There’s nothing quite as exasperating as having a pair of pets that don’t get along. But new research suggests every four-legged friend under your roof can get along swimmingly.
The study, published in the journal Frontiers in Veterinary Science, examined the effect of two different pet pheromone products on interactions between cats and dogs in the home.
One of the products used emitted a pheromone that cats find calming, while the other did the same for dogs. Interestingly, both had a positive impact on cat-dog relations.
The effects were measured over a six-week period. With both products, researchers noticed a decrease in undesirable interactions such as the dog barking at the cat. In some cases there was even an increase in desirable behaviours, like friendly greetings between the pair.
“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.
The researchers believed the comfort of the cat was the key influence in the quality of the cat-dog relationship, so it was somewhat surprising to see the product that released dog pheromones elicit a similarly positive result.
So, is it time to declare peace between cats and dogs? Not quite yet.
“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,” said Dr Miriam Prior, a vet based in the UK.
