“New Technology Leads to Breakthrough in Pheromone Therapy for Pet Behavior Problems

ORLANDO, FL, Mar 02, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) — In a major step forward to address pet behavior issues, Sergeant’s Pet Care Products, Inc. announced today revolutionary new additions to their SENTRY(R) line of pheromone products. The highly effective new products will soon be available at pet specialty retailers nationwide. The products all contain different varieties of pheromones that have been scientifically proven to address various behavior problems. While pheromones, which are chemicals that animals produce and use to communicate information to each other, have been used in products before, this new set of products employs varieties and delivery methods that have not been available before.

Pet parents who experience frustration over pet behavior problems like inappropriate marking, digging, scratching, barking and even separation anxiety will be happy to know that strong scientific research is at the core of the products. Scientific testing of the products’ effectiveness has shown remarkable results as well, according to Dr. John McGlone, a professor and research scientist with several decades of extensive research and development experience in pheromone therapy and animal behavior who has worked with Sergeant’s to develop the new pheromone products . . .

“These products really mark a new era in the human-animal bond,” explained Caryn Stichler, vice president of marketing at Sergeant’s. “According to the ASPCA, more than seven million pets were relinquished to shelters last year, and the majority of those who are relinquishing cite behavior problems they cannot resolve as the reason. The new products are tools that pet parents and trainers have waited for, and we’re thrilled that the products can potentially help reduce that huge number of pets going to shelters each year and create a happier home life for both pets and pet parents.”

Original article here -

 

A cat also has an organ at the top of its mouth called a Jacobson’s organ, which allows it to taste/smell strange objects to get even more information about it.

Most folks who have lived with a cat for a while can tell its body language, but a person who’s just gotten their first cat might need some help deciphering all the ways that it can communicate. For example, what does it mean when two cats touch noses? When two strange cats decide to touch noses, they’re picking up all sorts of information about each other, very quickly. It would probably take two humans the span of a long lunch to find out what two cats find out about each other just by scent: their gender, where they live, how many humans live with them, the sexes and ages of the humans, whether the cats are neutered or not, whether one or both of them are pregnant, what they had to eat recently and most important, whether they’re ready to make friends, or call it a day and go their separate ways.

If the cats decide they’d rather part company, they do, with no one the worse for it. If they decide they might like each, other they’ll start to rub their mouths and heads and maybe their sides against one another. This is called bunting. They might then lick each other about the head. This looks very affectionate, but it’s rather more like a handshake for cats who’ve just met. It means that they’ve decided to get along and not to kill each other.

The cat rubs those specific parts of their body against each other or their owner because the top of the head, the lips and the chin have scent glands. Intermingling scents gives everyone a group smell and a group identity. That’s why it’s important to allow two cats, or a cat and a dog to safely sniff each other when one is introduced into the other’s home. When a cat bunts their owner or the cats or dogs they’ve lived with for a long time, they’re saying “These people, two and four legged, belong to me and not the cross-eyed moggie down the street.”

One thing a person might do when they meet a cat who doesn’t seem overtly scared is to hunker down a bit and extend their finger. The cat will take this as an invitation, and might come up and bump its nose against the tip of the finger, as it would with the nose of another cat. If the cat accepts the human, they’ll bunt against them. If they don’t, they’ll give the human what can only be called a “dirty look” and walk away. For the human, it can only be “Better luck next time!”

When a female cat is spayed, her ovaries and uterus are removed by a veterinary surgeon. Neutering is when the male cat’s testicles are removed. Both operations are usually undertaken without complications, though, granted, the cat has no idea what’s happened and might be disconcerted for a few days after the surgery. But eventually stitches are taken out, the memory of the ordeal fades and the cat is better than ever.

The cat is, indeed, better than ever. The tom is a much calmer and happier pet. He doesn’t want to leave the house all the time and doesn’t find ways to escape, a practice which can endanger his life. He doesn’t roam around the neighborhood. He doesn’t get into fights with other toms or spray to mark his territory. He’s altogether a much mellower fellow. Best of all, he doesn’t populate the world with more cats, most of whom will have to be euthanized. Were he allowed to wander around and impregnate every receptive female he could, in seven years he could leave thousands of descendants. Most of those cats will have lives that are nasty, brutish and short.

The female can no longer become pregnant, nor does she have to endure the discomfort of going into heat. Her owner doesn’t have to endure her yowling and crouching. She too will be calmer and happier. Neither the male nor female cat will miss sexual activity, nor will they regret not becoming parents.

The health advantages of being spayed or neutered are considerable. The female has less risk of breast cancer, and of course no risk of cancer of the uterus or the ovaries. She also has no risk of contracting a sometimes lethal uterine infection called pyometritis. Male cats no longer risk cancer of the testicles and both genders have less chance of catching feline leukemia or feline immunodeficiency virus, the cat equivalent of AIDS.

More and more veterinarians are recommending that cats be spayed and neutered early, when they’re less than two months old. Before, people waited till the cat was about six months old, or even waited till the female cat gave birth to her first litter. But it’s been shown that kittens who are spayed or neutered find the experience less stressful than older cats.

Some cat owners do worry that cat behavior after neutering will be changed forever and it’s true that some cats do get rather lazy and if left to their own devices, would grow rather fat. But after the surgery most cats go back to being themselves. They’re still as aloof or affectionate as ever. They still bat balls of yarn around or roll around, intoxicated, in catnip. They’ll still use their old litter box and their food and water dish. They’ll still try and catch the laser light that dances around the wall and still experience their evening crazies. In other words, they’ll still be the same old cat, but with a longer and healthier life to look forward to.