Holidays are Hell..for Cats & Dogs
Comfort Zone Calming Vest and Multi-cat Diffuser to the rescue
We humans love the holidays — the excitement of big meals, surprises, gifts, visiting and being visited, new things to eat and drink (or old favorites to eat and drink too much of), meeting new people and reacquainting ourselves with others, and generally a break in routine and the celebration of the ending of another year.
Some of us even like the parts we kind of dread — like family members we aren’t crazy about, or worries about travel, eating too much, what to give or do for others, having the right thing to wear — but all of it energizes us.
But all that commotion — the comings and goings, the new scents and unfamiliar people, the bags of gifts and groceries and suitcases arriving, the sounds of strangers (some of them even the high-pitched, shrill, excitable voices of children!) are hell on earth for cats. And not a whole lot better for dogs, even though they are better at masking it and we can overlook their signs of being stressed by slipping them a slice of turkey.
Cats really don’t like disruptions in their routine,and they are highly sensitive to new sights and smells entering their territory. Many cats exhibit typical symptoms of stress: they hide under furniture or way up high if they have somewhere to escape to, they also try to run out open front doors, they can urine mark in the house, scratch furniture and drapes, even scratch people who overwhelm them.
There’s an antidote for the holidays for kitties! It’s called the Comfort Zone diffuser (there’s a multi-cat version if you have more than one trying to deal with holiday hoopla) and you want to get one as quick as you can and plug it in where the cat or cats spend most of their time (or would like to escape to, in order to avoid holiday hordes (which can even be people they’ve met before, but in the heightened holiday excitement it’s still overwhelming to them). Chewy.com and Amazon both have it and it can be on your doorstep in no time and be a calming solution for your cats throughout the holiday season. The diffuser lasts 30 days, so get a refill, too, because getting one right now isn’t going to take you all the way to New Year’s!
What about the dogs? There are lots of happy-go-lucky Labradors and Golden Retriever type dogs who seem to love all the extra attention — and especially the dropped snacks — at holiday times. But for the rest of our dogs, all the things most cats dislike are equally stressful to dogs, we just don’t stop to notice if they are throw off kilter by holiday festivities. There’s the Calming Vest for the more high-strung or emotionally sensitive dogs — the ones who take things personally — the ones who are rescues with a lot of baggage — the dogs who cannot understand why they are being shut out of the festivities — or the ones who cannot stand all the noise — which is scientifically proven to calm dogs during stressful times. There’s “citizen science,” too and if you read the customer rave reviews you’ll not need more convincing to get one for your own dogs. The Calming Vest is like being able to give your dog and big hug — it’s great to see how many peoples’ dogs are happier when wearing the vest. For many dogs it’s a lifesaver if a car ride makes them pant or drool with anxiety — who shake and pant when they have to go the vet — for dogs who hate loud noises — the Calming Vest does wonders, too.
Both products have been scientifically tested and show measurable positive results for the kitty cats and the pooches. And it costs you nothing to see for yourself: both the Comfort Zone diffuser and the Calming Vest from Comfort Zone have a satisfaction guarantee. You have nothing to lose, and your pets have everything to gain so they can glide through the holidays without wrinkling their whiskers.
—Tracie Hotchner
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Comfort Zone is a sponsor on Radio Pet Lady Network, by our invitation.
photo credit: dglassme Season’s Greetings via photopin (license)
