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A smooth move for Sasha and Junior

Meet Sasha and Junior. They belong to our Head Nurse Penny. They have just had a very stress free move to their new house. When pets are taken out of their secure environment and brought into a new one with strange smells and noises it can be very stressful. This stress can result in a lot of destructive behaviours such as urinating around the house, scratching and damaging items. And with dogs, excessive barking, digging holes or the desire to escape are more likely. The key to a smooth move is to be prepared.

Firstly, Sasha and Junior were placed into our clinic's cattery over the weekend of the move so they didn't get frightened by the comings and goings of trucks and strangers. Here they were secured and not at risk of escaping at home due to being very scared. Secondly, a Feliway diffuser was plugged into the new property for 48 hours prior to the cats arriving to their new home.

Feliway is a pheremone that only cats can smell. It calms and relaxes them ensuring they are not anxious or stressed. The pheremone comes in two forms - a plug-in diffuser and a handy spray to use in more isolated areas. Dogs also have a special pheremone that relaxes them, and it comes in a diffuser, a spray and now a new collar.

Pheremones can be used to assist in any change you may have going on in your life, for example, new baby, different work hours, introducing new pets, long car trips, or just to help those really anxious pets that seems to be on edge all the time.

When Sasha and Junior arrived at their new home, both were very relaxed and enjoyed rubbing up against all the furniture to explore their new territory. Within a day the cats were relaxed as if they had lived in the house for years. Once the cats have had a few weeks to become familiar with the property, the next stage is to start to let them explore outside.

Lets hope Sasha and Junior cope well with the new puppy that Penny will be bringing home soon!

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