As the 4th of July quickly approaches, we want to spend some time to discuss the nervous system, and provide you with options to soothe your pets nerves during fireworks, as well as the many other stressors that our pets may encounter day to day.
The nervous system is broken down into two parts - the peripheral and the central nervous systems - which work together to allow us to interpret the world around us.
The peripheral nervous system, nerves that run throughout the body, is responsible for receiving information (or stimuli) from our environment, and transmitting info back to the central nervous system, the spine and brain. The central nervous system, spinal cord and brain, acts as the control center; taking and processing the information, deciding how to respond, and telling the peripheral nervous system what to do about it.
All of this processing and communication happens almost instantaneously– which for our pets’ wild ancestors, allowed them to be skilled hunters and evade predators through perception and reaction to the slightest changes in the environment.
Such responses are carried out by the autonomic nervous system (ANS), which is the part of the nervous system that controls the body’s involuntary responses. Most of us are familiar with this as the “fight or flight” (sympathetic) vs. “rest and digest” (parasympathetic).
(The opposite of the ANS is the somatic nervous system - the voluntary movement of coordinated skeletal muscle movement).
When the nervous system is balanced, our pets will regularly switch between being in a parasympathetic state - where they are safe, calm, and their body is carrying out important processes like digestion, creation of new tissue, and detoxification - and a sympathetic state - when they see a squirrel in the tree or when you drop something loud in the house and their body puts its energy toward chasing or running to hide.
Stressors like fireworks can put our pets into a sympathetic state - making the day stressful for our pets and ourselves. Luckily, there are options you can try to help make your pet feel safe, and reduce their fear and anxiety during stressful situations.
Giving your pet good exercise (off leash, lots of run time, or directed attention for play) during the day helps release pent up energy and natural endorphins to help your pet stay calmer during the night, when the fireworks begin. Giving them a bone to chew or a lick mat releases natural endorphins, putting them into a parasympathetic state as well as giving them something else to focus on during the stressor.
To help your pet avoid the incoming stressor, you can play white noise to drown out the loud noises and vibrations, or place cotton balls in their ears (count them so you know you got them all) to reduce the sound they hear.
Items to signal their central nervous system that they are safe to promote calming down, include thunder shirts, comforting touch, playing classical music, or diffusing essential oils such as lavender or rose. Magnetic mats and sound energy such as tuning forks or frequency music can also be used to provide a sense of grounding.
Supplements can also be used to calm the nervous system, although not all are created equal. Our go to is CBD (Green Element or Resonance Farms are our favorite brands), and herbs we look for in calming supplements include valerian, passionflower, and skullcap. Rescue Remedyoften works great with CBD - it is a bach flower essence that can be taken orally to reduce negative emotions like stress and worry.
There are many other products on the market that work well for reducing anxiety during stressful situations - see the resource list below for more options. We recommend trying out the supplements for a few days before the stressful event, so you can see how your pet responds.
If your pet is still in significant distress, we will help add medications to affect the central nervous system to alleviate their panic (as a last resort). These include benzodiazepines that help calm the brain, like valium and xanax, opioids like tramadol that give a sense of wellbeing and make our pets not care as much, or SSRIs/SARIs like trazodone that increase serotonin production in the brain.
Stress is a natural part of life, and is healthy for the body as long as the body is balanced (with nutrition, exercise, care and love), and the stress is not excessive.
Prolonged stress, whether it be emotional, physiological (inflammation, mineral deficiencies, toxins, etc.), or physical (like a challenging environment, or pain), can lead to an unbalanced nervous system over time - and requires support.
To maintain our pets’ balanced nervous system or help them become more resilient to stress long-term, we recommend: a balanced, mineral rich DIET with abundant nutrients, vitamins, and healthy saturated fats to support a more balanced body that is resilient to stress. Transitioning our pets’ diet away from carbohydrates (sugar) to proteins and fats do the following: reduce blood sugar fluctuations, which can act as a signal for the nervous system. Fats also create satiety, help the body absorb nutrients, provide building blocks for hormones that regulate the body, and even for neurotransmitters!
There are more neurotransmitters made in the gut than there are in the brain, so a healthy gut, fed with a nutrient dense, anti-inflammatory diet, is key for a balanced nervous system.
In summary:
Please provide movement through plenty of exercise, and build confidence through mental and intellectual stimulation with new experiences and training.
Our pet’s brains create pathways when they experience something new, and over time if the experience is repeated, those neuropathways get stronger. Because of neuroplasticity, our pet’s brains are capable of changing these neuropathways and forming new connections through learning. For example, if fireworks scared a dog the first time they heard them, and they were not given what they needed to deal with the stress, they will continue to be fearful each time they hear a firework. If this year, however, they hear a firework go off, and they get a treat or a bone to chew, their brain will start forming new pathways, that change their reaction to the fireworks. Yay for our powerful and resilient bodies!
Ultimately, creating a life of abundance for our pets nutritionally, emotionally, and physically can help build and maintain a balanced nervous system and resilience to stress.
Thanks for choosing BALANCE!
We carry -
Green Element CBD
Resonance Farms CBD and CBG
Solutions Pet Products “Chill Out” herbal powder
Relaxing Nervine Triad (Herbal Tincture by Mia Baki - Laughing Birch Herbal)
Other resources -
Rescue Remedy - https://www.bachflower.com/
Uses bach flower essence to reduce negative emotions of worry and stress.
Composure (VetriScience) - https://www.vetriscience.com/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22202307333&gclid=CjwKCAjwpMTCBhA-EiwA_-MsmcmAw7qoZw0Uab7ashjsSETtTKfY3cp9uuCFTvCcvsZYRxbVTu7cpBoCM3cQAvD_BwE
Uses a protein from colostrum to promote calming.
Anxitane - https://us.virbac.com/anxitane
L-Theanine to promote relaxation.
Zylkene - https://www.vetoquinolusa.com/products/zylkene
Uses milk proteins to help pets cope with challenging situations.
Solliquin Calming Chews - https://www.solliquin.com/
Uses herbal extracts, L-Theanine, and Whey Protein Concentrate for pets during stressful situations.
The nervous system is broken down into two parts - the peripheral and the central nervous systems - which work together to allow us to interpret the world around us.
The peripheral nervous system, nerves that run throughout the body, is responsible for receiving information (or stimuli) from our environment, and transmitting info back to the central nervous system, the spine and brain. The central nervous system, spinal cord and brain, acts as the control center; taking and processing the information, deciding how to respond, and telling the peripheral nervous system what to do about it.
All of this processing and communication happens almost instantaneously– which for our pets’ wild ancestors, allowed them to be skilled hunters and evade predators through perception and reaction to the slightest changes in the environment.
Such responses are carried out by the autonomic nervous system (ANS), which is the part of the nervous system that controls the body’s involuntary responses. Most of us are familiar with this as the “fight or flight” (sympathetic) vs. “rest and digest” (parasympathetic).
(The opposite of the ANS is the somatic nervous system - the voluntary movement of coordinated skeletal muscle movement).
When the nervous system is balanced, our pets will regularly switch between being in a parasympathetic state - where they are safe, calm, and their body is carrying out important processes like digestion, creation of new tissue, and detoxification - and a sympathetic state - when they see a squirrel in the tree or when you drop something loud in the house and their body puts its energy toward chasing or running to hide.
Stressors like fireworks can put our pets into a sympathetic state - making the day stressful for our pets and ourselves. Luckily, there are options you can try to help make your pet feel safe, and reduce their fear and anxiety during stressful situations.
Giving your pet good exercise (off leash, lots of run time, or directed attention for play) during the day helps release pent up energy and natural endorphins to help your pet stay calmer during the night, when the fireworks begin. Giving them a bone to chew or a lick mat releases natural endorphins, putting them into a parasympathetic state as well as giving them something else to focus on during the stressor.
To help your pet avoid the incoming stressor, you can play white noise to drown out the loud noises and vibrations, or place cotton balls in their ears (count them so you know you got them all) to reduce the sound they hear.
Items to signal their central nervous system that they are safe to promote calming down, include thunder shirts, comforting touch, playing classical music, or diffusing essential oils such as lavender or rose. Magnetic mats and sound energy such as tuning forks or frequency music can also be used to provide a sense of grounding.
Supplements can also be used to calm the nervous system, although not all are created equal. Our go to is CBD (Green Element or Resonance Farms are our favorite brands), and herbs we look for in calming supplements include valerian, passionflower, and skullcap. Rescue Remedyoften works great with CBD - it is a bach flower essence that can be taken orally to reduce negative emotions like stress and worry.
There are many other products on the market that work well for reducing anxiety during stressful situations - see the resource list below for more options. We recommend trying out the supplements for a few days before the stressful event, so you can see how your pet responds.
If your pet is still in significant distress, we will help add medications to affect the central nervous system to alleviate their panic (as a last resort). These include benzodiazepines that help calm the brain, like valium and xanax, opioids like tramadol that give a sense of wellbeing and make our pets not care as much, or SSRIs/SARIs like trazodone that increase serotonin production in the brain.
Stress is a natural part of life, and is healthy for the body as long as the body is balanced (with nutrition, exercise, care and love), and the stress is not excessive.
Prolonged stress, whether it be emotional, physiological (inflammation, mineral deficiencies, toxins, etc.), or physical (like a challenging environment, or pain), can lead to an unbalanced nervous system over time - and requires support.
To maintain our pets’ balanced nervous system or help them become more resilient to stress long-term, we recommend: a balanced, mineral rich DIET with abundant nutrients, vitamins, and healthy saturated fats to support a more balanced body that is resilient to stress. Transitioning our pets’ diet away from carbohydrates (sugar) to proteins and fats do the following: reduce blood sugar fluctuations, which can act as a signal for the nervous system. Fats also create satiety, help the body absorb nutrients, provide building blocks for hormones that regulate the body, and even for neurotransmitters!
There are more neurotransmitters made in the gut than there are in the brain, so a healthy gut, fed with a nutrient dense, anti-inflammatory diet, is key for a balanced nervous system.
In summary:
Please provide movement through plenty of exercise, and build confidence through mental and intellectual stimulation with new experiences and training.
Our pet’s brains create pathways when they experience something new, and over time if the experience is repeated, those neuropathways get stronger. Because of neuroplasticity, our pet’s brains are capable of changing these neuropathways and forming new connections through learning. For example, if fireworks scared a dog the first time they heard them, and they were not given what they needed to deal with the stress, they will continue to be fearful each time they hear a firework. If this year, however, they hear a firework go off, and they get a treat or a bone to chew, their brain will start forming new pathways, that change their reaction to the fireworks. Yay for our powerful and resilient bodies!
Ultimately, creating a life of abundance for our pets nutritionally, emotionally, and physically can help build and maintain a balanced nervous system and resilience to stress.
Thanks for choosing BALANCE!
We carry -
Green Element CBD
Resonance Farms CBD and CBG
Solutions Pet Products “Chill Out” herbal powder
Relaxing Nervine Triad (Herbal Tincture by Mia Baki - Laughing Birch Herbal)
Other resources -
Rescue Remedy - https://www.bachflower.com/
Uses bach flower essence to reduce negative emotions of worry and stress.
Composure (VetriScience) - https://www.vetriscience.com/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22202307333&gclid=CjwKCAjwpMTCBhA-EiwA_-MsmcmAw7qoZw0Uab7ashjsSETtTKfY3cp9uuCFTvCcvsZYRxbVTu7cpBoCM3cQAvD_BwE
Uses a protein from colostrum to promote calming.
Anxitane - https://us.virbac.com/anxitane
L-Theanine to promote relaxation.
Zylkene - https://www.vetoquinolusa.com/products/zylkene
Uses milk proteins to help pets cope with challenging situations.
Solliquin Calming Chews - https://www.solliquin.com/
Uses herbal extracts, L-Theanine, and Whey Protein Concentrate for pets during stressful situations.