Many of us travel with our pets at some point or another. For many cats and dogs, the journey can be a stressful experience. As we recognize National Pet Travel Safety Day this year on January 2¹, it is a good time to think about making getting from Point A to Point B much easier on you and your pets. Naturally we tend to think first of our pet’s physical safety. Many tools are available to make travel safer for pets, including pet carriers, car safety harnesses, and pet barriers designed to keep dogs out of the front driver’s area. While pet travel safety is very important, also supporting your pet’s emotional state can help make the voyage more pleasant for all involved.
Emotional Issues Behind Many Pet Travel Problems
Many dogs and cats do not travel well for a variety of reasons. Like people, some pets get motion sickness making them afraid of car rides. Or they may be frightened by the vehicle’s noises or movements. More often, however, pets that fear travel associate the experience with negative emotions. Perhaps car trips usually involve a visit to the veterinarian, which your pet may find unpleasant, making him afraid to get in the car for any other purpose.
Animal behaviorists and trainers often advise that you desensitize your fearful pet to travel by gradually exposing him to the objects associated with the trip. This might mean leaving the pet carrier in a prominent place in the house and letting him explore on his own. You might try encouraging the pet to sit with you in the car for a few minutes, first while it is not running. Be sure to include favorite blankets, beds or toys to help ease the experience, and repeat the process gradually over time. Using calming products, like flower essences, during the desensitization and the travel that follows will help, too.
Natural Flower Essences Support Emotional Health
Flower essences are liquid plant preparations made by infusing fresh flower blossoms under very specific conditions to create an extract. They are not new, but were discovered more than 70 years ago by British bacteriologist, Dr. Edward Bach, to address stresses arising from emotions such as fear, anxiety, panic, anger, and impatience. Flower essences have been used historically to balance and harmonize emotional and psychological states.
Each flower essence contains the sun-infused, liquid energy of healthy flowers picked at the peak of bloom and captured in pure water. This 'potentized' liquid from various plants is used to create each unique blend, tailored to address a specific, emotional issue. There are even formulas to address the various emotional conditions that are leading to unpleasant travel for you and your pet.
Botanical Animal® Flower Essence Blends for Pet Travel Issues
If your dog or cat is afraid of riding in the car or other travel, Botanical Animal’s Safe Journey™ blend of flower essences will give him the courage to face traveling issues. It was blended specifically to address nervousness, hysteria, anxiety, fear of confined spaces, and motion sickness during travel. The proprietary blend of flower essences will help your pet feel safe and secure, releasing attachments to familiar surroundings left behind. Safe Journey™ will make traveling easier on them and you.
Perhaps you have to leave your pet in the care of others while you travel. Botanical Animal’s Independence™ blend of flower essences helps to ease separation anxiety when pets are removed from their human or animal companions. This formula addresses issues of abandonment, rejection, and worthlessness. Independence™ allows pets to stand on their own without fear or anxiety.
Botanical Animal® Flower Essences is a specialized line of liquid flower extracts that work synergistically to specifically address different emotional situations many pets encounter, such as trauma, stress, abandonment, loss of a loved one, aggression, and insecurity. For more information and a complete description of the 14 blends of Botanical Animal Flower Essences by Arenus, visit http://shop.arenus.com/c-17-flower-essences.aspx.
1. http://www.pettravelsafetyday.com