Dealing With Anxiety?

5 Top Tips to Calm Your Pet

By Wendy Rall, CMFT, CACLT, CKTP, CPR of Rescued Tails, Canine Massage and P.T.

The presence of a professional therapist touching them with love and compassion is good for their mind, focus, and socialization—at any age.

2. Music Therapy Really Works

Is your pet showing signs of anxiety? Anxiety is what we feel when we are worried, tense or afraid. Our pets experience this just as we do. The good news is that there is help! Many pets have deeply rooted anxiety issues, especially those who have been rescued or re-homed. After rescuing dogs from the streets of Mexico for a decade, I have extensive experience that I’d like to share in treating anxious pets. For these little angels, anxiety can be treated with therapy. If you have a young pup or kitty, then prevention is key. This will take dedication on your part, but in most cases you can help relieve or prevent anxiety in your precious cat or dog.

5 Top Tips

1. Animal Massage Therapy Heals

Massage therapy works to reduce mental stress as well as physical stress. It helps to reduce blood pressure, along with your pet’s heart rate, allowing them to relax. Massage also helps to relieve pain, which may be causing the anxiety. The massage releases endorphins that will help an anxious pet to relax. For extremely social pets, it gives their minds and bodies a time to heal and repair. By working on the dog’s soft tissues, canine massage can reduce stress, improve blood flow, alleviate pain, relax tight muscles, and help heal sprains. It is also believed to strengthen the immune system, improve digestion, and lower blood pressure.

Music therapy has helped my anxious dog Planeta relax when I leave the house. Clinical studies in dogs, cats, and people have revealed that our auditory systems operate basically the same (although we hear different frequency spectrums). Slow rhythms calm us down, while faster rhythms excite us. I love the music by iCalmPet, which they refer to as “simple sound.” This means they minimize intricate auditory information. The music of iCalmPet is intentionally selected, arranged, and recorded to provide easeful auditory assimilation. It has helped my senior dog relax while I am out, and she is no longer looking for paper to chew. Once I started playing iCalmPet music, I stopped coming home to chewed up papers and have more relaxed dogs.

3. Acupressure and Laser Acupoint Therapies

Anxiety can be released by targeting points on the body associated with life force. When pressure or laser acupoint therapy is applied to these points, your pet will feel more relaxed. Not only this, but by clearing the block of energy flow through these meridians, you will help keep your pet healthy and feeling well. Acupressure is generally tolerated well when combined with massage therapy. Laser acupoint therapy is noninvasive, no pressure is used, no heat is emitted, and the tool does not need to make physical contact with your pet. Your pet will most likely not feel the energy of the light. Learn more at rescuedtails.com.

17 years young Rusty receives his full therapy treatment, including laser acupoint therapy twice a week with Wendy in the comfort of his own home.

4. Plant Extracts are Not Snake Oil

Known as CBD, the cannabinoid extracted from the nonpsychoactive hemp plant is extremely beneficial in treating pets with anxiety. I give my senior dogs CBD daily for their overall health. The CBD tincture will help your pet to relax quickly when given orally, and will “take the edge off” throughout the day when dropped on their food for a slower release. Treats are also available and make dosing simple and fun! CBD is non-intoxicating and non-addictive. Many people have questions about the true effects of CBD, strengths, and dosages. To learn more, visit rescuedtails.com.

5. Essential Oils & Flower Essences are Not Mystical

Calming scents such as lavender, captured in essential oils, may be used in a vaporizer or diluted in a carrier oil and sprayed or applied topically. Aromatherapy is not some new-age fad—it’s a proven method for helping your pets stay calm.

Flower essences are used differently. These tinctures and sprays are used sublingually, sprayed on fur, or dropped into your pet’s water/food. Both provide the same relief—I recommend trying them both to see which your pet responds to best.

There are additional remedies on the market, such as pheromone therapy, microcurrent electrical therapy (MET), and cranial electrotherapy stimulation (CES), as well as various types of calming jackets, to name just a few.

Wendy Rall, CMFT, CACLT, CKTP is a certified, licensed and insured canine therapist specializing in Canine Massage Therapy, Cold Laser Therapy, Laser Acupoint Therapy, Kinesiology Taping and Anxiety Rehab for dogs. Learn more at RescuedTails.com