Just like us, our pets get anxious. Strange situations, new and unfamiliar environments, separation from our loved ones, even loud noises or other stimuli can make people, dogs and cats alike feel nervous, upset or frightened.
But while humans can talk through these feelings with a caring friend, a loved one or a therapist, pets don’t have that option. Without a way to process and overcome these feelings, dogs and cats may exhibit certain destructive or alarming behaviors which can increase their own anxiety and cause concern for the people who love them.
Reading the Signs
Fortunately, while your dog or cat can’t tell you with words what’s making them anxious, they have other ways of telling you – and by picking up on the signals, pet parents can take steps to make their pets feel better and prevent anxiety from reoccurring.
Anxiety in Dogs
We all want our dogs to be happy, healthy, easygoing and playful. But anxiety can greatly diminish a dog’s quality of life and rob it of its health and natural joy. One Finnish study that looked at the links between canine anxiety and behavioral issues found that 72.5% of dogs – nearly three quarters of them – exhibited behaviors strongly suggesting anxiety as a root cause. That means that most dogs will experience anxious situations at some point in their lives.
Common Causes of Anxiety in Dogs
The two most common types of anxiety are:
- Fear-based anxiety: Triggered by things like loud noises (think thunderbolts or fireworks), unfamiliar people or objects (think delivery people or vacuum cleaners), or unfamiliar situations (think car trips to the vet).
- Separation anxiety: This occurs when a dog becomes distressed after being separated from its pet parent, fearing you might never come back.
Signs of Anxiety in Dogs
- Fear-based behaviors: Fear from a situation, a person, or another dog might manifest as whimpering, hiding or running away. Sometimes, however, fear-based anxiety can take the form of aggression: growling, excessive barking or even biting.
- Separation-related behaviors: Destructive behavior, such as chewing on or clawing at furniture, or urinating or defecating inside a house or a crate. Other telltale signs of stress and anxiety include pacing, restlessness, constant barking or (in some cases) behaviors that mirror obsessive-compulsive disorder in humans, such as self-mutilation by chewing off hair or skin, especially on the tail or front legs.
How to Help an Anxious Dog
The American Kennel Club has shared a number of ways that dog owners can identify and ameliorate anxiety in their pets. Among other things, the organization encourages owners to:
- Pay attention to body language. Check for visible or audible signs of discomfort (tail between legs, cowering, whimpering, panting, etc.)
- Socialize your dog. The more interactions your dog has with new people, children, other dogs, and unfamiliar experiences – with you or another trusted and beloved human at its side – the less likely he or she is to panic when encountering something it finds strange or intimidating.
- Explore obedience training. It’s about more than teaching Fido to heel, sit, or come on command. Dogs that understand rules and have faith in rule-based systems are calmer and less anxious than dogs for whom the world is a place of uncertainty.
- Avoid stressful situations. It probably won’t take long for you to discover what’s causing your dog to feel anxiety. When you do, remove – if possible – the stressor from your furry friend’s life. Some dogs simply don’t enjoy car rides, going to the dog park, or frolicking on the beach (with all of those loud, crashing waves!)–and that’s okay.
Treatment Options
Treatment methods for anxiety in dogs fall into two categories:
Behavioral approaches typically involve engaging with the source of anxiety – together – and re-wiring the response pattern in your dog’s brain through counterconditioning and desensitization. When encountering the stressful stimulus, don’t give your dog a chance to spiral downward: Present him or her with a treat, a favorite toy, or copious amounts of affection in the form of rubs and soothing words. Over time, your dog will begin to replace the negative stimulus with a positive one and react with less and less anxiety.
Medication: If anxiety persists or intensifies, talk to your vet about SSRIs or antidepressants that can be administered to help calm and comfort your dog during especially stressful moments, or natural remedies such as calming treats, pheromones or aromatherapy.
Anxiety in Cats
Cats experience anxiety for many of the same reasons that dogs do: loud noises, changes in environment, and separation. One commonly overlooked cause of feline anxiety, especially in older cats, is the pain associated with feline arthritis, which is believed to affect anywhere from between 70 to 90% of cats over 12 years of age.
Signs of Anxiety in Cats
Whatever the source, your cat will likely give off signs that indicate it’s afraid, nervous, or just having a rough time of it lately. Things to look for include:
- Hiding. All cats love curling up in secret, out -of-the-way spots, but you should be able to tell if your cat is doing so more than usual, or if he or she is hesitating to emerge from their hiding spot when they normally would – when you open the front door upon coming home, for example, or when you’re putting their food out.
- Excessive and/or unusual meowing. Cats have different meows to express different states of mind. If your cat’s meow sounds different – e.g., more pained or plaintive – and especially if this different-sounding meow lingers, that’s a strong sign that your cat is in a bad place.
- Litter box avoidance. If a cat that normally has no trouble using their litter box suddenly begins to use it only sporadically, or not at all, it’s usually a sign of an underlying physical or psychological issue. (Assuming the litter box is clean and easy to access, that is.)
- Overgrooming. If you notice a marked uptick in the amount of time your cat is spending grooming itself, it may indicate that your cat is stressed out or anxious about something: Cats lick and groom themselves to calm themselves down.
- Changes in appetite. Just like us, some cats self-soothe by overeating when under stress. Others may lose their appetite and pick at their food, or even avoid it altogether.
- Changes in body language. If your cat is keeping its tail close to its body (or flicking it), staring, or holding its ears back, it usually indicates something anxiety-provoking in their immediate environment.
How to Help an Anxious Cat
Again, as with dogs, treatment for feline anxiety might entail counterconditioning, desensitization, pharmaceuticals, or some combination of any or all of these.
For milder cases of anxiety:
- Try toys or food puzzles to distract and soothe your cat.
- Consider using sprays or collars that emit calming scents – these are available in most pet stores.
Whichever route you take, it’s best to visit the vet’s office when you first notice that your cat is behaving unusually, since many anxiety symptoms can reflect underlying issues with your cat’s physical health. If your dog or cat’s anxiety is being caused by an illness or physical condition that’s covered under your Healthy Paws pet insurance plan, you’ll be reimbursed for up to 80 percent of your vet bills that pertain to that illness or physical condition.
Our pets bring us immeasurable happiness. The least we can do is make sure that they’re as happy as they can possibly be while they do.