Veterinarian Explains How to Prevent Pet Separation Anxiety

[Narrator] During the pandemic,

23 million American households adopted a pet.

[dog barks] [cat meows]

[dog howls]

But now that owners are leaving animals home alone

to go back to work,

are pets stressing out?

[dog whines]

What we found across the pandemic

was that for dogs and cats

separation anxiety increased significantly.

For dogs, it increased by about 33%.

For cats, the increase was double,

so twice as many cats diagnosed with anxiety,

so they absolutely sense the changes in our households.

[Narrator] As the Chief Medical Officer

of Banfield Pet Hospital,

Dr. McAllister draws insights from data collected

over 9 1/2 billion pet visits in 2021

from 1,000 hospitals across America.

When we start leaving the house for that full day of work,

that 8, 10, 12-hour day of being gone,

it's a big routine disruption,

and so we need to start preparing them

so that they can navigate it with success.

[Narrator] Let's walk through

some specific tips and strategies

pet owners can use to deal with pet separation anxiety.

[bright music]

[cat meows]

So if they're experiencing some anxiety,

being calm and cool and collected

with those goodbyes and greetings

is the most important thing to do.

So we can practice leaving our dogs,

leaving our pets for progressively longer periods of time.

Start with leaving your pet in a room alone

and going to another room in the house for a few minutes

and then returning.

You can slowly expand that time,

so the next time you might leave to go to the grocery store

and be gone for 15 or 20 minutes

and then come back,

and helping them realize that everything was okay,

you came back, you didn't make a big deal about it,

and so they don't need to make a big deal about it.

And so we start easing our way into that long day

rather than just suddenly hitting them

with us being gone and them not knowing what happened.

So some people will give their dog a favorite treat,

for example, a toy,

to help distract them as they leave,

to help take their mind off of it.

That idea of associating a food treat with the departure

can be a way to make it more positive.

What we do have to be careful of

is that those treats can get pretty calorie dense.

And then very importantly when we come home

it's okay to just kind of ignore them for a little while

and let them settle down before we give them the greeting

that we really are looking forward to.

A couple of other things we can do behaviorally

is to really just set up a better routine

so that they know what to expect

at various times in the day.

They know when we leave, they know when we come home.

They know when walk time is, they know when food time is.

So routine is very important for our pets.

[bright music]

So exercise before you leave is always a great way

to kinda burn off the willies

for them to then head into that day

where they might just nap

instead of being anxious about your departure.

Walk time, exercise is so important

for their peace of mind, for their wellbeing,

particularly in a time of stress.

For cats it might be playing with a fishing pole toy

or a ball toss around the house,

depending on what they're interested in.

But getting them regular exercise

is a great way to help their brains be calmer

during those times of stress.

[Narrator] Once we leave them home alone,

how do we get tabs on them throughout the day?

A lot of people will put some sort of a head cam

in their house

so that they can see what their pet's doing during the day.

Some of those even allow you to talk to your pet

or to dispense a treat at a certain time,

and those can be great for the pet

that's engaged in that type of behavior,

that will engage with the screen.

Now Jack, when I try to FaceTime with him,

he pretty much ignores me.

So for him, you know,

it would be more about just watching what's going on

during the day.

Is he jumping up on the counter?

Is he destroying something?

Is he anxious when I leave?

[Narrator] How does a pet's stress

manifests itself at home?

Cats tend to hide their stress and hide their anxiety,

and so what you might see is a cat that's more withdrawn,

a cat that spends more time hiding under the bed,

or a cat who starts expressing their displeasure

and their stress

with litter box changes.

[Narrator] And what about dogs?

It might be increased panting or pacing.

It might be behaviors that you don't actually get to see

because they express them when you're not at home.

So your neighbors might report

that your dog has started barking a lot more.

You might notice that a dog who normally

was okay being left alone

is now starting to be destructive.

You might see that there's some soiling in the house

maybe your dog has never done before.

Are they pacing a lot?

Are they sleeping

as much as they normally do or excessively?

Are they scratching or barking a lot?

[Narrator] There's also a growing market

for Fitbit-style monitors

that give owners a peek into the secret life of their dogs,

monitoring red flags such as over-scratching,

licking and sleeping,

and changing eating patterns.

[bright music]

There's a variety of nutrients

that have been associated with having a calming effect.

Some of them are milk proteins.

L-tryptophan, which you might recognize from turkey dinner.

Through various research studies we know that these can have

a calming effect on dogs and cats.

So many of these supplements are gonna help

to kinda take the edge off,

but they may not be the cure-all

for a pet with really severe separation anxiety.

So in addition to nutrients that your pet can ingest,

the use of pheromones is becoming more and more popular.

So we can use pheromones from both dogs and cats

and they come in the form of collars that your pet can wear,

they can be sprays that you can put on a bandana

that you put around your pet's neck

or you put in their crate or on their bed.

They also make diffusers that you plug in to the wall

that emit that pheromone throughout the day.

So for dogs it's a pheromone called

the milk-appeasing pheromone,

it's a pheromone that the mother dog gives off

as she's nursing her puppies.

For cats it's a slightly different pheromone

but it's still that same idea

of giving them a greater sense of calm in a time of stress.

[bright music]

Banfield did a survey in 2020 of pet owners

and we found that 57% indicated

that when they return to work

they would wanna return in a situation

that would enable them to take their pet.

And the good news is that we also did a survey of CEOs

and found that one in two, or 50% of CEOs said

that they plan to institute some sort of way

for people to return to work with their pets

after the pandemic ended.

[Narrator] In addition,

a recent study by the American Animal Hospital Association

found that 90% of employees in pet-friendly workplaces

versus 65% of employees in non pet-friendly jobs

feel fully engaged with their work

and are willing to recommend their employer to others.

Pets provide us with some amazing support and comfort

and the human-animal bond is undeniable

throughout the world,

so making sure that we consider their uniqueness

and that we do our very best

to create a life with mutual benefit

and they get to experience the consistency,

the stability and the support of the people who love them,

the families that they belong to.

[gentle music]