Pets and fireworks

Firework season can be scary for our pets – both dogs and cats can be frightened when faced with the loud bangs and flashes. It is important to remember that other pets might not show outward signs of distress but can also find the loud noises upsetting – birds, rabbits, and guinea pigs for example.

The ideal time to start working on helping a pet over the firework season is a couple of months before, before the nights start to draw in. Desensitisation programmes using sound CDs have been shown to be the most effective way of helping your pet, but if you have missed this window, there are other things you can do:

Dogs and cats

• Don’t walk dogs in the dark around firework time. Keep cats indoors after dark.

• Make sure they have a safe place to hide – this could be under a bed, in their crate or bed, or behind furniture. Cats like to be high up so maybe clear the top of a wardrobe.

• At night close windows and curtains and turn a radio or TV on at low levels to reduce the noise coming from outside

• Act normally – if you get anxious your dog will pick up on this and make the fear worse.

• Don’t punish them for acting scared, but don’t overdo the reassurances either – this can reinforce the thought that there is something to be worried about. Praise calm behaviour.

• Keep external doors closed, ensure your cat is microchipped and keep your dog’s collar on, even in the house – so they can be identified if they escape and run off in a panic.

Small pets

If your pets live outside, ideally move the cage indoors, e.g. into a shed. If the cage is too big, partially cover it with a blanket to block out some of the noise.

Provide extra bedding, if appropriate, for your pet to hide in.