Key to harmonious pet relationships: Pheromones

Date:
August 10, 2020
Source:
University of Lincoln
Summary:
We are all familiar with the old adage 'fighting like cats and
dogs', but a new scientific study now reveals how you can bid
farewell to those animal scraps and foster a harmonious relationship
between your pet pooch and feline friend.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Animal behaviour scientists from the University of Lincoln, UK, have
discovered that filling your home with appeasing pheromones could be
the key to a happy household where both dogs and cats are living under
the same roof.


==========================================================================
The new research, led by Professor Daniel Mills and Dr Miriam Prior,
explored the effects of two different pheromone products on cat-dog interactions in homes where owners could see room for improvement in
their pets' relationships.

Their new scientific paper is now available to read online via the
journal Frontiers in Veterinary Science.

The results show that both products used -- Feliway Friends, which emits pheromones that are calming for cats, and Adaptil, which does the same
for dogs -- both had a positive impact on the interactions between cats
and dogs living in the same home.

Over a six week period, both products led to a notable decrease in
undesirable interactions -- such as dog chasing cat, cat hiding from
dog, cat and dog staring at each other, and dog barking at cat. Users of Adaptil even observed a significant increase in some desirable behaviours
-- friendly greetings between cat and dog, and time spent relaxing in
the same room.

"Although we are all aware of the perceived tensions between cats and
dogs, we believe this is the first study of its kind to explore the use
of pheromone products to improve the relationship when the two species
are living in the same household," explained Professor Mills, Professor
of Veterinary Behavioural Medicine in Lincoln's School of Life Sciences.

"Seven per cent of households in the UK own both a cat and a dog, which represents a large number of pet owners and their animals living with potentially stressful animal relationships on a day-to-day basis. Many
cat and dog owners report that their animals are comfortable in each
other's' company, but where this isn't the case, a poor relationship
between a resident cat and dog can have serious consequences for the
welfare of individual animals. There may be an unacceptable level of
social stress or restricted access to key resources such as food, water
or suitable toilet areas. There will also be increased stress for the
remainder of the family (both human and animal), and potential risks of
injury due to conflict." It has also been reported that a problematic relationship between a new pet and an existing pet is one of the main
reasons for cats and dogs being taken to shelters for rehoming.

The pet owners involved in this new scientific trial reported weekly on
the frequency of 10 specific undesirable interactions and seven specific desirable interactions between their cats and dogs. They were split into
two groups; one group using Feliway Friends and the other using Adaptil,
with the pheromones supplied in unlabelled packaging and randomly assigned
by an independent staff member such that neither the participants nor
the researchers knew which product was being trialled in each household
until after the statistics had been collected.

The researchers were aware that in many households, the comfortability
of the cat seems to have a stronger influence over the quality of the
cat-dog relationship. It could therefore be seen as surprising that
it was the product releasing dog pheromones which was seen to increase
specific desirable interactions.

Miriam, a Lincoln-based vet who undertook the work as part of her
postgraduate degree in Clinical Animal Behaviour at the University of
Lincoln, said: "While it might be expected that Feliway Friends would
be more effective in multi- species homes given the apparently stronger contribution of the cat's comfortability to the quality of the cat-dog relationship, this did not appear to be the case. Our results might be explained by the behaviour of the dog being the primary determinant of
the cat's quality of interaction with it.

"We would like to investigate this further to really tease out the effects
of these pheromone products individually and also to investigate their
use in combination with each other. We suggest that Adaptil may have had
such a beneficial effect because a more relaxed dog may be less likely
to disturb the cat (e.g. by chasing it), resulting in a cat that is less stressed and more willing to form some form of social bond with the dog."

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Lincoln. Note: Content
may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Miriam Rebecca Prior, Daniel Simon Mills. Cats vs. Dogs: The
Efficacy of
Feliway FriendsTM and AdaptilTM Products in Multispecies
Homes. Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 2020; 7 DOI:
10.3389/fvets.2020.00399 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/08/200810103229.htm

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