Beaphar StressLess Herbal Calming Home & Travel Spray

Stress in a pet is nearly always noticed as damage. A cat starts working on the side of the sofa, a dog takes the corner off a door frame, somebody finds a wet patch by the back door — and in each case the behaviour is the message rather than the fault, which is why the answer usually has more to do with the room than with the animal.

This is an environmental spray, not something that goes onto a coat. Beaphar build it on valerian, a herb long associated with calming, and the way it is meant to be used is on the places where the behaviour is actually happening: the scratched furniture, the chewed object, the spot that keeps getting marked. The same 125ml bottle does travel as well — onto a cat carrier, a dog crate, a blanket or the inside of a car before a journey or a vet trip.

• 125ml bottle
• Contains the herb valerian
• Sprayed onto surroundings, never onto the animal
• Suitable for use around cats and dogs of all ages and breeds
• Beaphar name vertical scratching, furniture chewing and urine marking as the targets
• Also intended for carriers, crates, cars and blankets before travel

One thing worth knowing. No concentration is published, no guidance on how many sprays or how long an application lasts has been supplied, and this is not a medicine. Beaphar's own framing — general anxiety, or a specific stressful situation — is a very wide net, and a cat that has started marking indoors or a dog that panics when left alone has a reason for it that a bottle will not find. Use it alongside the behavioural work rather than instead of it, and get a vet to look at any behaviour that has appeared suddenly, because some of it is physical.

Who it's for: households with a cat that scratches or marks, owners facing a car journey or a vet visit, and anyone who would rather change the environment before they try anything stronger.