Every year, noise makers and holiday celebrations can be extremely difficult for dogs and cats who do not understand the meaning of the holiday. Most pet parents have cared for a pet with noise phobias (thunderstorms, construction, etc) and fireworks can be very stressful!
Whether your helping your pets for New Year's Eve or 4th of July, here's 7 tips to keep them calm:
- Keep them inside and play music or turn the TV up to drown out the noise outside. Allow them to go to a safe spot (closet, bathtub, etc) if they have a favorite location. Putting them in a dark room can really help to avoid increased anxiety.
- Make sure their ID tag is up to date, as well as your microchip information for recovery.
- Thunder shirts can be very helpful in calming an anxious dog with noise phobia.
- Pheromone plug-ins such as Adaptil Calm can help, if used days leading up to fireworks and plugged in close to your dog or cat.
- Desensitization training can help, which is best achieved working with a qualified dog trainer or behaviorist.
- Hemp extracts such as CBD oils can be very helpful for noise phobias, especially fireworks. They are safe and low doses are effective, just 30 minutes prior to the start of fireworks (if known) and its calming effects last 4-5 hours.
- Prescription Medications- talk to your veterinarian about a host of options that may better help your pet during fireworks season. Ranging from Acepromazine tablets to Sileo, a sedative designed to help with noise phobias, your pet may need more advanced control.
We hope your pet improves during firework season, please reach out to us if you’d like to try CBD for your pet before the holiday!
