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Pet Separation Anxiety - A Solution
The linked tells the story of a dog who lost his owner two months ago. Evidentially the dog's owner was buried in a church nearby and each day when the church has Mass the dog goes into the church and sits. It appears the dog is mourning his friend. If you get the chance watch some videos of soldiers returning home from Afghanistan and being met by their dogs. It's heartwarming. It's called separation anxiety and most pets suffer from it when being apart from their owners for a period of time. When we lived on the west coast we would have to leave our cat, Webster, for several days and he would suffer from the separation even though we had a pet sitter come in twice daily. When cats gets stressed they pee. I think you get the picture? After our second trip we found a solution: the next time we traveled we left one of our televisions on. When we returned we found a contented cat -- and no pee. Bottom line: Cats ain't that smart. If there's TV on they must figure we're around somewhere, or have just stepped out for a minute. Remember, cats can't tell time either.  Not sure if this will work with dogs, but it might be worth a shot? http://www.pawnation.com/2013/01/16/ita … d%3D258372 Jan 17 13 03:47 pm Link The Signature Image wrote: Or the cat just had separation anxiety from the television... Jan 17 13 03:57 pm Link I dog sit for my sister whenever her family goes away for more than a day at a time. When I first started doing it, the dog would sit by the sliding door (it's in the front of the house) and wouldn't move except to use the bathroom. As soon as she came back in, though, she was right there by the door. As time went on and they returned each time, she'd eat a little more, come see me to be petted sometimes, etc until this last time. She still slept in front of that door (as opposed to on her bed that was just a few feet away), but she spent very little time there. When her family got home, she was happy to see them but not nearly as much as she used to be in previous separations. I don't know that it means anything except that she enjoys the time she spends with me at least a little bit. She likes the walks, extended petting sessions, food, fresh water (with ice, at least 4 times per day) and the game playing (I buy her new tennis balls almost each time). Some people neglect their pets. I say if you don't have the time or patience to spend at least a little time with them daily, you probably shouldn't have one. For me a little time is 5-15 minutes. When I dog sit, that dog wants 15 minutes of my time at least 4 times per day. She gets it because that's all she wants. I don't mind sharing, especially since I get to sleep at night. Jan 17 13 03:59 pm Link California Girls Skate wrote: That's funny! Jan 17 13 04:17 pm Link Lovely Day Media wrote: I agree with what you said, except for one thing: the vast majority of pet owners do not mistreat their pets. Jan 17 13 04:19 pm Link The Signature Image wrote: I didn't say the vast majority ... I said some people. Jan 17 13 04:35 pm Link Maybe your cat just doesn't give a crap about you. Oh wait, it's a cat, it doesn't  Jan 17 13 06:21 pm Link When one of my cats was young, if I was away from home overnight, she would tear food out of the cabinet, and scatter it all over the floor. She was not eating it, as it was not stuff she would eat anyway, and I always left a full bowl for her. It was just her way of "acting out" because she was pissed that I would leave her alone. After I adopted another cat, it stopped. Jan 18 13 09:50 am Link Koryn Locke wrote: When we have to go out of town, we hire a sitter for our cat. But while we are gone and for a few days after we get back, he shows his anger for us by breaking anything he can, almost always at night. Jan 18 13 12:21 pm Link JJMiller wrote: +1 Jan 18 13 12:25 pm Link When ever I would leave for a few days and get home, for 2 days all I would here were their meows at me. And for a week I would be smothered. My girl cat is worse than by boy to some points, she used to meow at the front door if I was gone for longer than an hour ( my fiancé saw this) and as soon a I came home she was all over me. I don't think tv would help my cats I think they would be more pissed off by the trickery of me thinking they are that stupid. Jan 18 13 12:39 pm Link A comforting thing to do for a pet is to leave behind an article of clothing with your sent on it. An old T-shirt that you got sweaty in by working in the yard or working out. The more sweat/stink the better. This is especially helpful if the pet is being boarded in a kennel or is staying at a vets office due to a illness etc. Also leaving music or the TV on is helpfu. Jan 20 13 08:31 pm Link |
