Every pet owner hates it… Fireworks night. Or rather, firework month, or maybe even season! There are a number of ways to try to reduce your pet’s stress; some need to be put in place before the stressful event and others are to be done during the stressful event.
Whilst it may seem harder than ever to keep your pet calm during the fireworks season, especially as home fireworks are more popular, and firework displays no longer seem to be organised events on planned days. It’s not just dogs and cats that are affected, but also our pet rabbits, guinea pigs and horses.
Things to think of ahead of firework night
- Fireworks/thunderstorm sound CD or YouTube – start with the sound on very low in the background months before the firework season and gradually increase the sound slowly over time. This should de-sensitise your pet to the noise.
- Consider seeking advice from a behaviourist – if your pet is very phobic of fireworks, we would advise seeking help from a certified animal behaviourist to target your pet’s anxiety. This must be done before the stressful event as behavioural training takes a lot of time and work.
- Ask neighbours to tell you of any planned firework demonstrations.
- Make sure your dog and cats microchip and tag details are up to date in case they escape.
- Feed before any expected disturbances as your anxious pet may not want to eat later.
- Walk you dog on the lead whilst still daylight so they can toilet before the anxiety starts
- Shut all doors/windows and draw the curtains. Lock or block up any cat flaps in the house.
- Before opening the front door (eg during halloween), shut your animals inside a room to prevent escape.
- Act/behave normally with usual indoor routines.
- Consider using calming products such as pheromone release products or those prescribed by your vet.
Things to consider during the firework display
- Shut all doors/windows and draw the curtains. Lock or block up any cat flaps in the house.
- Before opening the front door (eg during halloween), shut your animals inside a room to prevent escape.
- Act/behave normally with usual indoor routines.
Never to your dog to a fireworks display to “face their fears”, tell your animal off for being anxious or shut your animal outside.
Firework night calming products
Some animals respond more to different products so it can be a case of trial and error to find the best one for your pet. You can use several different products in conjunction with each other. For the herbal/pheromone spray products, target areas that your pet likes to spend time and never spray directly onto your pet.
Herbal/pheromone sprays
- Adaptil/Feliway – These are pheromone releasing products. They release the calming pheromones produced by the mother to promote relaxation. They are available as plug in diffusers, spays, collars and tablets (adaptil only).
- Pet Remedy – A calming herbal blend to relax many different species such as dogs, cats, rabbits and horses… even humans! They are available as plug in diffusers, spritzer sprays, bandanas and wipes.
These products should be started a few days before the scary event.
Oral medications
There are a number of medications that you can purchase to help calm your pet during firework night. Some can be dispsensed over the counter without a need to see your vet, often the stronger medications are prescription only and require a consultation with your vet to authorise their use.
- Calmex – An over-the-counter nutraceutical capsule that is to be given orally daily 3 days before the scary event. Although these are non-pharmaceutical, they can still be very effective to relax your dog.
- Prescription-only medications (POM-V) – If you have tried everything in an attempt to reduce your pets stress and anxiety levels during firework season but it doesn’t seem to be working. Contact your vet to book an appointment to discuss the use of POM-V products that stronger and often more effective.
Holistic
- ThunderShirt – A tight fitting specialised jacket which reduces stress through generalised mild compression of the body. In order to reach its full potential, the shirt should be of the correct size and fitted appropriately.
