Anything you have to feed a frightened dog has already lost. A dog that is genuinely scared turns its head away from food, spits out the tablet and ignores whatever you hid it in - and that is precisely the moment most calming products are supposed to be going in.

This one goes on the outside instead. It is a 50G ointment, and VETIQ's account of it is that a little applied to the dog's nose releases a pheromone, with relief starting within 20 minutes. It is built for the unexpected rather than the ongoing - fireworks, a thunderstorm, a car journey nobody warned the dog about - which is a different product from the supplements you start weeks ahead. VETIQ say there is no limit on how often it can be used, and list it as suitable for all dogs, all breeds and all ages.

• 50G pot
• Applied to the dog's nose
• VETIQ state it starts working within 20 minutes
• Works by releasing a pheromone, according to VETIQ
• No limit on usage; can be applied as needed
• VETIQ list it for all dogs, all breeds, all ages

What is missing, and what a pheromone will not do. VETIQ publish no ingredient list to us, no amount to apply and no separate guidance for cats, even though the listing files this under a shared dog-and-cat heading - every line of VETIQ's own copy is about dogs, so we would treat it as a dog product until they say otherwise. More importantly, a pheromone is not sedation. A dog with a serious noise phobia, one that panics for hours, hurts itself or goes through a door, has a problem that needs a vet and very likely a behaviourist, and buying an ointment on the afternoon of Bonfire Night is not a plan.

Who it's for: owners of a dog that is fine almost all of the time and briefly not fine - the fireworks, the drive to the groomer, the storm that arrives at ten at night - who want something that can go on in the moment.