4th of July: a time to celebrate and lose your pet!

The Wichita police tell us in a tweet that “More pets go missing around July 4 than on any other day”! Thank you, Wichita Police. Animal Control Services throughout the US experience a 30% increase in lost pets from July 4 to July 6. Both dogs and cats often become terrified of the loud noises of fireworks on these sorts of celebratory days. It’s a well-known fact. And dogs are more sensitive to noise than cats because their hearing is slightly better. The Wichita police say that dogs hear more than twice as many frequencies as humans and they can hear sounds four times further away than humans. So even a firework displays a long way off can upset dogs. I know my cat is terrified of fireworks. And every cat that I’ve had the pleasure of living with has been terrified of fireworks.

So what do you do about it? I’ve tried to think out of the box as well as provide the usual answers.

Note: This is an embedded tweet. Sometimes they are deleted at source which stops them working on this site. If that has happened, I apologise but I have no control over it.

Soundproofing

If you got the money and the space (and the inclination 😎) and if you are particularly concerned about your cat or dog’s welfare during the several times that fireworks are used in America and in the UK then you might consider soundproofing a room. In any case, it might please a dog or cat owner to have a room in their home which is entirely soundproofed for both to retire to for a completely soundless room. There is a beauty in a completely dead space. It creates calm. A background of minor sound intrusion can create tensions in pets and humans.

You can soundproof a room completely but is going to be expensive if you do it really well. What you do is you build a room within a room and around that inner room is air space. It’s a bit like double glazing. The airspace prevents sound intruding. It creates a void of dead air between the exterior and interior walls which blocks out sound. You’ll need to use suspended ceilings and floating floors! You’ll need a good builder! But if you really like to enjoy zero sound this is the way to go, I feel.

Cannabidiol

In Britain, 3 million pets have been given cannabidiol to reduce anxiety and relieve painful arthritis and other conditions. The product can reduce noise sensitivity. One woman Jeanne Buchi, in the UK, has been giving her four-year-old eurasier dog CBD to help deal with anxiety about loud noises. She says that the drug has worked really well. She said: “Before she was really anxious because loud sounds would get her ready stressed. She would literally shake and then curl up somewhere. But now she’s much better. She is calm and not getting the tremors.”

Sound cancelling

This is another unconventional possibility to help alleviate anxiety in pets due to fireworks another intrusive noises. There is a business in America called PAWNIX and they’ve sold out their noise cancelling headphones for dogs in the lead up to July 4! No surprise because a lot of people are concerned about their dogs and we know that noise cancelling headphones are very effective for humans. Their product is made by hand. They explain why they created their noise cancelling headphones. They quote statistics about 4th of July pet anxiety.

They state that there is a 30% increase of lost pets as stated above. Dogs and cats being scared by loud noises is one of the top four reasons why they run away. And the American Veterinary Medical Association state that about a third of dogs suffer from some type of storm anxiety.

They build custom made noise cancelling headphones for dogs. Sadly, the product is not available for cats perhaps for practical reasons as dogs will accept them whereas cats almost certainly won’t.

White noise

At least in America, you can buy white noise machines for dogs and I hope cats. I’m told that they been proven as an effective way to calm a dog. You will find a variety of products on the marketplace. They sell for around $80-$100. The theory is that they mask the sound of fireworks and other loud frightening sounds.

Identification

I guess one thing you can do is to make sure your cat or dog wears some type of identification either through micro-chipping or a collar with contact details. If they are lost, they can be found and renunited with a bit of good luck.

Tranquilizers

I sense that American veterinarians are more open to the suggestion of prescribing tranquilizers for pets. You’ll need a veterinarian to advise but some sort of anti-anxiety medication is probably advisable if your dog or cat is particularly distraught by the sound of fireworks during extended displays. A little while ago, I researched one product for cats which you can read about by clicking on the link below.

RELATED: Dry cat food which calms cats contains Zylkène which has been proved to be effective

Dogs-don’t take them to gatherings

This is common sense but a dog is less likely to be lost if they are kept inside a secured home or environment during these times. I’m sure that there are lots of fourth of July gatherings but the advice is to leave your dog behind. And if you got a soundproofed room so much the better!

Any ideas?

If any visitor has any better ideas than mine then please share them in a comment.

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