Helping Grace To Act A Little More Gracious During Storms (Johnson's Calm-Eze Tablets)

Member Name: FourPaws

Product:	Johnson's Calm-Eze Tablets
Date:	24/07/09 (176 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Natural ingredients, only £4 per box, they effectively calm Grace during storms.

Disadvantages: They don't relax her completely

*What are Johnsons Calm-Eze Tablets?*
These tablets are produced by the Johnsons Veterinary Company- the widely trusted manufacturers of a large range of pet care items including creams and lotions, tablets for various conditions, dental care items, grooming sprays and shampoo, training aids, flea and worm preparations and first aid equipment.

*The product itself*
The vast majority of the time, Grace stays true to her tough Rottweiler image- she is a pretty fearless dog, I haven't found much that even fazes her in the slightest. Well apart from two things that is- the first is cling film. I've said it once and I'll say it again- my dogs are complete fruit loops. So yes, you did read that right, one of Grace and Bensons biggest fears is cling film, whether it's the noise, the texture of it or what, I don't know, but the mere sight or sound of it, sends them running and whimpering and they won't return until the big bad cling film is moved safely out of the way. There you go, top tip if you want to burgle my house and are looking to get past the two huge dogs- bring the leftovers from your packed lunch with you and they'll kindly step out the way and let you in and whats more, give them a biscuit, they'll more than likely show you the way to all my valuables too.

Anyway, the second thing is thunder and lightning. Whereas Benson, who is quite frankly several sandwiches short of a picnic likes nothing more than to sit at the window watching storms, his little ''sister'' Grace on the other hand, reacts in the way I imagine most dogs do. She absolutely hates it, the smallest rumble of thunder or the tiniest flash of lighting and she is a complete wreck- shaking, pacing up and down, crying, whining and it really is quite a heart breaking sight as she reacts in such a distressed way, which is a far cry from her usual fun loving, happy and bouncy self.

Thankfully storms aren't something we get a huge amount of, but even so, the few storms we do get, puts Grace in such a bad way, that she is in danger of seriously harming herself with the way she panics and charges round the house with every clap of thunder, often sending things flying in the process.

So after the last big storm we had and having to watch poor Grace is such a heart breaking state once more, I decided to have a little look around to see what kind of products were available for helping to calm dogs in such circumstances. I didn't want a strong medical grade sedative, just something to help her relax slightly and prevent her from getting so upset. There were plenty of options available, but it was these Calm-Eze Tablets that I settled on.

They have been produced by the Johnsons company who are pretty well known within the pet care industry for making high quality veterinary grade products at affordable prices and that are readily available over the counter in pet stores.

These Calm-Eze tablets have been made with all natural ingredients to help calm pets in stressful situations. They are suitable for both cats and dogs and can be used in one of two ways- firstly, they can be administered daily as a regular dietary supplement to help calm aggressive, hyperactive or overly nervous pets on a daily basis or secondly, they can be given as an occasional use treatment to help relax pets in situations they find upsetting- such as thunderstorms, fireworks or travelling. It is worth noting however that they must not be used to calm pets before vet trips, as they could cause misdiagnosis of illness etc, as they can make the animal drowsy and could interfere with blood tests results and the like.

*Packaging*
The tablets come blister packed inside pale orange and white cardboard boxes which give full product information such as ingredients, directions for use, dosage guides and of course, contact details for Johnsons should you have questions or comments about the product.

*Price & Availability*
Johnsons Calm-Eze Tablets are readily available in most pet shops- both on line and off, and even from some veterinary surgeries with onsite shops. I purchased our box from our local pet shop where a box containing 36 tablets costs £3.99.

*My opinion*
Sedating animals- mildly or otherwise, other than for medical purposes, is not something I'm generally a fan of, so I was torn as to whether I should purchase these tablets, however after reading up on them and discovering they were made with natural ingredients, I decided they would be worth a shot with Grace. After all, she would only be getting them occasionally and if they helped her to relax, then they would be worth their weight in gold.

I purchased them around Christmas time last year, after a particularly bad storm that caused Grace to get exceptionally distressed. Despite how much I tried to comfort her or how much I tried to distract her and offer her little spaces to curl up and hide in- she wouldn't have any of it. With every clap of thunder or flash of lightning, she'd charge around- absolutely scared senseless, bashing into everything in her path, and generally just getting more and more worked up as time went on, until she actually got to a stage where I was very worried about her- shaking violently and even retching as if she was going to be sick, she was salivating and her eyes were full of fear. It was a very unpleasant sight seeing her so upset.

So I thought it'd be handy to have a product like this one on stand by for whenever we needed it, so I purchased a box and flung it in the cupboard, hoping I wouldn't have to use it for some time.

Unfortunately, another thunderstorm wasn't too far away, and a couple of weeks after purchasing, they were put to the test. According to the box, you should feed one tablet to your dog or cat an hour before the stressful situation is about to start. That, of course, causes a bit of a problem however, as how are you really supposed to know when a thunder storm is about to take place?! Regardless, as soon as it started getting a bit grey and gloomy outside, and the weather forecast was predicting a thunderstorm, I gave Grace a tablet just in case.

The tablets were small, so very easy to feed- I just wrapped it in a bit of ham and she gobbled it up like a treat- job done. It's worth noting though that they can also be given crushed into food or broken into smaller pieces, which is handy to know if you are looking to give them to a smaller dog or cat. We then just had to wait for the storm to come! Sure enough, about 45 minutes after feeding the tablet, we got our first clap of thunder. Grace reacted in her usual manner, she was scared witless, so I decided it was time for another tablet. Another 45 minutes or so later, and Grace still wasn't getting any relief from the tablets, so I gave her a third, and final one, in hope of offering her a bit of comfort.

Thankfully, the third tablet did seem to do the trick and about 15 minutes after she had it, even though the storm was still in full swing, Grace did start to calm down slightly. I pulled the sofa away from the wall a little bit so that she could get behind it, and then draped a blanket over her and closed the curtains, whacked on the lights and turned the telly up to drown out the bangs and flashes, and she did, finally, seem to appear quite content. She was still shaking a little, but the tablets had calmed her down enough to enable her body to relax and settle down to wait the storm out.

Once the storm had finished, she was back to her usual self very soon after. The tablets made her a little wobbly on her feet and she was a tad drowsy but certainly didn't suffer any adverse reactions and the tablets didn't appear to put her out of sorts too much- just enough to enable her to calm down and relax.

Overall, I'd definitely recommend them. Grace will never be like Benson- she is never going to be perfectly happy and relaxed during storms, and she most definitely will never sit watching them, but with the help of these tablets, she can now relax and is able to drift off to sleep a little easier, and they help to keep her relatively clam throughout the duration of thunderstorms. They are not a miracle cure- she is still rather anxious and clearly upset when storms are happening, but she is no where near as bad as she was previous to these tablets.

So to conclude, I will certainly keep buying them. At just £3.99 for 36 tablets they are exceptionally good value and considering Grace needs just 3 tablets to work effectively during each storm, for under £4 she is getting relief on 12 separate occasions. A bargain that is actually very, very useful!

Summary: A very good product which offers considerable relief to poor Grace in those nasty thunderstorms!