Question of the day: Tuesday, July 2

[feralvr]

:blobmul: FIREWORKS!!!!! hno: my poor Henry (dog) and Wendall (kitty). Henry and Wendall are terrified of storms and fireworks. Each year around and on the fourth I am a slave to my dog, Henry. He has multiple anxiety issues ( one of which includes: FLIES... ) and I always end up dreading the fourth of July. I know.... such a shame. He cannot be crated as he will injure himself and he also has separation anxiety. If we lock him in a room, he will destroy it - moldings and doors. Yep, Jack Russell Terriers can chew through wood. If we just leave him loose and leave, he will pee on the furniture in a panic trying to dig his way out. Really, our life revolves around Henry's anxiety!! But we love him very much :heart3: We do have Xanax for him, but I don't like to use it often. The only way we can even see fireworks is if I were to kennel Henry. He and his brother, Wilbur, are old and since moving, I have yet to find a proper place for my boys. They are high maintenance. Wendall is also afraid of storms and fireworks. My other cats get a bit worried but don't react the way Wendall does. Wendall has a "safe" spot in my closet. There is a bed in there and a small radio that I will play for both Henry and Wendall. I will usually bring in some treats for the pets and some popcorn :jerry: for me. Usually, we have a crowd in the closet because everyone else wants to come in and see what is going on and get some snacks. They know the drill. :lol3:

So, each fourth of July I spend sitting in a closet. :slant: Babysitting my scaredy-cat and my scaredy dog. :nothappy: Larry and I talk about future fourths that will come and we will someday be able to go to a fireworks spectacular.

[COLOR=#RED]Do you have any "scaredy pets" in your home when it comes to fireworks? What do you do to comfort them?[/COLOR]

 

[andrya]

lt was Canada Day here yesterday, so there was a fireworks display at the park across from our house. The dog didn't seem to notice, the 2 older cats looks alarmed initially, then got used to it. The younger cat actually enjoyed it. He jumped up into the window to watch the display.

 

[pastelpaws]

My dog, Blue, will bark at the neighbor's fireworks but doesn't really bother him (we fire our fireworks at my aunt's when we have our family BBQ).  Thunderstorms, however, he doesn't do.  It starts to rumble and he wants in (he's an outside dog), and if it is a bad storm we do let him in.  Just the fact that he is in out of the weather calms him down, he'll come in and lay on his pillow in the back porch (it's an enclosed room that leads to the outside).  If the storm is really bad, he'll lay on the top step next to the door to our kitchen.  My cat, doesn't mind any of it.

 

[catspaw66]

My ladies will growl and run inside at gunshots, but fireworks don't seem to bother them that much. Except for Spice. She runs to her hidey spot on top of the china cupboard, behind the homemade ductwork.

 

[kittymommy]

My cats are scared of the booming parts of the fireworks but if they can see the "show" part out the window it makes it not so difficult.  Since I moved a few years ago they can see the show and so Gabe (normally the most freaked out by noises cat) is OK with the fireworks and Poe (normally not that scared) will spend the evening under my bed.  I try to put the sound on my TV or radio up high enough to mask the sound of the fireworks.  I can't really hide the sound, the sound will be there, but sometimes I can sort of trick Poe's ears into thinking the sound is something else, like just people talking loudly or rock music so I try to mask the sound and make him think it's something else and this has worked some of years I've had him.  I just got a new baby, her name is Ayla and I have no idea how she'll react to the fireworks.  She's just 8 weeks old and so far she's held her own with two adult males (5yrs old and 4 yrs old) so I have high hopes it won't really phase her.  If I can get Gabe and Poe to not freak out too much maybe she won't pick up on their anxiety and fears and learn to be afraid too.  Hopefully. 

 

[MoochNNoodles]

Mine dont seem to react at all.  Not even when we lived close to where they would set them off.  I think if we are home and the TV is on it helps drown out the noise enough anyway.

 

[jcat]

We haven't been through fireworks with Mogli yet, but they used to scare Jamie. Every New Year's Eve, DH would go to bed while I spent the evening sitting on a blanket behind one of the sofas in the living room trying to keep Jamie calm (we don't have closets in this house). That was repeated every July when our town festival closed with fireworks.

 

[kookycats]

Tony is terrified of EVERYTHING. Angel and Tippy don't seem to mind thunder or fireworks unless it is unusually loud and close to him. I'm not thrilled with fireworks and hate the thunderstorms that we get this time of year.

 

[dejolane]

Bella has no interest in them but this will be Thunders 1st July 4th so we will see tomorrow night.

 

[AbbysMom]

Abby used to be scared, but she isn't as bad about it anymore.

 

[feralvr]

We haven't been through fireworks with Mogli yet, but they used to scare Jamie. Every New Year's Eve, DH would go to bed while I spent the evening sitting on a blanket behind one of the sofas in the living room trying to keep Jamie calm (we don't have closets in this house). That was repeated every July when our town festival closed with fireworks.

Good luck with Mogli this year and let's hope he doesn't mind. :cross: Aww, very sweet on hiding behind the sofa with Jaime. What we won't do to make our kids feel safe.

 

[feralvr]

My ladies will growl and run inside at gunshots, but fireworks don't seem to bother them that much. Except for Spice. She runs to her hidey spot on top of the china cupboard, behind the homemade ductwork.

Strange that they get worried about gunshots but not the fireworks! :lol3: AWWW Spice - good place to hide away during the "blasts". :nod:

 

[feralvr]

sometimes I can sort of trick Poe's ears into thinking the sound is something else, like just people talking loudly or rock music so I try to mask the sound and make him think it's something else

Good luck with Ayla not reacting. :cross: Your quote above made me laugh because I have to do this for Henry. Since he IS a DOG - I have to let him out to potty. So I clap my hands real loud while I open the door and while he is out there getting ready to do his "business". That way he is hearing my clapping (applauding him for being so brave :bigmouth and not the fireworks that may be going off in the distance. Sometimes it works and other times it fails us. :lol3: I feel I am masking the sound too.

 

[feralvr]

Abby used to be scared, but she isn't as bad about it anymore.

Age does help! But, not in Henry's case.
p.s. Thanks for changing the date on the thread title! :bigwink: I assume it was you?!

 

[angels mommy]

Yes, Angel is afraid of fireworks. He usually runs & hides behind the couch. He never goes back there otherwise, but I think being in a snug spot between the wall & couch makes him feel safe.

Otherwise, it's under the bed, like when I vacuum. I finally ordered a Feliway diffuser. I just got it today & plugged it in, so we'll see if it helps.

 

 

[mani]

They're illegal here, so my two will never know...

It reminds me, though, of many, many years ago when I lived in Hong Kong... They really know their fireworks over there, and it was New Year with the major display over the harbour which I could see from my balcony. 

I was fostering a tiny little fluffy puppy with a broken leg. The rescue group had told me to keep him in a small, dark room in his little jacket during the fireworks as they said all their dogs just freaked out.

I did that, but when the the show started up this little guy started barking and jumping around... I decided he was fine and took him out onto the balcony to watch.  He barked at each one, so excited..he  kept licking me on the face, wagging his tail and barking.. he just loved the show!  

 

[Winchester]

Nobody really does much when the fireworks start around here anymore.

Bootser used to be scared to death of t-storms, to the point where she would go down the basement steps and huddle between the last step and the basement door. She would shake the entire time. She was an outside kitty and we've wondered if maybe a lightning strike might have hit very close to her when she was still outdoors. We tried not to feed the kids during a t-storm because she wouldn't even come up for food.

She's fine now, though....it's like she knows it can't hurt her now. She still acts leery, but she no longer hides. And when it's supper time, she's more interested in the food now than she is the storm.