ThunderShirt Anxiety & Calming Aid for Cats, Heather Grey

My girl recently got diagnosed with a rare neurological condition called Feline Hyperesthesia Syndrome (FHS) which causes the nerves in her hind area to be hypersensitive and therefore very painful to the touch. Someone in one of my Facebook groups recommended we try the ThunderShirt to help alleviate some of her symptoms. The first time, I left it on for about an hour and the next day for several hours. Both times, I had to fight her to get it on. But the evening of the second day, as I was shutting everything down for the night, my girl told me she wanted to put it back on. Now, she loves it. It's helping with her symptoms and she happily stands still so I can put it on her. I only take it My girl recently got diagnosed with a rare neurological condition called Feline Hyperesthesia Syndrome (FHS) which causes the nerves in her hind area to be hypersensitive and therefore very painful to the touch. Someone in one of my Facebook groups recommended we try the ThunderShirt to help alleviate some of her symptoms. The first time, I left it on for about an hour and the next day for several hours. Both times, I had to fight her to get it on. But the evening of the second day, as I was shutting everything down for the night, my girl told me she wanted to put it back on. Now, she loves it. It's helping with her symptoms and she happily stands still so I can put it on her. I only take it off now for a few hours a day so she can groom. This is a game changer. In combination with medical and homeopathic therapies, the ThunderShirt has taken what was initially a very scary diagnosis and made meeting her needs very doable. … more

I got the thunder shirt for a nervous and intense cat for a car trip across the country. One night, he was extremely stressed. I put the Thunder Shirt on him and could feel his body go limp immediately. I turned him loose in the hotel room, thinking all was well, then heard him wriggling his way out of it. I re-fitted him with the Thunder Shirt, only to have him wriggle out of it again. I had to get some sleep, so I had to leave it off for the rest of the night. Bummer. Too bad there isn't an under-the-tail strap to keep that from happening.

This doesn't work. We've tried it on calm days, stormy days, when my parents are visiting, just periodically. I think it's made things worse when it's on. I don't know what it is. She HATES IT. The first couple of times, she fell over just like all of those youtube videos, so make sure your cat isn't on a high or hard surface or generally where they can get hurt. I don't really think it does anything besides keep her from walking well. It fits her fine, but even loose it's very restrictive (maybe that's the point?). We'll have to try something else. I gave it 2 stars because she did look cute in it if nothing else.

I have a very aggressive 1 year old cat that we have adopted. We tried this at the recommendation of a cat trainer. We did not see where this helped at all. She is very strong willed and has fought through wearing this. It has not impeded her aggression towards our older cats.

We have one very aggressive cat, and when she is becoming angry with another cat we put this on her (just for a short time), and I don't know what it does, but she just lies down on her side and seems no longer aggressive. And she is a very aggressive cat naturally. One of her favorite things to do is ambush another cat who is unsuspectingly walking out of the covered litter box. Not very nice.

I have a full grown but very underweight elderly cat. I was unsure what size to order for him but since their sizing is by weight only I followed their sizing suggestions and ordered him a small since he is less than 7lbs. It is a good bit too small. If they will allow me to return it I'll try a medium and see how it fits and works and review from there. Hope this helps anyone else in the same boat.

Help I was so sure I ordered size M as Boots weighs only 9.25 lbs but what I received is a L. I need to exchange this for the correct size

This is a miracle worker for my cat who has had problems with over grooming. She naturally hates wearing it but when it’s on her she is much more relaxed. However I’ve only had it for about a week or less and it’s already starting to come apart on one of the Velcro seams. I’m thinking about exchanging it for a new if possible. I’m going to wait a couple of days to see if this continues to be a problem, if so I will definitely return it.

Of all the things I’ve tried to help my newest cat, I didn’t think that this would be the magic bullet. To give some background: I rescued my cat Toby from a situation where he was being used as a chew toy for a family’s large dogs during the day and when they were done with him they’d put him outside in the busy downtown neighborhood at night so the dogs would calm down. He was about 5 months old when I got him and traumatized was an understatement. Although he loves humans, he doesn’t know how to love without biting and this would evolve into attacking when you pull away. He also believes human feet are his prey. He had no social skills when it came to being with other cats and approaches Of all the things I’ve tried to help my newest cat, I didn’t think that this would be the magic bullet. To give some background: I rescued my cat Toby from a situation where he was being used as a chew toy for a family’s large dogs during the day and when they were done with him they’d put him outside in the busy downtown neighborhood at night so the dogs would calm down. He was about 5 months old when I got him and traumatized was an understatement. Although he loves humans, he doesn’t know how to love without biting and this would evolve into attacking when you pull away. He also believes human feet are his prey. He had no social skills when it came to being with other cats and approaches by playfully biting their necks despite hissing and growling. He didn’t care if he was mauled, this was the only way he knew how to interact. Although he was not necessarily being aggressive, this would lead to fighting. I felt bad I had to keep him confined to his own room when I wasn’t home, which didn’t help with his boundless destructive energy. About a year has gone by and I have tried so many things to be able to have him be part of the family for real and nothing worked. Interactive feeding sets and toys to help him with his uncontrollable attack instinct just seemed to make it worse. I tried CBD Products and calming pheromones with seemingly no effect. He was still terrorizing my other two cats when let out which was becoming even less safe for them because he had grown to nearly twice their size. I was considering psychiatric drugs from the vet when I stumbled across this product in a cat behavior blog. I figured what’s one more try? I didn’t want him to be on medication or confined to a bedroom for his lifetime. I put it on him as soon as it arrived. It’s a little bit of a challenge to get it on a large squirming cat that thinks I want to roughhouse with him, but once it was on he was a different cat. He sat there for a while motionless before calmly walking out of his room. He flopped over once or twice while getting used to it but is fine with it now. The other cats are confused by his newly calm demeanor and are still weary but are slowly becoming more willing to interact with him. It has helped him with a variety of his behavioral issues, not just his social skills. He no longer attacks me or tramples me when I’m sleeping when he gets the zoomies at night even when the shirt is off. He hasn’t been as destructive with the carpet or other items he finds which he would normally tear to pieces. He doesn’t need to maul everything that moves anymore. I just put the shirt on during the day, he gets to be a normal cat, and then I take it off at night so he can clean himself and have a break. He still stays in my bedroom at night but wow has this made a difference for him and my other two cats he was trying to terrorize. Although none of his issues have to do with thunder, I think this is a great option for cat owners who are at the end of their rope with an emotionally damaged rescue animal and their behavioral issues. Please don’t rehome, something will work if you keep trying. Cats like Toby too often end up in shelters or in and out of homes because they can’t be handled properly but sometimes they just need a little extra help or a thundershirt. I can’t rate this product highly enough. Note that it does run small. Toby is 12-13 pounds and he fits in a large. … more

I purchased this in the hope that it will calm my cat enough on the vet's table enough to make it through a yearly checkup. BUT, I gave it a test run already today with a nail trim and I have to say that the effect it had on her during a nail trim makes this product worth the price alone. I zipped right through the process with only a squeak out of her while normally we would have a couple of struggles along the way, making nail trim time a stressful event for the both of us. Highly recommended for those of us with less pliable cats!