Have you ever observed your dog or cat becoming anxious, fidgety, and hyperactive when outside there are thunderstorms or fireworks? You may observe that your dog or cat starts breathing heavily, barking, or meowing consistently with their eyes wide open. If this is so, then your pet may have a loud noise phobia.
Pets with loud noise phobia sometimes try to hurt themselves or even cause damage to nearby environment and property when in distress. This can be the reason why the pet often runs away from home. It is better to recognize these symptoms early for an intervention.
Sometimes noise phobia tends to get worse with time. It could start off with a fear of extreme noises. Your pet may be startled by any sudden noise if the condition is not taken care of at an early stage. This is because the cat or dog has extremely sensitive hearing. They can hear much higher frequencies than average humans cannot. Just imagine, if a firework sounds loud to humans then what does it sound like to our pets. No wonder they get scared and sometimes develop a fear of it. Noise phobia can also be caused if the pet has separation anxiety or isn’t as social as the pet should be.
HOW WE MAKE NOISE PHOBIA WORSE
Many times, when we see our pets worried or anxious, then most of times we try to comfort them by hugging or petting them. However, this ends up increasing the anxiety levels at such a stage. As pets cannot tell the difference between the concern for them and you being scared for yourself. It is quite possible that they may interpret the actions wrongly.
At this stage what you can do is, try playing games with them, being relaxed, and making sure your body language is active and playful. Your pets are quite intuitive and they react according to the way we react around them.
MEDICATION
If your pet has any kind of anxiety or loud noise phobia, make an appointment with your vet and see if there are any appropriate medications that can help your pet. Some medications help your pets sleep for long periods until the storm passes or the fireworks are over.
The owner has to be patient as in such situations your pet may not respond to the behavior tricks you have taught them.
MAKE A WHITE NOISE ROOM OR A SAFE DEN
The Pets may sometimes like to retreat to dark and cozy places to hide when scared by loud noises. You can help them by creating a den in a soundproof room. Provide give them soft chew toys, water, snacks, a comfy pillow, mat. You can even play some comforting and soft music to keep your pet distracted. Make sure the pet is in a room where humans are nearby. Make sure the soundproof room you have made has no windows. If it has, then cover it up with foam or cloth.
To learn more about keeping your pets calm when there are loud noises, contact us today!