Separation anxiety is a very real and serious problem for many pets. Signs of separation anxiety for dogs and cats include self-mutilation, over grooming, loss of bowel control (or loose feces), scratching frantically at doorways, windows, curtains and molding around doors and windows. Birds will pluck their feathers, chew their perch when they didn’t before, or simply hang out in the bottom of the cage. Dogs have been known to chew through walls (including wood and sheetrock) and cats have been known to start marking or spraying throughout the house. All pets will engage in repetitive behaviors such as pacing or grooming the same spot repeatedly.

You can help reduce your pet’s separation anxiety. You can learn more about separation anxiety on the pages for your particular pet.