Pet remedy is a calming product aimed at our pet population. It comes as a spray, diffuser and even grooming products!
Pet Remedy claims to works with the pet’s own natural calming mechanisms by mimicking GABA (gamma amino butyric acid) which is a natural calming agent present in all mammals, reptiles, and birds. This means that it has potential to be useful in the stress and behaviour management of a number of species. But what’s the evidence for it? Is it a critically useful product, or a fad, or somewhere in between?
Ingredients
Pet remedy has a number of ingredients and a very unique smell. Not everyone likes the smell, yet some don’t mind it at all. According to owners, paraprofessionals and veterinary professionals, many animals seem to react positively to it.
The formulation is predominantly Valerian oil based (from Eastern Europe), with small inclusions of Vetiver (from Indonesia), Sweet Basil, (from Europe), and Clary Sage (from France) essential oils.
Does it work?
Interestingly, and unusually, the company have made positive steps to check their product in the ‘real world’. The company has always been very helpful and informative in the past when it comes to discussion of their products. These steps to try their product on animals helps us grow our knowledge and understanding of the use of olfactory enrichment using Valarian-based products such as Pet Remedy.
The company have conducted some clinical trials to assess how well it works on behavioural or stress related challenges in cats, dogs, rabbits, horses and even pigs.
Generally, although the studies do have flaws that may not allow us to draw firm conclusions yet, the results have been positive with findings suggesting:
- Over 95.7% of groomers said that they would recommend Pet Remedy to their clients.
- Pet Remedy may be supportive in training and behavioural modification in dogs
- Exposure to Pet Remedy was associated with significant decreases in stress score in cats
- Olfactory enrichment using Pet Remedy’s Calming Spray corresponds an effective means to induce a calming response
- Pet Remedy may help calm feline patients and be a good support mechanism for cats when stressed during clinic visits. Further studies are required into the effect of Pet Remedy on feline behaviour in veterinary practices, though
- Pet remedy would appear to be effective in reducing the manifestations of stress reactions in rabbits having participated in the study. (Lower heart rate in the presence of the product compared to placebo).
- Pet Remedy may have potential value for rabbits during periods of acute stress, slowing heart rate, and allowing the performance of more positive, relaxed behaviours.
- It may be useful during veterinary visits and initial handling.
- Results showed that aggressive behaviour did decrease after the addition of Pet Remedy whilst resting behaviours increased in pigs.
Valarian
Furthermore, the active ingredient Valarian has also been investigated:
- In a study looking into Valarian and cats nearly all domestic cats responded positively to olfactory enrichment; in this study 50% of cats responded to valerian root.
- With humans, Valarian may improve sleep quality. It also reduced total stress severity and insomnia in another study. These studies were using oral administration and not olfactory (smell), however. So it may not be directly comparable to the use of the Pet Remedy formulation.
In opposition to these positive findings however, one study concluded that results suggest that Pet Remedy did not have a discernible effect on the behaviour of dogs placed in a non-familiar environment.
Overall, the main ingredient Valarian does have some evidence it may help in some circumstances. When asked on Veterinary Voices UK of over 400 votes, 66% of Veterinary Professionals (Registered Veterinary Nurses and Veterinary Surgeons) said it worked on some of their patients and additional 20% thought it works well. Hyperactivity in some feline patients was also noted by some members of the Veterinary Voices UK poll, in a similar way to how some cats react to cat nip. Take a look at this article too where we looked at the main raw ingredient; Is Valerian effective against stress in pets? – Vet Help Direct.
Conclusion
The suggestion that some species may act favorably to Pet Remedy and its ingredients are certainly plausible. Many owners, veterinary professionals and animal professionals, such as groomers, are using it as part of their plan to try and aid in animals stress or behavioural management.
Considering that a large number of dogs are experiencing some kind of behavioural isssues, cats experience stress related illness and other animals also require behavioural support, then Pet Remedy could certainly be one piece of the puzzle that could aid in management in specific cases and individual animals.
Given that the current studies available provide mixed results and only give us fairly weak evidence, we are unable to draw firm conclusions yet as to the true usefulness of Pet Remedy – however the company continues to invest in clinical trials and for some patients it certainly is a useful tool in the management of certain stress related issues.
Discussion