Today I’m going to tell you about a product called ADAPTIL® for dogs designed to reduce a dog’s anxiety using dog appeasing pheromones.

The product can help a dog feel comfortable in stressful situations. I’ll also tell you about a related product for cats that our vet suggested for my cat Scout.

I’m lucky my two dogs Ace and Remy are not nervous or afraid of thunderstorms, fireworks or being left alone. But these types of “events” are common reasons for a lot of dogs to feel anxious or stressed out.

My dogs do tend to get nervous when visiting the vet or when we travel. They whine and pant and you can see the excitement and nervousness in their faces. I’m sure many of you can relate!

This post may contain affiliate links. That Mutt may earn money from the companies mentioned in this post.

ADAPTIL® for dogs – pheromones to decrease a dog’s anxiety

This post is sponsored by Ceva Animal Health, the maker of ADAPTIL® for dogs and FELIWAY® for cats.

If you are interested in trying either of these products for your pets, we have a giveaway at the end of this post. Both products are available without a prescription through various veterinarians’ offices and through PetSmart and Amazon.

Ceva Animal Health said that ADAPTIL® mimics the natural dog-appeasing pheromone dogs know from birth that can help them feel safe and secure in their environment. Read more about ADAPTIL® here.

Pheromones are chemicals produced and released into the environment by animals. They work outside the body and can affect the behavior of others of its species.

ADAPTIL® DAP dog appeasing pheromones

ADAPTIL® DAP – Dog appeasing pheromones can help a dog with a wide variety of issues such as:

• separation anxiety
• anxiety during thunderstorms
• fear of fireworks
• visiting the vet
• travel anxiety
• adjusting to a new home (think foster dogs, a new puppy or recently adopted dogs)
• stress around visitors in the home

ADAPTIL® is designed to help dogs feel more secure and should reduce or stop stress-related behaviors such as licking, trembling, barking, howling, destroying property or having accidents.

I made a short video about ADAPTIL® for dogs here:

Ceva Animal Health said ADAPTIL® is non-sedating and is not a drug. It is safe to use with all other treatments or conditions, and a prescription is not required.

ADAPTIL® is available in several easy-to-use forms including:

• ADAPTIL® spray – can be applied to your dog’s bedding, a bandana or a toy

• ADAPTIL® collar – good for travel, walks, training classes, etc.
• ADAPTIL® diffuser – best for use at home for newly adopted dogs, separation anxiety or fear of visitors, storms, fireworks, etc.

ADAPTIL® is available through various veterinarians’ offices, PetSmart and Amazon (aff links above).

My dogs tend to get anxious in the car, so I recently used the ADAPTIL® spray on bandanas that they wore on a road trip. They do not have extreme anxiety, but it seemed to help them settle in during our 3-hour drive.

My cat Scout, on the other hand, can be a nervous wreck! The first time I heard about ADAPTIL® and FELIWAY® was actually through our vet. He recommended FELIWAY® for Scout.

FELIWAY® – pheromones for cats

My cat Scout is so afraid at the vet that he will hiss, bite and scratch when he feels threatened. It’s stressful for everyone when Scout visits the vet! So much so that for a few years I just didn’t take him to the vet because it wasn’t worth the stress.

Because of Scout’s extreme fear, our vet gave us the FELIWAY® spray to help our cat feel more secure. Read more about FELIWAY® here.

FELIWAY® mimics the natural cat facial pheromone used by cats to mark their territory as safe, according to Ceva. For this reason, it can help cats feel more secure when dealing with stressful situations such as:

• travel
• moving
• if you (gasp!) add a new cat to your family! (See FELIWAY® MultiCat)

To help Scout feel safer at the vet, we put the FELIWAY® spray on a towel in his cat carrier before we arrived at the vet. We also sprayed it on a towel that we placed over his carrier.

The combination of FELIWAY® and a seriously patient vet helps Scout feel secure enough that he no longer shows aggression. He is quiet and tense, but no hissing or biting. I never thought that would be possible with my little psycho!

FELIWAY® is available in the following formats:

• FELIWAY® Spray – Can be applied to your cat’s bedding like we did with Scout or in their carrier for travel
• FELIWAY® Diffuser – for in the home
• FELIWAY® MultiCat Diffuser – Helps to reduce tension and conflict between household cats or foster cats
• FELISCRATCH® – for re-directing scratching to the scratching post

FELIWAY® is available through vets’ offices, PetSmart and Amazon (aff links above).

Giveaway – Win ADAPTIL® or FELIWAY® for your pet

April is actually De-Stress Your Pet Month, and Ceva Animal Health is giving away a sample of ADAPTIL® or FELIWAY® to two readers of That Mutt.

To enter, all you have to do is leave a comment below to let me know why your pet could benefit from these products. The winners will get to choose if they want the dog or cat version and which product they would like to try (diffuser, spray, etc.)

On Tuesday May 1, I’ll choose the two winners at random. Must have a U.S. mailing address to win. I’ll notify the winners by email first and then announce them here.

Do you have any questions about ADAPTIL® or FELIWAY®?

Let me know in the comments, and please share this post if it will help a pet you know. Thank you!