Minimize Fireworks Anxiety in Your Pets
As those of us in America celebrate our country’s independence today, we need to be cognizant of the effect fireworks have on our beloved pets. The newspaper Deseret has a good article on the subject. Here’s an interesting tidbit on the effect of the loud booms and bangs that I never considered.
In most normal five-day stretches during the summer last year, his shelter would pick up about 66 stray cats and 70 stray dogs. But he said that in the five days surrounding July 4, it picked up 90 cats and 95 dogs - or 36 percent more than normal. “We always see big increases around July Fourth, and the same thing happens again around the 24th,” he said, adding that other cities in the county and state report the same.
It makes sense that dogs and cats would try to get away from all that noise. Fortunately the article also give advice on how to minimize their anxiety.
Doug Poindexter, president of the World Wide Pet Industry Association, said, “There are number of tips we have to try and help minimize stress by pets. First, bring your pets inside. Keep them in a room that is as sound resistant as possible” and then play music or the television there to drown out noise from fireworks.
Read the full article to find out all the tips they give and make this the calmest 4th for your pet ever.
Happy 4th of July!!
One of our dogs is “OK” as long as we keep him inside and act normal. Our new dog is already freaked out from the pre-celebration noises of days before. We have a sedative for her. We got her from a shelter at the beginning of August, where she had been since about mid-July, making me very suspicious that she is one of those dogs than ran off during holiday revelry. She normally fears nothing, and is not unusually bothered by thunderstorms but those fireworks a few days ago elicited a very frightening response in her.