Fire Works -Gun Powder and Pets!

So here we are again - the time of year when the nights of whizzes and bangs never seem to end, at least until mid January! Gone are the days of it just being fireworks for Guy Fawkes Night on November 5th, and then New Years Eve to see out the old and ring in the new.

Many pet owners would, im sure, like to see an end to fireworks and firework sales. It may surprise you that as a Vet I dont want to see that happen (though I do think firework sales should be limited to short dates around November the 5th and December 31st) . I believe it is vitally important as a nation that we remember the 5th of November, as this country would have been a very different and indeed much worse place had Guy Fawkes and his group of friends succeeded in there mission (no matter what the Televison dramatisations suggest - they failed history!).

But for many pets - especially dogs - fireworks are very scary. So its important that we as owners can find way to help them cope with these winter nights where the sudden bangs occur from about 6pm.

1) The first thing is is how you approach a scared dog. We are programmed to try and comfort, to try and make the animal feel better by cuddling them and saying reassurring phrases. This is one of the times when treating the animal like a child / human being in infact more damaging and worsens the situation and their responses to the adverse noises. Dogs especially take this "comforting" as a positive reinforcement of their behaviour. They think "mum and dad are telling me its ok - that means my behaviour is appropriate and how I should act". Its the same approach as when we train them - we given them positive reinforcement when they do something we WANT them to do.

Most people dont want their do shaking in a corner, digging at the floor to try and burrow their way out or frantically dive around the room in search of any form of escape. Therefore we dont want to give any form of positive feed back for this behaviour to reinforce it. Thats not to say that we should do the opposite and do negative re-inforcement as this is just as unhelpful. What we need to be is neutral. Pay as little direct attention as possible, provide distractions and go about out normal behviours. Our dogs need to think "mum and dad are no different so that must mean its ok".

2) Do the age old techniques of closing the curtains to stop the flashing lights and reduce the visual stimuli and turn up a radio, music or television to drown out the noise stimuli with more familiar noises.

3) Provide a SAFE HAVEN!!! Yep shameless plug. But in all seriousness providing a den that is covered and dark so that they can feel safe and settled is super important. We all need to feel we have a safe place to hide when we are scared and its the natural reponse of an animal to hide when they are fearful. If they have no where to go and feel exposed it will only heighten the fear response as the fear escalates to panic.

4) Use of calming pheromones - these can be helpful especially when started well in advance and allowed to permiate the home. Using a pheromone spray on a bandana around the dogs neck at the time can help provide an immediate ramp up in concentration.

5) If your dog is only mildly affected by firework anxiety then some of the anti-anxiety supplements out their may be of help. Products such as Zylkene that can be purchased without prescription can help, as can the old remedies of Skull Cap and Vallarian. More modern versions contain things like L-tryptophan and Green tea (for the L-Theanine).

With the guidence of a Veterinary Surgeon ( as required by Law). CBD oil can be really helpful as well and is generally considered very safe in dogs.

7) When started several months in advance one of the best methods to help is auditory desensitisation. You used to be able to geet CD's with tracks that had firework sounds or gun shots or thunder that played over time at increasing volumes so that animals learnt to tolerate and gradually ignore these types of noise.

8) If all this fails then talking with your vet about the forms of quick acting pharmaceutical help available is important. People often don't feel happy about medicating for anxiety / noise phobias but this is far far preferable to leaving a pet in fear. There are many options available as it is not a one size fits all and some types of medication suit some better than others. But please dont be afraid of this option. The Free Free Certification for animal anxiety management recognises this form of help as very appropriate assistence for fearful pets.

9) For Cats and small outside pets (rabbits / guinea pigs / ferrets) - bring them inside when the sun goes down. With cats this has the double protection as the dark nights come upon us of dramatically reducing the risk of a road traffic accident befalling them, as more than 80% of feline road traffic injuries occur at night.

I've probably forgotten things and if you have personal experience of things that can help / have helped your pet with fireworks or thunder please let us know and we can add them to the list!!

Whatever you do, have a happy and fun firework season. Stay Safe!!