The Mental Health of Pets
Today I was walking my dog in the morning, during the week, when most people left their homes to go to their 9 to 5 work shift and I saw lots of cats on the windows, looking outside…and I thought to myself, I really want to do an article about how pets should feel when they are left alone in the house and what to do to improve this situation.
Before reading the article you can watch this small video of a home-alone pet. This is Bruno, a Rottweiler.
Ask yourself first
One of the most important things to consider before adopting a pet is, whether can I leave him for eight hours alone or more if an emergency happens. Do I have a lifestyle that is compatible with my pet's needs? What can I do to improve my pet’s life? Do I have time to interact with my pet and play with him/her when I come home tired? And If I was in their place, how would I feel? Locked, alone, and with only a bed to sleep in with nobody to play?
The consequences…
As a veterinarian surgeon, I strongly believe that no good environment stimulation, can drastically impact your pet’s mental health and consequently, their physical health shortening their life span and increasing behavior problems such as general anxiety, separation anxiety, and depression that can lead to aggression, stereotyped behaviors like chasing their tails, excessive grooming, and destroying their household. If we compare with people, when we are between jobs at home most of the day, waiting for our spouses to get home from their jobs, don’t we get depressed, why do pets wouldn’t?
Thinking about cats and dogs or other animals in their natural state what would they probably do? Well, cats, would be hunting small birds or mouses, interacting with other cats in different ways, showing dominance, finding a mate, or simply playing, and yes, sleeping! They like to sleep and to find, high places to feel safe. Dogs, they would also be chasing other animals (cats probably! :) ), playing with other dogs, sniffing around, marking their territory, and sleeping.
For most of the pet tutors that want to improve the quality of our pet’s life, what can we do about this?
What to do:
- Access to outside
If you have the possibility to have a backyard, for example, your pet can exercise and catch some sun, which is very helpful. You can leave toys around. You just need to be careful with other animals that may enter. They can be sick and transmit diseases to your pet. This is especially true for cats considering the FIV/FeLV infectious disease. For dogs, just be careful if you have neighbors or people that may want to harm your pet by throwing things into your backyard like poisoned food, etc… unfortunately, I know a handful of cases that occurred this and sometimes can be fatal. These are just warnings of what can happen, however, these situations are exceptions but tutors need to be aware of them. You can also install cameras to check on an app while you are at work to check on how your pet is doing.
- Environment stimulation
Providing toys for your pets is very important as stimulation. You can diversify. Nowadays, there are even more creative toys that are automatic, they start themselves and play with your pet, you can also try activity boards, for example, Trixie Dog Activity, available on Amazon.
For cats, if you alter their environment it can have a huge impact on their lives. It is important to provide a scratching post to reduce their stress, you can also put their water bowl in one place of the house and the food bowl in another place to improve the hunting stimulation. Provide also space for them to hide, for example, cardboard under your bed. Just be sure it is a space where no one can reach them in order for them to feel safe, especially when you have visitors.
- Dog Daycare
In some major cities, there are dog daycares. Just like children's daycare, you can leave your pet there during the day or part of the day. This is very important for socialization and when they come home at night they will be very tired of all the playing. The downside of a dog daycare option is probably the price, although you can choose not to leave every day of the week. One piece of advice is to study well if the dog daycare is good, check the place, and talk with other tutors about their experiences and if they are happy with that particular place.
- Cat sitter/Dog Walker
Normally if you need to leave your cat for a few days during a business trip they can handle themselves with lots of food and water. My advice is to have a member of a family check on them every day or contract a Cat Sitter to do that job. But overall, cats should never leave their homes.
Dogs are more difficult to go with you if you need to go on a business trip since they cannot be home alone for a few days just like cats. Probably the best thing is to leave them at a pet hotel. During the week, you can contact a Dog Walker to add an extra walk to your dog. Instead of two times a day, why not three times? Cat sitters and Dog Walker's prices vary. Check always their experience and try to see how they interact with each other when they first meet.
- Grandpa/Grandma
We love our grandpas and grandmas. If you have a family member that is retired and have spare time and love your pet and the pet behaves well in their house, why not leave your pet with them during the day? in this case, it is good for both sides in terms of companionship. This advice is especially important to dogs. Well, cats are more difficult to take from home unless your cat is used to going to grandpa's/grandma's house.
- Pet companion
Another suggestion, to improve the mental health of a pet is adopting another pet. Normally everything goes fine but you should be aware of the importance of slow socialization if they have different ages and different backgrounds. There are exceptions, there is always a possibility that your pet won’t get along with others or take a long time to socialize. I have seen one case of cat socialization taking more or less a year. The medium time to join pets is two weeks of patience and perseverance. You have to know your pet. Will my dog accept another dog? Check their behavior when you are walking your pet. Does he approach dogs in a happy or aggressive manner? The biggest advice that I give to my clients is when choosing to adopt another pet, try to choose, the opposite sex, if you have a male dog, adopt a female dog or cat. I feel this is about energy like yin and yang. Overall, the way how you introduce your pets is very very important. Ask your local pet vet for advice.
In conclusion…
For every situation stated above, playing with your pet for at least half an hour every day will make a huge difference, just like exercise does to the mental well-being of people. It increases the blood flow to your brain, heart, and joints, improves cardiovascular health, increases happy hormones, leaves you with a general sense of good health, and decreases anxiety. Also, it will connect you to your pet.
Again, these are situations that are important to consider. If you are reading this and thinking I don’t have time or financial availability to give my pet this, then please, don’t be selfish by thinking only on you and don’t have a pet. However, if you already adopted your pet, try to do your best. Playing with your pet every day is penniless. They just want to feel that you are there, that you love them, and enjoy their presence every day. Don’t forget also that their life expectancy is shorter than ours. So time will go by fast. Cherish them.
This post is dedicated to all home-alone pets.
If you like this post please comment and tell me about your experience.
