has been trialled against fireworks, with the results you see above.

Sileo’s Safety In Dogs & People

The first thing you’ll notice once you get it is the extremely child resistant packaging. This should serve as a warning to keep it well away from children at all times and wear gloves when using. The good news it that is took me to actually read the instructions before I could open the box.

Vets already know too well that dexmedetomidine can cause low blood pressures, body temperatures and heart rates. We also see it being a little unpredictable from dog to dog. The same dose that ‘barely touches the sides’ in one dog can be dangerous to another.

For safety’s sake, please avoid using Sileo in any dog with significant sickness or pre-existing illness. This could include even temporary problems like the severe stress caused by the noise phobia itself if they become heat stressed or dehydrated. If it is used in very hot or cold conditions, you will also need to be careful that your dog’s body temperature stays in the correct range.

I would also be very careful combining it with other anxiety medications that cause sedation like trazodone or clonidine. Dogs with noise phobias often have a whole drugs cabinet and it would be very tempting to use more than one in times of stress.

Lastly, I would never use it in young puppies or in breeding females.

Having given all these dire warnings, the fact remains: there is a tremendous need for an effective drug for noise phobia in dogs. That’s why it’s often worth taking the risk.

When To Give Sileo 

Like all anxiety medications, Sileo will work best if it is given before exposure to whatever causes the fear. Therefore, try to predict the stressful event (such as by watching the weather radar for approaching thunderstorms), and give it 30 to 60 minutes before. This is how long it takes to work.

If you aren’t able to predict, it’s still worth giving the drug as soon as you hear the noise or your dog starts showing signs of anxiety. It just may not work as well under these conditions.

After giving the correct dose, do not give any more, even if the results are insufficient. After 2 hours, you can give a second dose, and then every 2 hours up to a maximum of 5 doses, as long as your dog remains free of side-effects.

Sileo is not supposed to be swallowed, and will probably not work if it is. Instead, it is applied to the inside of the mouth between the upper teeth and the cheek. Therefore, absorption could be a problem in dogs with severe gum or dental disease. It could also be a problem if you feed your dog shortly afterwards. I would wait 30 minutes.

How To Give Sileo

Sileo comes in a metered dose syringe with a rotating ring to set the correct dose. The earlier model had a locking mechanism but it caused many overdosages in the USA due to the ring lock not engaging. Having used this update, it seems hard to accidentally overdose.

Please read the enclosed leaflet very closely as it contains detailed descriptions and pictures of how to use it properly. 

In brief, you rotate the ring right down to the syringe barrel then back until the correct number of dots is exposed between the syringe barrel and the ring. It will then cause the plunger to stop at the correct place when you squeeze it into your dog’s mouth.

Sileo Dosage Chart

If the dose is more than 6 dots, divide the dose between both sides of the mouth.

Sileo Side Effects 

Alpha-2 agonists are known to cause vomiting in some dogs. Therefore, don’t be too concerned is there is a brief vomit as it starts to take effect. Any more than this and you will need to seek help. 

Other side effects will generally be related to excessive drowsiness and sedation, including a low heart and breathing rate, and low temperature. Adverse effects should not last more than two hours but there will be some variation between dogs.

If your dog appears excessively sedated, or breathing too slowly, please seek immediate veterinary care. There is an antidote available which should almost immediately reverse the effects.

How Well Does Sileo Work?

The graph at the start shows the results of a European placebo-controlled double-blinded field study. 71 dogs with a history of fireworks phobia were treated at New Year’s Eve with a maximum of five doses at two hour intervals. For comparison, 73 dogs were treated with a placebo containing no drug.

You can see that 75% of the treated dogs had a good or excellent response, compared with 33% of placebo-treated dogs. There was a statistically significant difference (p<0.0001) between dexmedetomidine and control in favour of dexmedetomidine.

At the same time note that there were still plenty of dogs who responded very poorly. And it’s also worth noting that in this study, the treatment was able to be started in most cases before the onset of the noise.

So:

• Sileo won’t help every dog enough on its own
• Sileo may cause excessive side effects in some dogs
• Sileo will be expensive for larger dogs if it’s needed very often

For all these reasons, we need to not forget the other options.

Medications For Noise Sensitivity

Dogs with anxiety to noise are treated with both drugs and environmental manipulations. A quick list includes:

• being a calming and reassuring presence
• creating a ‘safe zone’ where your dog likes to hide
• getting a dog behaviourist consultation
• benzodiazepines like alprazolam and diazepam
• clonidine
• trazodone
• gabapentin
• dexmedetomidine

Visit this page for a longer discussion of these options. One thing I will take the time to specifically warn you about here, though, is Adaptil. You can read why on this page, but a simple summary is that it just doesn’t do enough. The placebo effect shown above should be sufficient warning to always be guided by science when you can.

And one last grumble. As an ancient-language fan, the name ‘Sileo” grates on me a bit. It’s Latin for “I am silent”, which speaks all too loudly to how we sometimes approach mental health in animals. That is, as problems for us, not them.

Have something to add? Comments (if open) will appear within 24 hours.
By Andrew Spanner BVSc(Hons) MVetStud, a vet in Adelaide, Australia. Meet his team here.

They are a great help, and I’m not going to tell you not to use them. But I want you to be careful.

What Is A Lick Mat?

A lick mat is a textured flat surface made out of rubber, usually with suction cups to attach it to the floor. The pattern on the top is designed to trap food and make it hard to eat quickly. The aim is to get dogs and cats to spend their time in licking instead of other unwanted behaviours, or to alleviate boredom and anxiety. Unlike other slow feeders, licky mats promote licking behaviour, instead of food seeking or foraging.

Uses For A LickiMat 

The uses being promoted for the LickiMat® on their website include:

• Entertainment & distraction
• Reduction of anxiety & stress 
• Boredom buster 
• Slow feeding
• Raw feeding
• Environmental enrichment
• Improving oral health

Some of these uses make a lot of sense. A lick mat is a great way to get a dog to tolerate unpleasant situations like bathing, grooming, nail clipping and vet visits. That’s only so long as your dog is highly food-motivated.

You could also use it as an aid to crate training and getting your dog accustomed to car trips. It’s also a great way to alleviate stress in temporary situations, like fireworks and thunderstorms, or owners leaving the house.

So what’s the problem? Firstly, some of the claims make little or no sense.

Do Lick Mats Improve Oral Health?

LickiMat’s manufacturers claim that by stimulating saliva production it can clean the tongue, teeth and gums. Well, as someone who is well-acquainted with the literature on what actually keeps pets’ mouths clean, this statement lacks any basis in fact.

In fact, the sorts of treats being used on these mats should logically make periodontal disease worse, not better. Always remember that periodontal disease in dogs and cats follows the same course as it does in humans: you wouldn’t expect your teeth to be better by licking peanut butter off a rubber tray either.

What about the claim that scraping the tongue freshens your pet’s breath? Ludicrous. I’ve been a vet for close to 30 years, and I’ve never yet seen bad breath caused by tongues!

Are Lick Mats Calming?

One of my major concerns not just with lick mats but more generally is the contrast between being busy and being happy. While I think these products are great for preventing anxiety in stressful situations, it’s a big claim to say that such products improve anxiety that’s already present. As with my complaints about Adaptil and Feliway, such claims might stop dog and cat owners choosing remedies that actually help them.

Beware the manufacturer claim that “the extended licking action promoted by LickiMat releases a calming hormone”. So far there’s no evidence for anxiety reduction with lick mats or any ‘hormone’ being released. Yes, a mat might keep them busy and less prone to expressing anxious behaviours, but that’s not the same thing.

These two complaints are minor quibbles compared with my concerns about safety. Here are two ways.

Intestinal Obstruction & Hygiene

In the past month we have seen two animals need veterinary attention as a result of lick mats.

The first is a dog called Murphy. He was left alone with a lick mat for just a moment, and promptly chewed it up and swallowed it. Thankfully his owners immediately saw what happened and brought him down. That’s his vomit in the picture at the start.

The second is Tex the cat. He ate a piece of his lick mat without anyone noticing. When he started vomiting, his owner realised what was wrong. That’s his x-ray below; the white rectangle in his belly is the piece, now blocking his intestines.

There’s also a picture above of that piece matched with the rest of the mat, after we took it out. Without major surgery, he would have been in a lot of trouble. The same could have been true for Murphy of course.

This should come as no surprise. Vets have always said that anything flavoured like food, but not digestible is extremely dangerous. So here’s the newly updated list:

• corn cobs
• satay sticks
• icecream sticks
• meat wrapping
• cooked bones
• lick mats

How To Use Lick Mats More Safely

“You must fully train your dog before leaving her/him alone with a LickiMat.” So say LickiMat.

These products are being promoted for pets left home alone, which in my view is madness. In the general enthusiasm for anything new, we’ve forgotten some basic rules.

It is my strong view that no dog should be left alone with a lick mat. Even after ‘training’, whatever that is. There’s no telling when a dog will get frustrated and just chew it up. Cats might be at a lower risk, but Tex shows us it can still happen, especially with the softer silicone products.

Another thing: watch out that these mats are properly cleaned after each use. This is particularly important if you’re using them with raw food. It would be smart to buy ones that are dishwasher safe.

What Can I Use Instead Of A Lick Mat?

I’m not opposed to using food as a distraction when they need to be left. If you do, I recommend slow feeder bowls, Kong Wobblers, Bobalots and Nina Ottoson products with long track records of proven safety. Or you can hide food around the house or garden.

To be fair, LickiMat make a ‘Tuff’ version, and even a keeper tray to make chewing harder. But I have seen both the red and black rubber Kongs destroyed and know only too well how destructive a determined dog can be.

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By Andrew Spanner BVSc(Hons) MVetStud, a vet in Adelaide, Australia. Meet his team here.

You’ve read all the tips for toilet training. You understand the theory. So why does this happen?

There’s actually quite a simple explanation and a not-so-simple solution. Be prepared for some basic neurology!

Why A Puppy Holds Pee Until Inside

The explanation has everything to do with how our nervous systems work. By oversimplifying, I’ll put it into two basic categories:

1. The voluntary nervous system
2. The autonomic nervous system

The voluntary is you in control of your body, walking, talking etc. At the start, this isn’t what a puppy is using when they urinate. They’ll learn this later.

The autonomic nervous system is attending to all our basic functions. A bit like the computer I’m using, it’s chugging away in the background doing major tasks while I use a simplified interface to type. The essential fact today is that this system can be further divided into two arms: sympathetic and parasympathetic.

I have no idea why they’re named this way, but that’s not important. What matters is to know that these two arms are in opposition like a seesaw: when one is high the other is low.

The Sympathetic Nervous System

The sympathetic nervous system is our ‘fight or flight’ network. It’s activated during stress or danger. When there’s high sympathetic tone, you have:

• suppressed gut function (which is why you feel butterflies in your stomach)
• increased heart rate, dilated pupils and sweating (humans)
• increased blood supply to the brain, lungs and muscles
• shut down of rectal and bladder function

This last one is obviously the key point here. The result is either an absence of ‘feeling the need to go’ or with even higher sympathetic tone, letting it go uncontrollably.

We all know this. When you have a stressful day, you often forget to eat, drink or go to the toilet. A bad fright and you might even wet yourself.

The Parasympathetic Nervous System

A state of high parasympathetic tone is our body in ‘maintenance mode’ when we have:

• feelings of hunger and thirst
• low heart rate and blood pressure
• reproductive behaviour
• regular urination and defaecation

This is the resting state, and it’s clearly what we need puppies to be in when we want them to toilet. So hopefully you can now see the explanation as clearly as me.

Even if a puppy knows to pee outside, they physically can’t if they have high sympathetic tone.

Getting A Puppy To Pee Outside

The reason puppies hold on outside and then pee immediately once they get back in is that the house is their happy place and the yard is not. As soon as they come inside, their parasympathetic tone increases and only then do they feel the urge to urinate.

Your job is simple in theory: make outside a happy place too.

In practice this is not so simple. They need to spend enough positive time out there to make it no longer stressful. There are issues like:

• wet grass
• bad weather
• unusual noises
• the sky above
• impatient (or absent) people

You certainly can’t just shove them out and wait for them to pee. Your task is to get them to relax and enjoy it instead of wishing they were safe and sound inside. You’ll need treats, protection from wet, cold or heat, and fun stuff to do.

The older a puppy is acquired, the harder it will be. You want them to be able to adjust quickly, which is often best between 8 and 12 weeks. But you can do it for all ages, it just takes longer.

Once they start going, it gets easier and easier. Eventually you can just open the door, they run out to pee, and then run back for their reward.

This is your reward too, for all the hard work!

You might also like: Simplified Toilet Training Advice

Have something to add? Comments (if open) will appear within 24 hours.
By Andrew Spanner BVSc(Hons) MVetStud, a vet in Adelaide, Australia. Meet his team here. The information provided here is not intended to be used as a substitute for going to the vet. If your pet is unwell, please seek veterinary attention.

And indeed, over the past year we have seen many dogs over-exercised. But then there are dogs like my Loki. One day last week he pulled me for 25km and then ran laps around the yard afterwards!

So it’s complicated, and there’s no one answer. Each day and each dog is going to be different.

How To Decide How Much To Walk A Dog

The most important thing is to listen to your dog. If they show reluctance, or start slowing down, then you are going too far.

However, if you rely solely on your dog telling you when to stop, you could still badly overestimate what they should do.

The problem is that most owners don’t recognise that dogs will overexercise if allowed. They live in the moment and don’t foresee the price they’ll pay later.

Therefore, you have to be your dog’s brains. In order to decide on how far you can go, you need to consider a number of factors. These include:

• Age
• Health
• Body weight
• Breed
• Environmental temperature and humidity
• Personality factors & type of exercise
• Previous fitness

Some of these are obvious, and some aren’t. I’ll go through each in turn.

Age

This is the easiest one. Nobody expects an old dog to be able to walk as far as a young one. However, there’s still a lot to know.

Puppies right up to maturity do not have the fitness of adults. There’s also a risk of causing damage. This is such a big topic that you’ll find a separate article on how far to walk a puppy.

As for older dogs, age alone is less of a factor than people expect. Most breeds up to 12 years of age can still walk further than their human companions. It’s more that age is often associated with health problems. Therefore, if a dog is slowing down, it’s essential to get a checkup.

Health Problems

Almost any illness will cause a dog to not be able to walk as far as before. Perhaps the three most common are:

• Arthritis
• Heart Disease
• Cushings Disease

You can read more about each at the links, but the important point is this: these are all treatable conditions. With the therapies found at the linked pages these dogs should still enjoy a daily walk. I take my 16 year old out every day, just not far or fast.

And in fact a point I often make to owners of dogs with heart murmurs is that daily moderate exercise is a good thing. It not only probably delays progression, but it’s an excellent way to spot the early signs of deterioration.

Body Weight

A highly reversible health problem is being overweight. This can dramatically reduce a dog’s stamina, depending on how much excess weight is being carried. If you leave it there too long, it will also lead to a faster onset of arthritis and other joint problems.

Therefore, if you are interested in long walks with your dog, you should make sure they are at ideal condition. If needed, read our page full of positive tips to help dogs lose weight.

Breed

Breed probably matters less than most people think, just because dogs are intrinsically such good walkers. However, here are some points to consider:

• Toy breeds will have reduced distances, just due to their short stride length
• Giant breeds like Great Danes, Newfoundlands and St Bernards do not seem suited to long walks
• Breeds with dense double coats will overheat under cooler conditions
• Flat-faced breeds like French bulldogs also overheat more due to less efficient panting

Temperature & Humidity

Failing to recognise when a dog is getting hot is probably the number one mistake dog owners make. I’ve already pointed out that some breeds are at higher risk, but it will happen to any dog under the wrong circumstances. What people don’t know is just how ‘normal’ those conditions can be.

I have always said that 26 degrees Celsius at the time of walking is the warmest at which a dog should be exercised. The following results confirm this.

Study 1 was done in Labradors with 30 minutes of loose leash walking in the sun at temperatures between 27.5 and 31ºC (18-88ºF). The result? Their average body temperature reached 42 degrees!

Afterwards, a 15-minute cooling period was inadequate for 80% of the dogs to achieve baseline temperatures 

Study 2 under conditions of 28-29.4ºC and humidity of 50% did the following:

• 5 minutes of search
• 5 minutes of rest in the shade
• 5 minutes of agility
• 5 minutes of rest in the shade
• Maximum 10 min of ball retrieve
• Light trotting/quick walking for 5 min

The result? Body temperatures ranging from 40.3 to 42.4ºC.

Just to show that overheating can occur at even colder temperatures, here is an older and very unethical study. The graph shows two groups of dogs who were run on an inclined (uphill) treadmill at 20°C. Those without ice packs became severely overheated in 1 hour.

Personality Factors & Type Of Exercise

A dog’s temperament and the exertion level will also heavily influence the amount of walking they can tolerate. Once again, this is mainly about heat generation.

Dogs who are excitable and pulling will overheat or tire much faster than those on calm, loose-leash walks. Dogs obsessed by chasing birds or balls will overheat extremely quickly.

Sometimes it’s about knowing your dog and taking frequent breaks. Other times it’s about attending dog training or using better harnesses, not collars as restraint.

We should also spare a thought for anxious dogs. Even after medication I have seen some who were honestly better off not walked at all. It just depends on what makes them happiest.

Previous Fitness

Even if everything else is OK, you still can’t just go out and do 25 km from scratch. You have to build up your dog’s stamina gradually.

Most dogs can handle 5 km (3 miles) without extra training but need at least a month to get up to 20 km. Walks above 5 km should always be followed by a light rest day.

If you go too far too quickly you could cause all sorts of muscle, tendon, ligament, joint or bone problems. Building up gradually also allows you to see if your dog has any restrictions or limitations that will prevent them going longer distances.

Most practically, it allows them to build up harder pad surfaces. Just like us, if they overuse their soft pads they will end up with painful blisters and ulcers.

So How Far Can A Dog Go?

Dogs in their wild state probably range further over a day than any dog owner has the time to do. Therefore, if none of the important warnings above apply to your dog, then there’s no obvious limit if the pace is gentle.

Just make sure they are enjoying it, and not just doing it because you want them to. This can be very hard to tell sometimes.

If you’re managing 30 minutes twice a day for your dog, then you should never feel guilty about not doing more. But you don’t have to feel guilty about going a lot further either!

You might also like: An Epic Adelaide Parklands Dog Walk

Have something to add? Comments (if open) will appear within 24 hours.
By Andrew Spanner BVSc(Hons) MVetStud, a vet in Adelaide, Australia. Meet his team here.

Sources

Baker JA, Davis MS. Effect of conditioning on exercise-induced hyperthermia and post- exercise cooling in dogs. Comp Exerc Physiol. 2018;14(91–97):10–3920. 

Kozlowski, S., Brzezinska, Z., Kruk, B., Kaciuba-Uscilko, H., Greenleaf, J. E., & Nazar, K. (1985). Exercise hyperthermia as a factor limiting physical performance: temperature effect on muscle metabolism. Journal of Applied Physiology, 59(3), 766-773

Neander, C., Baker, J., Kelsey, K., Feugang, J., & Perry, E. (2019). The effect of light vs dark coat color on thermal status in Labrador Retriever dogs. BioRxiv, 639757

Robbins PJ, Ramos MT, Zanghi BM, Otto CM. Environmental and Physiological Factors Associated with Stamina in Dogs Exercising in High Ambient Temperatures. Front Vet Sci. 2017;4(1–9):10–3389.

They either:

• go out too soon
• exercise too much, or
• turn walks into bad experiences

All three can have lasting consequences, but each one is easy to prevent.

When To Start Walking A Puppy

According to most vets, the earliest age to walk a puppy is when their second vaccination becomes protective. This will vary from 11 to 14 weeks, depending on the vaccine type and protocol used by each vet.

It is a little-known fact that puppy owners have some control over the first time they can go out walking. Vaccines used by breeders tend to be the ones that only protect at the oldest or latest age. However, there’s no reason you can’t choose an earlier one.

At Walkerville, our strategy for years has been to offer free puppy checks to try to catch these puppies in time. Otherwise, they would come in at 12 weeks like the breeder told them, and the pups would miss at least two weeks of outside socialisation time.

It’s important to point out that global vaccination guidelines dictate a 16 week parvovirus shot despite earlier protection being claimed by local manufacturers. Our approach to this dilemma is to advise owners that the risk between the second and third vaccine is extremely low, and easily outweighed by the urgent need to socialise.

How Far To Walk A Puppy

When you start walking it’s important to listen to your puppy and take it slow. The worst thing you could do right now is take the joy away by trying too hard too soon. Your entire focus should be on making walks fun, not long.

There is no single answer to how much or how far a puppy should be walked. Online calculators are available, but they are much too simplistic and fail to take into account individual needs or weather conditions. Over exercising is also common due to the mistaken belief that it will help puppies settle at night.

Therefore, if all you do is get to your driveway before your puppy stops, that’s OK. Maybe with a few treats, you can coax them a bit further the next time, or their curiousity will do it for you. Whatever you do, don’t pull them by the collar; they have to want to go.

If you suspect that anxiety might be stopping your puppy, get in touch with your vet straight away.

Once pups get brave enough, they often go too far unless prevented. Like kids, pups have very little stamina and will suddenly sit down and go no further. Therefore, start with very short trips, and only extend them when you are certain they can make it back. Of course, it doesn’t matter so much if your puppy is easily carried!

Pro tip: I always toilet train my puppies when outside using a leash, so that they stay in the right place and get accustomed to leads before starting walks.

Overexercise & Joint Problems

Many new owners have been warned about the risk of elbow and hip dysplasia caused by exercising too early. This applies especially to owners of young Labradors and Golden Retrievers. Here is some peace of mind.

The evidence behind overexercising puppies shows that the most critical age occurs while still at the breeder. Afterwards, as long as you keep them on a leash, a gentle walk should be purely beneficial.

Walking a puppy too much probably only occurs if you allow them to run and jump, or push them to achieve a target distance or time. Remember: it’s the outing that matters, not what they do.

Avoiding Bad Experiences

Good puppy socialisation is all about avoiding early bad experiences while maximising positive ones. You’ve already heard me warn you not to over-tire your puppy or push them too hard. Here are some of the other walking mistakes I see:

• Walking so far that the soft pads become worn through
• Using walks to meet other dogs on leash (read why here)
• Walking along busy or loud roads too soon

In fact, there are so many ways a pup could get a fright. Fear causes instant setbacks which can take weeks to undo. Therefore, have a look at this checklist of potential scares and take each one carefully at first with lots of treats.

Whatever you take away from this article, please don’t think that I’m trying to stop you getting out. Failing to expose a puppy to their world within their sensitive period is guaranteed to cause harm. The dangers of which I speak are easily avoided with a little care.

Coming soon: How Far To Walk Adult Dogs: it’s a whole different ballgame (hehehe).

Have something to add? Comments (if open) will appear within 24 hours.
By Andrew Spanner BVSc(Hons) MVetStud, a vet in Adelaide, Australia. Meet his team here.

So let’s start with a few myths that need busting.

How NOT To Settle A New Puppy

Don’t…

• use a crate: it’s way too soon. All you will do is make sure they will never want to be in a crate again.
• think it’s because they need to toilet. Your pup is distressed first, and needing to toilet second.
• fix it by co-sleeping. Having your pup with you overnight now only makes it harder to change later.
• expect reassurance to work. Sure, when you go in they settle down, but they’re no better straight afterwards and possibly even worse.
• try to tire them out. Young pups have a natural wake-sleep cycle. What you do during the day doesn’t have much effect on nighttime until a dog is older.

So let’s stick to what works. It starts with understanding the problem.

Why Puppies Cry At Night

New puppies are unsettled overnight due to their sudden and forced change from a natural to an unnatural environment. Puppies are never alone in nature unless something is wrong, and your new pup understands this innately.

Their distress is caused by separation from not just their mother, but also the other pups and the nestbox they were raised in. Importantly, this perception is mediated mostly through smell, although sight and sound also play a role.

To help new puppies cope, we need to keep this in mind, but also be realistic about how much we can improve them in the first few days.

How To Settle Pups & Stop Crying

I’ve been advising new puppy owners every day for nearly 30 years and they always come good if you do it right. Here are my tips:

The First Night

Don’t try to get it right on day one. Taking a puppy directly from the breeder into isolation is setting yourself up for failure. The first night should be either in your bedroom or you should sleep out where your puppy will be.

Letting a puppy sleep on your bed exposes them to the danger of being crushed. I would set up a bed on your floor within easy reach so you can console them as needed. Prepare for an unsettled night.

Why Can’t Puppies Sleep In Your Bedroom For Ever?

Humans are unreliable, and we need pups to learn this harsh fact early. Most people who work with dogs agree that puppies who become accustomed to sleeping with owners have more trouble separating later.

Co-sleeping would be fine if we could guarantee to our pups that we’ll never leave them. But we’ll go to work, go on holidays, even go into hospital at times. If you set them up at this sensitive age to expect you to always be there, that expectation may stay for life.

We’re only going through this pain so you have a happier dog later. Like with every new puppy experience, the earlier you make the changes, the easier it will be.

Creating A Nest

Start by imagining what they’ve left behind and try to recreate it as best you can. Create a warm, quiet den in a small room, a corner or under a table wherever they will feel most secure. Try putting soft toys or puppy-sized filled socks in the bed, possibly a warmer, and avoid noises and draughts.

Music probably isn’t much good, but a human voice may be soothing, perhaps an audiobook read by a calm, even voice. A familiar smell is best and although one of your unwashed T-shirts might be OK, a piece of blanket from the breeder is ideal.

Using A Crate At Night

A quick word on the bed, too. The most success is had with a pen that is large enough to enclose a comfy bed and a toilet area. This is not crate training, where toileting is excluded, as it’s too early for that. We’re just trying to contain them to one area so the toilet training isn’t lost overnight.

You can also set up a small room or create a pen out of furniture. The important thing is to cover any parts of the floor outside the bed with something you want them to toilet on.

Should You Leave A Puppy To Cry?

The second nights and on are best with the pup in their new bed. They will cry and you will face the terrible dilemma of whether to go in or not. However, no matter what you do, it’s going to be bad.

Go in every few hours to clean up and check on your pup, but don’t make a fuss. Just be calm, keep the lights low, and expect the crying to start again as soon as you leave.

How Long Does It Take A PupTo Settle?

Usually, the first separated night is completely unsettled. You may hear crying all night, on and off. Because your puppy is awake, they will wee and poo frequently, and then tread it everywhere. You’ll really doubt yourself.

The second night should already be better. Most pups will cry for around half the time. By the third night it should be just a few hours, and an average pup is quiet for the fourth.

Once they are settled, you will actually need to go in at least once overnight to take them out to toilet! This is when you can swap the pen for a bed-sized crate.

An Alternative: The Walking Bed

If crying will be a problem for housemates or neighbours, or if it isn’t for you either, here is a slower alternative. Start with the pen in your room. They should settle faster this way.

Once they are OK, start moving it each day, maybe only by 30cm (1 foot) each time. The pen is going to walk itself out the door of your room so slowly that your pup will barely notice.

At least that’s the theory, but it mostly works. The end result is the same: a pup that can sleep separately without being distressed.

Other Animals

When we talk about the evidence-based ways to settle new pups, there are two clear answers. The first is other animals. Pups who sleep with another animal settle better on average.

Look at this graph. This study measured how often owners stopped trying and let their pups in to the bedroom. Forget DAP, which I’ll mention in a minute and focus on the orange squares and blue triangles.

These are puppies that slept with another animal, typically a dog. Note how rarely they failed compared with the solitary pups.

There is a catch, though. The pups will become dependent on the other animal, the same way they would on you. You can counteract this by separating them when possible during the day, even for short periods.

DAP or Adaptil®

The second evidence-based way to stop puppies crying is DAP, or dog appeasing pheromone. This scent is released by nursing mothers and so it is logical that replacing it might help (DAP is also promoted for inappropriate reasons in my opinion, but that’s another story).

Now look at the next graph. It shows a comparison of how often owners were woken up on successive nights between pups wearing DAP collars and those with placebo collars.

If this evidence is to be believed, this is the most significant single intervention you can make to settle a new puppy.

The study does have two problems: the subjects were pet shop puppies, which are associated with higher levels of anxiety, and the study was run by the company itself. However, the size of the effect is so great that even with these concerns, I am certain that the results are valid.

A second study backs up these findings by observing improvement after DAP in gundog breeds such as Labradors, Golden retrievers, Spaniels and Weimaraners.

I recommend an Adaptil Junior Puppy Collar for every new pup, and especially those bought from pet shops or similarly unsettled places. The best time to fit it is prior to adoption, but later should still help.

Stay Calm

Here is a very similar graph from the same study showing how many pups caused disturbances such as whining, howling, or scratching at the door. Once again, it appears to show a striking effect of DAP, but this time, I want you to look at something else.

By Day 5, the DAP pups have settled, and then one un-settles. Read what the researchers said about this:

However, one puppy relapsed on night 6, after three quiet nights, after an excessively punitive confrontation with its owners over house training; this puppy continued to wake them up by whining…

This is my final message: no matter how tired you are, no matter how frustrated or angry, you must hold it together and stay calm. You will do lasting damage otherwise, and nobody wins.

But let’s not be negative, as failures like these are rare. I see new successes every day and I hope I’ve helped you become another one!

Have something to add? Comments (if open) will appear within 24 hours.
By Andrew Spanner BVSc(Hons) MVetStud, a vet in Adelaide, Australia. Meet his team here. The information provided here is not intended to be used as a substitute for going to the vet. If your pet is unwell, please seek veterinary attention.

Sources

Gaultier, E., Bonnafous, L., Vienet‐Legué, D., Falewee, C., Bougrat, L., Lafont‐Lecuelle, C., & Pageat, P. (2008). Efficacy of dog‐appeasing pheromone in reducing stress associated with social isolation in newly adopted puppies. Veterinary Record, 163(3), 73-80

Taylor, K., & Mills, D. S. (2007). A placebo-controlled study to investigate the effect of Dog Appeasing Pheromone and other environmental and management factors on the reports of disturbance and house soiling during the night in recently adopted puppies (Canis familiaris). Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 105(4), 358-368

I have always been reassured that there is strong scientific evidence for its effectiveness. So it took until 2021 for me to do a thorough literature review of my own. I was shocked by what I found.

It’s not that Feliway doesn’t work at all. It’s just that it probably doesn’t work for most of the things it’s been promoted for.

What Is Feliway?

Although its exact composition is a trade secret, Feliway is said to be a synthetic analog of the substances that cats release from their chin glands. It’s supposed to produce a sense of security and calm when released.

Feliway is available both as a plug-in room diffuser that lasts around a month, and a spray for short term immediate effect.

Let’s now go through each of its three main indications and look at the evidence with a critical eye.

Urine Spraying & Cystitis

Urine marking in cats is often a sign of stress or anxiety, as you can read here. It’s also an incredibly frustrating condition to treat. So it’s no surprise that four published Feliway studies address this topic.

Two should be immediately rejected due to the lack of a placebo group (you’ll see why in a minute).

Of the two remaining, one⁶ looked at the effect of Feliway on cystitis. Perhaps unsurprisingly, they found no benefit.

The other⁸ is the only placebo-controlled study to find that the use of Feliway was associated with a reduction in urine spraying. Sounds great, right? Actually no.

You’re about to see why it’s not good enough to just look at any study’s summary – you have to look inside.

Problems With The Study

These findings were based on only 10 treated cats, But it gets worse. If you read the paper you quickly discover that the treatment group and the placebo group were not equal, something that’s essential for comparison.

In the group receiving Feliway, urine samples were obtained from nine of the 10 cats and two of these contained blood. In the 12 control cats, only five cats had urine taken and two of these contained blood. We have no idea about the other seven.

This matters, because as outlined above, cats with cystitis would probably not respond to treatment.

A third issue is transparency of data. 25 cats were enrolled into the study but three of them were excluded from the final analysis with no explanation as to why. Drop outs from any drug trial always need to be watched closely as these are often treatment failures. Especially when you’re down to ten cats.

I also want to share their data in a graphical form to show you the caregiver placebo effect in action. There’s actually a significant improvement from baseline in the group treated with placebo!

Veterinary Visits & Travel

Hands up who enjoys taking the cat to the vet. Nobody? How surprising.

Kittens usually have a wow of a time whatever they do, but once cats grow up they become territorial and don’t like leaving familiar spaces. A trip to the vet or cattery at this age is usually a highly stressful experience. Anything we can do to help is a good thing.

Four published placebo-controlled studies look at stress in cats at the vet.

Kronen et al⁷found that cats who were sedated and exposed to Feliway had head positions and positions in the cage suggesting lower stress than cats sedated without Feliway. There was no difference in how easy they were to handle.

Griffith et al⁵ claim to show that Feliway is associated with reduced veterinary stress but I beg to differ.

They state that observing more grooming and interest in food indicates lower stress, despite the Feliway cats having slept significantly less and eaten no more. I regard sleeping as a much more important sign of low stress and wonder why they don’t.

By the way, actual food intake (which is a good measure) was significantly greater when they put a cat carrier in the cage for the cats to hide in. It just goes to show that reducing stress isn’t all about pharmaceuticals.

Conti et al³ measured parameters including respiratory rate, heart rate, blood pressure, and behaviour such as struggling, crying and agitation during handling both at home and at the veterinary hospital. They found that exposure to Feliway did not reduce the effects of stress.

The last vet visit study is so problematic it needs heading all of its own…

The Pereira Study

I must apologise to my poor wife for the number of times I incredulously read out choice sections from this study⁹. It is one of the most influential works on the treatment of stress with Feliway, but it is fatally flawed.

Firstly I would like a good explanation for why one of the study authors was employed by the pharmaceutical company. And this: “Ceva Santé Animale was secondarily contacted for advice into the study design and contributed to the writing of the paper”. Huh??

Secondly, I would ask why their introductory literature review relies so heavily on non-peer reviewed sources that few others can read.

But most importantly, I would ask why their treatment and placebo groups are so strikingly different. Median age in the 29 Feliway spray cats was 1.5 years versus 4.5 years in the 25 placebo cats. This is such a complete failure of randomisation it makes me wonder how they did it.

Now any fool knows that a median age of 1.5 years will include plenty of kittens, and that kittens don’t get nearly as stressed at the vet as adults. But if you don’t believe me look at this data from a large behavioural study¹.

What you see here are two different peaks: the dark bars are regular cats going to the vet for any reason, and the light bars are cats going for behavioural reasons. This isn’t quite the same thing, but it shows that you can’t compare cats of different ages on a behavioural basis.

As much as I think the results are meaningless, the study found lower stress scores in the Feliway treated cats, and owners who described their cat as ‘easier to handle/more relaxed’ more often.

I’m not the only one who finds this puzzling. Another paper linked below⁴, though by no means perfect, provides some additional critiques and even attempts to re-run the study.

Shelter Stress

Lastly, two studies have looked at measures of stress in cats at rescue shelters.

No evidence was found that Feliway had any effect on stress scores or upper respiratory diseases in shelter-housed cats². No difference in the stress hormone cortisol was observed before and after exposure to Feliway¹⁰.

So out of all of this, we have one study that showed possibly positive behavioural changes in sedated cats in a vet hospital. That’s it. Hardly a solid evidence base for treating such an important welfare issue.

The crux of the matter is this: there is insufficient evidence for the use of Feliway in treating distress in cats. Obviously this is just my opinion and you’re welcome to differ, but all I ask is that if you use it, don’t rely on it. Keep an open mind, and talk to your vet about other ways of treating feline anxiety.

Have something to add? Comments (if open) will appear within 24 hours.
By Andrew Spanner BVSc(Hons) MVetStud, a vet in Adelaide, Australia. Meet his team here.

References

1. Bamberger, M., & Houpt, K. A. (2006). Signalment factors, comorbidity, and trends in behavior diagnoses in cats: 736 cases (1991–2001). Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 229(10), 1602-1606
2. Chadwin, R. M., Bain, M. J., & Kass, P. H. (2017). Effect of a synthetic feline facial pheromone product on stress scores and incidence of upper respiratory tract infection in shelter cats. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 251(4), 413-420
3. Conti, L. M., Champion, T., Guberman, Ú. C., Mathias, C. H., Fernandes, S. L., Silva, E. G., … & Fortunato, V. R. (2017). Evaluation of environment and a feline facial pheromone analogue on physiologic and behavioral measures in cats. Journal of feline medicine and surgery, 19(2), 165-170 
4. Doonan, C. (2018). The effects of Feliway on the stress of cats during veterinary examination. [PDF] wmich.edu
5. Griffith, C. A., Steigerwald, E. S., & Buffington, C. T. (2000). Effects of a synthetic facial pheromone on behavior of cats. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 217(8), 1154-1156
6. Gunn-Moore, D. A., & Cameron, M. E. (2004). A pilot study using synthetic feline facial pheromone for the management of feline idiopathic cystitis. Journal of feline medicine and surgery, 6(3), 133-138
7. Kronen, P. W., Ludders, J. W., Erb, H. N., Moon, P. F., Gleed, R. D., & Koski, S. (2006). A synthetic fraction of feline facial pheromones calms but does not reduce struggling in cats before venous catheterization. Veterinary anaesthesia and analgesia, 33(4), 258-265
8. Mills, D. S., & Mills, C. B. (2001). Evaluation of a novel method for delivering a synthetic analogue of feline facial pheromone to control urine spraying by cats. Veterinary Record, 149(7), 197-199
9. Pereira, J. S., Fragoso, S., Beck, A., Lavigne, S., Varejão, A. S., & da Graça Pereira, G. (2016). Improving the feline veterinary consultation: the usefulness of Feliway spray in reducing cats’ stress. Journal of feline medicine and surgery, 18(12), 959-964
10. da Silva, B. P., Knackfuss, F. B., Labarthe, N., & Mendes-de-Almeida, F. (2017). Effect of a synthetic analogue of the feline facial pheromone on salivary cortisol levels in the domestic cat. Pesquisa Veterinária Brasileira, 37(3), 287-290

No Placebo

Frank, D. F., Erb, H. N., & Houpt, K. A. (1999). Urine spraying in cats: presence of concurrent disease and effects of a pheromone treatment. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 61(3), 263-272

Ogata, N., & Takeuchi, Y. (2001). Clinical trial of a feline pheromone analogue for feline urine marking. Journal of Veterinary Medical Science, 63(2), 157-161

It sounds too good to be true. Can a harmless treatment undetectable to you or I really work to ease anxiety?

The answer is, of course, that it depends. You certainly aren’t going to get it out of the box and suddenly everything is OK. How well it works for your dog will mainly depend on:

• what type of problem you’re trying to treat, and
• what else you’re doing

What Is Dog Appeasing Pheromone?

DAP is one of the rare mammalian pheromones, and is released by nursing females during the first few weeks of the puppies’ lives. It seems to act to encourage relaxed behaviour in the nest.

DAP is sold as Adaptil in three forms:

• a plug-in diffuser, which lasts around a month and treats 90m²
• a treated collar, which also lasts 1 month
• a spray bottle for daily use around the house or on wearable items

You’ll see that different studies used different products. I’ll try to make this clear as I go.

Problems With The Evidence

I’ll present the evidence under headings for each condition or problem. While there are some excellent studies among the 20 available, there are also two large problems:

1. Many studies or researchers are directly funded by the company that owns the molecule
2. Many studies are not placebo-controlled

Of course, just because a career or a study depends on the whims of a pharmaceutical company doesn’t mean the science will be bad. It just introduces a risk of bias. This will come up especially when I talk about puppies later.

One thing companies definitely do not do often is publish studies that don’t give the desired outcome. This is a subtle form of bias because if we remove studies that say something doesn’t work, it can make uncertain efficacy seem certain.

The lack of placebo control is a bigger problem. I will just say that any behavioural study without a placebo group is very likely to find that the drug works, whether it does or not. You can read why here.

For this reason, I have discarded 8 studies (listed below) that all found benefit without comparison to placebo. These are often the same studies being quoted at you to say Adaptil works. You might be surprised by what’s left.

Adaptil For Separation Anxiety

There is no high quality evidence that Adaptil works for separation anxiety in dogs. The one good study¹³ found that a DAP diffuser did not improve behaviours such as barking, scratching, whining, howling, trembling, nor heart rate, eye or ear temperature of dogs.

Normal dogs were separated from their owners in a laboratory setting and observed for signs of anxiety.

My view: the results could have been different if dogs who suffer from separation anxiety were used instead. However, separation anxiety is usually severe by the time a vet is consulted, so I am not surprised that a mild treatment like DAP had no measurable effect. Of course, it is harmless to try as long as it’s not used instead of a more effective remedy.

Adaptil For Barking

One study¹¹ on dogs in a shelter provides indirect evidence that Adaptil can reduce the intensity of barking. Dogs exposed to a person walking by or a friendly person barked less often and the average loudness was reduced compared with placebo. Peak loudness was unchanged.

My view: although the study has some statistical problems², it seems likely that the effect is real. Just a warning though: barking is a complex problem, and Adaptil would probably only help in those dogs where it is caused by anxiety.

Adaptil For Firework & Thunder Phobia

There is only minimal evidence that Adaptil helps dogs with sound‐induced fear and anxiety. Two very problematic studies (discarded^5,8) are often quoted but neither are placebo-controlled, and both use other treatments simultaneously.

One better study uses normal dogs and exposed them to thunder sounds at 83.9 dB (thunder itself can be up to 130dB). They found that a DAP collar reduced global measures of anxiety and active signs of anxiety and increased the use of a den. However, have a look at their experimental schedule.

My view: as all of the placebo dogs and then all of the treatment dogs were assessed together, I would not be surprised if the researchers were able to tell which dogs were being treated with DAP and which were not. This is called a detection bias. I will say that intentions were good, and the researchers are well-respected in the field.

I also suspect that if dogs who suffer from noise phobias were used (which for welfare reasons is impossible) and the noise intensity matched that of thunder, the effect would have disappeared. Read here about treatments for dogs scared by firework and thunder.

Adaptil For Puppies Crying At Night

Two studies have found positive effects of Adaptil collars on recently adopted puppies. The first¹² fitted collars to purebred puppies and found a benefit only in Gundogs (mainly Labrador retrievers, Weimeraners and Spaniels). Those receiving Adaptil cried for a median of three nights versus nine for the gundogs in the placebo group.

The second study³ pre-fitted Adaptil collars to puppies prior to sale from pet shops. A striking effect was observed where all 32 treated puppies settled within three days. Two thirds of the 34 puppies receiving placebo were either still disturbing their owners in two weeks or only stopped when being allowed into the owner’s bedroom or to sleep with another dog.

The same authors published a later study of the same puppies⁴ showing fewer signs of avoidance and uneasiness when facing unfamiliar people and new environments, although the effect was not as striking.

You can view these studies in more detail in our guide to helping puppies sleep overnight.

My view: There is a potential conflict of interest in the two pet shop studies because “the owner of the company that produces the commercially available canine and feline pheromones was a coauthor”². I certainly think this is worth considering, but the study design appears sound, and I find the results hard to ignore.

The purebred study is in partial agreement. The reason for the smaller effect may be that pet shop puppies are known to experience higher levels of anxiety. They suggest this could be due to the increased number of translocations, the lack of a home environment, and the average of 2-3 weeks spent in the shop.

Summary: based on these results, I recommend Adaptil collars for all pet shop puppies, Gundog breeds and any that do not settle quickly.

Adaptil In Puppy Classes

One study fitted Adaptil collars to puppies attending puppy preschool classes. At various points during the classes, treated puppies showed lower fear, lower excitability and higher learning. In addition, dogs in the DAP groups had a higher degree of socialisation at followup phone calls, compared with dogs in the placebo group.

My view: effects were not so great that collars should be considered essential in classes. However, for fearful, excitable or anxious puppies they are highly recommended.

Adaptil For Travel

There is no high quality evidence that DAP assists dogs who are anxious about car travel. As always, there’s no harm in trying but you might want to consider some of these options too.

Lastly, two other specialist uses are worth mentioning. Adaptil diffusers have been shown to increase the quality of mothering behaviour in breeding dogs with young puppies^8,9. Adaptil as a diffuser^5.7 or spray¹⁰ was also associated with reduced signs of anxiety in hospitalised dogs.

It might seem harsh to have excluded so many studies in this review of Adaptil. However, in such an important welfare issue we have to apply the evidence rigourously. I see far too many dogs in which Adaptil has been tried for wildly inappropriate reasons, and for far too long when much better treatments are available.

The company that own Adaptil are sitting on a gold mine, and in my view if real therapeutic benefits existed for the questionable problems, the research would have come out by now. And if it hasn’t, well it’s time. It’s a great treatment as long as we stick to its strengths and stay realistic about what it is unlikely to do well, at least on its own.

Next week: Feline Pheromones in the spotlight

References Used

1. Denenberg, S., & Landsberg, G. M. (2008). Effects of dog-appeasing pheromones on anxiety and fear in puppies during training and on long-term socialization. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 233(12), 1874-1882
2. Frank, D., Beauchamp, G., & Palestrini, C. (2010). Systematic review of the use of pheromones for treatment of undesirable behavior in cats and dogs. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 236(12), 1308-1316
3. Gaultier, E., Bonnafous, L., Vienet‐Legué, D., Falewee, C., Bougrat, L., Lafont‐Lecuelle, C., & Pageat, P. (2008). Efficacy of dog‐appeasing pheromone in reducing stress associated with social isolation in newly adopted puppies. Veterinary Record, 163(3), 73-80
4. Gaultier, E., Bonnafous, L., Vienet‐Lagué, D., Falewee, C., Bougrat, L., Lafont‐Lecuelle, C., & Pageat, P. (2009). Efficacy of dog‐appeasing pheromone in reducing behaviours associated with fear of unfamiliar people and new surroundings in newly adopted puppies. Veterinary Record, 164(23), 708-714
5. Kim, Y. M., Lee, J. K., Abd El-aty, A. M., Hwang, S. H., Lee, J. H., & Lee, S. M. (2010). Efficacy of dog-appeasing pheromone (DAP) for ameliorating separation-related behavioral signs in hospitalized dogs. The Canadian Veterinary Journal, 51(4), 380
6. Landsberg, G. M., Beck, A., Lopez, A., Deniaud, M., Araujo, J. A., & Milgram, N. W. (2015). Dog‐appeasing pheromone collars reduce sound‐induced fear and anxiety in beagle dogs: a placebo‐controlled study. Veterinary Record, 177(10), 260-260
7. Mills, D. S., Ramos, D., Estelles, M. G., & Hargrave, C. (2006). A triple blind placebo-controlled investigation into the assessment of the effect of Dog Appeasing Pheromone (DAP) on anxiety related behaviour of problem dogs in the veterinary clinic. Applied animal behaviour science, 98(1-2), 114-126
8. Santos, N. R., Beck, A., Blondel, T., Maenhoudt, C., & Fontbonne, A. (2020). Influence of dog‐appeasing pheromone on canine maternal behaviour during the peripartum and neonatal periods. Veterinary Record, 186(14), 449-449
9. Santos, N. R., Beck, A., Maenhoudt, C., & Fontbonne, A. (2020). Influence of ADAPTIL® during the Weaning Period: A Double-Blinded Randomised Clinical Trial. Animals, 10(12), 2295
10. Siracusa, C., Manteca, X., Cuenca, R., del Mar Alcalá, M., Alba, A., Lavín, S., & Pastor, J. (2010). Effect of a synthetic appeasing pheromone on behavioral, neuroendocrine, immune, and acute-phase perioperative stress responses in dogs. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 237(6), 673-681
11. Tod, E., Brander, D., & Waran, N. (2005). Efficacy of dog appeasing pheromone in reducing stress and fear related behaviour in shelter dogs. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 93(3-4), 295-308
12. Taylor, K., & Mills, D. S. (2007). A placebo-controlled study to investigate the effect of Dog Appeasing Pheromone and other environmental and management factors on the reports of disturbance and house soiling during the night in recently adopted puppies (Canis familiaris). Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 105(4), 358-368
13. Taylor, S., Webb, L., Montrose, V. T., & Williams, J. (2020). The behavioral and physiological effects of dog appeasing pheromone on canine behavior during separation from the owner. Journal of Veterinary Behavior, 40, 36-42

Discarded: Not Placebo Controlled

1. Gandia Estellés, M., & Mills, D. S. (2006). Signs of travel‐related problems in dogs and their response to treatment with dog appeasing pheromone. Veterinary Record, 159(5), 143-148
2. Gaultier, E., Bonnafous, L., Bougrat, L., Lafont, C., & Pageat, P. (2005). Comparison of the efficacy of a synthetic dog‐appeasing pheromone with clomipramine for the treatment of separation‐related disorders in dogs. Veterinary record, 156(17), 533-538
3. Hermiston, C., Montrose, V. T., & Taylor, S. (2018). The effects of dog-appeasing pheromone spray upon canine vocalizations and stress-related behaviors in a rescue shelter. Journal of Veterinary Behavior, 26, 11-16
4. Kim, Y. M., Kang, B. T., Gu, S. H., Yoo, J. H., Park, C., Jung, D. I., … & Park, H. M. (2006). Comparison of Acupuncture with Dog-Appeasing Pheromone (DAP) Application in separation anxiety of hospitalized dogs. Experimental Neurobiology, 15(2), 81-87
5. Levine, E. D., Ramos, D., & Mills, D. S. (2007). A prospective study of two self-help CD based desensitization and counter-conditioning programmes with the use of Dog Appeasing Pheromone for the treatment of firework fears in dogs (Canis familiaris). Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 105(4), 311-329
6. Osella, M. C., Bergamasco, L., & Costa, F. (2005). Use of a synthetic analogue of a dog appeasing pheromone in sheltered dogs after adoption. Current Issues and Research in Veterinary Behavioral Medicine, ed. D Mills et al, 270-273
7. Osella, M. C., Bergamasco, L., Odore, R., Beck, A., & Gazzano, A. (2015). Adaptive mechanisms in dogs adopted from shelters: a behavioral assessment of the use of a synthetic analogue of the canine appeasing pheromone. Dog Behavior, 1(2), 1-12
8. Sheppard, G., & Mills, D. S. (2003). Evaluation of dog‐appeasing pheromone as a potential treatment for dogs fearful of fireworks. Veterinary Record, 152(14), 432-436

Have something to add? Comments (if open) will appear within 24 hours.
By Andrew Spanner BVSc(Hons) MVetStud, a vet in Adelaide, Australia. Meet his team here.

As any genuine cat lover knows, our cats always dominate us. Most of us have enough humility to love them for it. 

Stopping them biting and scratching is a whole other story with a wholly different explanation. One where aggression is just a symptom of a problem in the cat-human relationship.

So strap in: it’s going to be a long ride, and a bumpy one. There are no quick answers. It’s inevitable that a large part of the solution will depend on you seeing the world from their point of view.

Why Cats Attack

Feline aggression is the common endpoint for a wide range of problems. These include:

1. Stress from handling
2. Anxiety from other cats
3. Suboptimal environment
4. Physical and mental Illness
5. Play and hunting behaviour

They’re all important. You’ll notice that nowhere here is a reason that directs the blame on the cat. Let’s cover each in turn.

1. Inappropriate Handling

Cats differ from dogs in one very important way: even if a dog doesn’t like something, they’ll usually go along with it. But before you say, “cats are so unreasonable”, think how you’d react if someone did half the things to you that cats get dished out every day. They’re probably stlll more tolerant than the average human.

A related difference is that cats don’t learn to enjoy something. If they hate it, they just hate it. So it’s no good expecting them to change.

Handling a cat well is understanding how to do it politely. 

How To Be Polite To Cats

We all know cats who love endless smooches and cuddles, no matter what you do. The following advice is specifically written for those cats who scratch or bite, but it can’t hurt for every cat.

• First, choose the moment. This depends on the cat, and you’ll work this out soon enough. Places in the house where they go to be alone are usually out. Relaxed, open posture, forward ear position and squinty eyes are a good clue it’s OK.
• Then, start with an introduction. Get down to their level and present your hand to their nose to inspect. They should show a little interest, and possibly even rub on it. Take your time.
• All going well, slowly stroke the bridge of the nose between the eyes only in an upwards direction. This might be as far as you go if you get no positive signals.
• From here, chin rubs are a good idea using just one finger. Your cat will move their head to the best spot if they like it.
• If this is well-received, you may now be able to pat the head or stroke the back only from front to back. Avoid the sides and belly (OMG, just because they roll over does not mean they want belly rubs!). Probably 5 to 10 strokes is right.
• If they don’t mind being picked up, always cradle them under the body and never use the scruff. Hold them in a way that is supported, but doesn’t take away their sense of control.

Do this right, and you’ll find it’s your cat that starts seeking out contact, not you. Are you starting to see why cats are drawn to people who don’t like them? 

When Cats Bite

Most people get bitten in one of two ways. Either they just launch in without thinking, or they keep absent-mindedly patting for too long. If they were looking, they’d see their cat’s body start to stiffen with annoyance, and maybe the ears go back or the tail twitch. Any other cat could read this signal loud and clear, but we usually miss it, and… wham!

Some cats start licking before they bite. As a general rule, it’s never good to let cats lick you, as it’s not always a positive sign like in dogs. Some experts even go so far as to say licking is a sign of aggression itself.

Cat bites and scratches can be very serious. If you get a deep bite, see a doctor within 24 hours as you’ll almost certainly need to take antibiotics. This can also apply to scratches especially if you have poor circulation.

What Cats Want

Most cats prefer physical closeness to pats anyway. Some like to just sit next to you, and that may never change, whereas others prefer the full lap experience. Regardless, they mostly just want to sit and enjoy. That’s why in my house, “IGTP” (I’ve got the puss) is code for “get me that coffee/book/TV remote/etc please cos I’m stuck here til he wakes up”.

Predictability is also very important. If you want a cat to enjoy your company, they need to be able to trust you 100% of the time. No sudden noises, no jumping up, certainly no ‘jokes’. This is why many cats are made worse by children.

The attitude of “I can do what I like to you and you’re not allowed to complain” is all too common and never going to work. This especially applies to roughhousing or picking them up. Both can be done, but not to all cats, and never all the time. 

Punishment

If you’re feeling frustrated at times, that’s normal. I admit: it’s hard to not react when you get hurt without warning, but it’s vital to give no reaction, except for learning for next time. Let your cat go, and leave them alone to settle down. 

Once you hit, yell, use water spray or throw something, you’re in trouble. Punishment is a human instinct, but it’s always, always going to make the problem spiral out of control as the fear increases and defence turns into attack. And anyway, if we’re complaining about our cat being too violent, reacting like this only makes us hypocrites. 

2. Anxiety From Other Cats

I believe that most cats labelled as vicious have at least an element of anxiety. This could be the anxiety mentioned earlier of not being sure what you’ll do, but the most obvious cause is other cats.

Cats aren’t fully social like dogs or humans, and social stress is everywhere. It can be seen as cats urinating in the house but often there’s no outward clue. Certainly, just like humans, someone stressing you out doesn’t mean you’ll get in a fight with them.

A cat who’s on edge is never going to accept touching the way a secure cat will. If your ‘problem’ cat lives with another cat, read my page on getting two cats to live together. 

Redirected Aggression

A few years ago a cat was brought in to me for a euthanasia she felt she had no choice but to do. The owner was bandaged up both arms after he’d attacked her viciously without warning. I fixed him with window tinting!

A very special version of stress from other cats is called redirected aggression. This is the “I had a bad day at work so I yelled at the kids” but with claws and teeth. When a cat gets riled up, especially by another cat, they are a pressure cooker. If you’re unlucky enough to be nearby, especially if you try to touch them, they can attack you without mercy.

The worst cases I have seen result from stray cats prowling outside the house and looking in the window. That’s why, once I suspected the cause, I asked her to give him a few weeks and get a translucent film put on the windows. Once he couldn’t see the other cats any more, he settled down. 

Redirected aggression is very common, and most people never see the other cats. I guessed the answer by knowing his personality, and where he was when it happened. This condition is much worse if cats are not desexed.

3. Suboptimal Environment

Whatever else is wrong, it will get worse if a cat can’t feel relaxed at home. I’ve written a long page full of easy ideas to keep indoor cats happy, but some need particular mention:

• Things to do to occupy the mind and prevent boredom, especially puzzle feeders
• A safe outside area if possible, or connected high perches in the house if not
• Cat-friendly places to hang out in the house where the people are
• Minimal ‘dead-end’ hidey holes like under beds (these tend to promote social isolation, and a cornered cat is a dangerous one)
• Appropriate play with their loved ones

Good play will depend on your cat, but might be any of the following:

• Supervised outside time
• Treats to help you to bond (the type will depend on your cat)
• String toys to pull around,
• Balls with or without bells
• Fishing pole toys with feathery lures to flick

These are best done by the person having the most trouble. My kids regularly bring home a cheap new toy to try. Sometimes they’re a hit and we buy 5 more, other times they’re ignored completely.

Allowing a cat to watch birds, small mammals, fish or even insects can be very entertaining for them. The classic move is to put a bird feeder outside a suitable window. Just be aware that for some cats, outside sights or noises might increase problems by causing frustration instead or calm.

To understand the importance of boredom in ‘bad’ behaviour, you’ve only got to see how much a cat improves when there are mice around to hunt!

4. Physical & Mental Illness

I won’t go far into the health causes, except to ask you to get the opinion of a cat-friendly vet. Too often, I have seen problems very late that were extremely treatable. These include:

• Pain (especially arthritis)
• Thyroid disease
• Anxiety requiring medication

While on the subject of vets, surgical declawing has absolutely no place in humane cat care. And anyway, a stressed cat will lash out with the weapons they have. Remove the claws, and it’s teeth.

On the other hand, it’s perfectly acceptable to trim the claws of an indoor cat to reduce risk of injury.

5. Play & Hunting Behaviour

For some cats, the aggression is just a game, except they don’t realise it’s a problem to you. These are especially the confident and boisterous ones. Three important risk factors for rough play are: 

• Men
• Hand rearing
• Free access to food

Men, just because they often encourage it, and then complain later! Hand reared cats because they missed out on the feedback from their mother and other kittens about how hard to play. 

In both cases, we should strive to never play using our hands directly, but always have a toy between the cat and us. Start out with kittens the way you mean to continue. Fingers are not toys!

Free feeding is an interesting one. Think about it: when the bowl’s empty, what do they do? Find you and tell you to fill it up again!

These cats seem to be trained to regard you as something controllable, which in turn leads them to not treat you correctly. If you are being attacked, please, please convert your cat to timed, measured meals and become the one to do the feeding. It will be tough, but you need to try. 

Sadly, after fixing all this, some cats still love to ambush you. I have less to say about these, except to predict the signs and avoid, avoid, avoid. When it happens, try as hard as you can to stand still and not react, as almost any response will encourage it. This may mean wearing thick clothes around the house until it settles down.

The same cats often ‘mouth’ you gently or nip without breaking the skin as a sign of affection. Harmless as it is, I would not encourage it for fear it could escalate.

Becoming A Cat Person

I think the best evidence for everything I’ve said here are the ‘crazy cat people’. How often do they get badly attacked? Almost never.

These people don’t see any cat as nasty or vindictive, or one that can’t be helped with a little understanding. They’ve learnt how to communicate.

Cats are fun because they’re independent, and challenging, because they’re a puzzle to live with. Oh yes, they can also be very annoying. That’s part of the package.

Cats might well represent the only time we humans truly share our lives with another being on near-equal terms. I hope you succeed, but if you’re struggling, please leave me a detailed comment below and I’ll do my best to help. When you get it right, the rewards will be worth it.

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By Andrew Spanner BVSc(Hons) MVetStud, a vet in Adelaide, Australia. Meet his team here. The information provided here is not intended to be used as a substitute for going to the vet. If your pet is unwell, please seek veterinary attention.

What you are seeing here is not that older cats need more vaccinations. Instead, you are looking at a snapshot of a sweeping change in how Aussies look after their cats. These are the cats that have unsupervised outside access. And they are going down, fast.

Australia is rapidly changing into a nation that keeps its cats indoors. Using this data, we can document the change. Like this:

• 56% of cats were outdoors 10-13 years ago
• 50% of cats were outdoors 7-10 years ago
• 35% of cats were outdoors 5-7 years ago
• 35% of cats were outdoors 2-5 years ago
• 19% of cats were outdoors 0.5-2 years ago

A Quick Explanation

The AIDS-like disease of cats called FIV is only transmitted by a direct bite. Therefore, in the spirit of only giving cats what they need, its vaccine is not recommended in indoor cats. That includes those who only go outside under supervision.

On the other hand, owners of cats who venture outside alone are advised to add FIV vaccination to their core F3 vaccination. The disease is scary enough that almost everyone takes our recommendation. Then, once they start, they rarely stop, which is why those older cats are still getting it.

And there you have it: a shorthand way of seeing how many cats live inside and how many don’t. At least in our local bubble.

Why Are Cats Moving Indoors?

The trend is real and unmistakeable, but it’s against the preferences of most cats. It could even be said that their welfare is at risk by depriving them of the outdoors. So why do we do it?

There are lots of good reasons, which I’ll go through here.

Shelter & Breeder Advice

Probably the number one reason is the almost unanimous advice from the places where kittens come from to keep them inside. It’s rare for people to go against such strong advice, especially if they’re new to cat ownership.

This advice is especially important in the first few months, when cats might wander away and be lost.

Safety

Cats given outside access have a higher risk of injury, especially by motor vehicle, and a higher risk of death from all forms of trauma. They are also at risk from dogs, snake bite, pythons in northern Australia and coyotes in the USA just to name a few.

Tick paralysis is common on the eastern seaboard of Australia in free-roaming cats. Poisonings may be just as common inside but outdoor cases seem more serious. Top of the list is ‘secondary poisoning’ from eating poisoned rats and mice.

Diseases

All infectious diseases are more commonly acquired while outside. I’ve already mentioned FIV, but to this we can add the three components of the F3 vaccine, herpesvirus, calicivirus and parvovirus.

Then there’s feline coronavirus and chlamydia. There’s also the gastrointestinal parasites, especially giardia, roundworm and tapeworm. Finally, you can add Lyme disease, rabies and feline leukaemia virus depending on where you live.

Human Health

Outdoor cats are more likely to catch toxoplasmosis and bring it into the home. To them, it’s rarely a problem, but it’s a major concern in human pregnancy or immune deficiency.

Scary as it is, toxo is easy to avoid once you know how. If you are thinking of having children or know someone with poor immune function, read my guide to preventing toxoplasmosis in cats & people. Needless to say, among the many suggestions is to keep cats inside!

Nuisance

Cats are also a great way to really annoy your neighbours. My previous cat was outside, and never left the yard, but those that do often end up using next door’s as a toilet. Others might stress the neighbour’s cat/rabbit/bird or help themselves to someone else’s dinner via the cat flap.

Many people, including me, cherish the local wildlife and would get fairly cranky if they were being killed or even just scared away. This is especially important when living near remnant native habitats.

Cats who are outside at night will up the ante on all these points, and add the extra joy of noise. Of course, all of these vices are much more likely to be from unseen feral cats than a pampered domestic but if one goes outside he’ll always tend to get blamed. The same way cats get blamed for disappearing chickens.

Expense

Sometimes the hip pocket is the driver for change. Outside cats get in a lot more fights with other cats, and these end up being quite a drain on the finances. Each bad fight will require (at minimum) a course of antibiotics, but often surgery for a cat fight abscess.

To this everyday problem, add the threat of a week in hospital for tick paralysis or road trauma and you can see why the choice to stay inside is an economical one too.

Housing

The last reason is possibly the biggest one. As we move from large blocks to smaller houses and apartments, there often isn’t a safe way for cats to be outside.

Those that do are still usually confined. A lot of the cats I see now have small enclosed courtyards into which other cats cannot enter. The apartment dwellers of course have useful balconies, but I would be very wary of allowing them access without netting.

Living The Best Indoor Life

An indoor lifestyle on its own is all about what’s been taken away. Unless an effort is made, the loss of freedom could be worse than the benefits.

These days I have an indoor cat, and although I’m sure he’d disagree on the details, he has a good life. He’s a lot more fun too, just because he’s always nearby.

A lot of our ideas for keeping indoor cats happy came from my experiences. I’d love it if they help you too. And please add your ideas in the comments!

You might also like: Safe Plants For A Cat Enclosure

Have something to add? Comments (if open) will appear within 24 hours.
By Andrew Spanner BVSc(Hons) MVetStud, a vet in Adelaide, Australia. Meet his team here.