Anyone else stay home comforting pets on the 4th?

[MerryBlooms]

Spring and summer are really tough for one of our cats.

Storms and fireworks... I tried a Thundershirt for him, but he ended up on his side and then trying to drag himself under the bed. Poor baby.

During storms and fireworks now days, the cats and I hang out in the basement and I crank the volume on my Miss Marple and Poirot DVDs. I usually end up with one on my lap and the other sits half in/out of the closet so I'm in his sight.

[TexasTowelie]

1. I'll be home with the kitten tonight.

She got her first real flea bath last night so she isn't scratching as much and she also fell in love with her new toy--the wand with a bell and feathers at the end.

[MerryBlooms]

4. Aww...

[Laffy Kat]

2. You're a great cat parent.

Poor dogs and kittehs; they have no way of understanding. Really against using firecrackers in neighborhoods. They make me a nervous wreck, too.

[MerryBlooms]

6. I feel so bad for them.

Our neighborhood is generally pretty quiet, but for whatever reason this year, there have been firecrackers and real big booms.

[lastlib]

3. yup--home today babying the dog

--he's terrified of anything that goes boom.

[MerryBlooms]

7. :( Poor baby.

[hollysmom]

5. well, they moved the fireworks back within a block of my house and my beach house

was lost in Sandy, so yeah, on this lovely cool evening, I will have the windows shut and the air conditioner running loud and the TV up to deafening and a dog bed under my computer desk.

[MerryBlooms]

8. I'm so sorry, what a terrible situation.

[hollysmom]

17. well it is convenient when my car is not running, I can walk every where.

We had a nice walk down to where the fireworks will be and there are kids playing with games and a charity dunk pool and food trucks and people having a good time. My choice to live in the center of town. The dog will be fine, I still have some of her codeine from last year when she had teeth pulled, maybe if I give it to her she will sleep through it all. It was nice to go to the beach at the end of the island where kids only had the little fire crackers, but times change, if I sell my house, and move to a condo, I can afford to buy a small place at the beach again sf have the time without all the yard and gardenwork. But then I could not walk every where and I would miss my flowers and shrubs and veggies.
small price to pay for the dog to sleep and she will sleep through the whole thing.

[MerryBlooms]

19. Wishing you both all the best.

[Laffy Kat]

10. My sweet dog was born functionally deaf.

But she can hear VERY loud noises and they just scare her to death. Really sad. My kitteh is pretty outgoing and she tends to run towards noises to see what's going on. She'll probably be sitting in a window looking out. I find the worst noise for pets (and this human) to be those shrill and hissing contraptions. Given a choice, give me a pop or boom.

[hollysmom]

22. poor baby, mye she feels the fireworks more than hearing them

I know I can physically feel the fireworks at my house. lots of Italians in this town, Italian fireworks are the wones that just make a loud noise and a flash so it is like 80% finale ha ha.

[Laffy Kat]

26. Good point. I know she can feel the pressure change when a door opens or closes. nt

[MerryBlooms]

40. I agree with hollysmom, I bet she's feeling the concussions/bursts and,

the smell may also cause her anxiety.

I hope she did OK last night.

[Laffy Kat]

41. Apparently she did.

I went out to watch the big fireworks show with friends, but took her to my husband's house (we're separated) beforehand, so she wouldn't be alone. It worked out great. Husband was hosting a game night and had a house full of friends and our two sons. She got loads of attention and didn't seem to notice much else. My boys walked her back over to my place around 1:00 a.m. and reported she was exhausted from so much play and lovin'. She slept great. Fun time had by all.

[MerryBlooms]

42. Wonderful outcome!

[hobbit709]

9. There's one dog that hides in the bathroom for fireworks or storms.

There's two that go out and play in the rain and will bark at the neighbors setting off fireworks.
There's one that nothing fazes him. He just lies on the floor and sleeps through it.

[MerryBlooms]

11. A real mixed bag!

By the end of the night, does the bathroom smell like wet dog? Just asking because once upon a time, we also had a dog (blk lab) that hid in the front bathroom-- we used the second bathroom to avoid disturbing her, and the wet dog smell.

[hobbit709]

13. Nope she doesn't go out in the rain.

[MerryBlooms]

15. Good deal.

[trueblue2007]

12. We have 5 cats. We have to be here for them.

poor babies they hate the booms and loud noises

[MerryBlooms]

16. It's really awful for them. I always get a bit depressed thinking about all the

ferals and folks who don't keep their cats inside.

[MH1]

50. I have woods behind me and worry about the wild critters.

Squirrels and chipmunks and birds and so forth. They are back at the feeders this morning so I guess they are ok now, but it must be terrifying for them also. (There is a public fireworks display at a venue that is just a few blocks from me - far too close! - and it seems to go on forever )

Of my 2 cats, one got a bit freaked and I just held him as much as possible. The other one looked annoyed and a little concerned at first but after I scritched her and told her all was okay and went about acting normal, she just mostly looked annoyed. Which is good because it let me give more attention to the poor freaked-out sweetie.

I understand the attractiveness of fireworks but wish people would count the costs and consider other ways to celebrate.

[Brother Buzz]

14. Public fireworks three blocks away and a new skittish rescue Border collie in the house

It's gonna be Hell, but our focus will be on helping her get through it as best we can. I'm thinking about playing Ravel's Bolero loud because it's longer then our Podunk fireworks show, plus starts out soothing and builds to a crescendo just about the time the grand finale down the street erupts.

[MerryBlooms]

18. I hope she does well...

this year will be a learning experience and you'll be better prepared next year if need be.

I love Borders, such sweethearts.

[Brother Buzz]

21. She's gonna do lousy, but we'll help her get throught it

Next year is another story.

[dixiegrrrrl]

23. Drugs..I rely on drugs.....

My giant Goldie insists on trying to cram himself under my desk, where he sits and shakes.
The vet started him on Valium.
Takes 15 mg. to zonk him out.
Takes 5 mg to zonk me out, so dogs really have a high tolerance.

Benadryl caps at 1 mg. per pound of dog also work, but the Valium works quicker.
We just had a loud thunderstorm, I was hoping it would keep the firecracker fools off the streets,
but no such luck, it is clearing and now they are making noise.
Poor dog.

[NJCher]

43. Xanax

A friend got her dog a prescription for Xanax from her vet a few weeks ago.


Cher

[dixiegrrrrl]

45. The nice thing about Xanax is it lasts much longer than Valium

and you do not have to keep re-dosing.
Which is nice during the night.

You DO run the risk of the dog holding up pharmacies to get his fix, down the road.

[NJCher]

47. yep, I know the type

Cher

[dixiegrrrrl]

48. lol..........

[MerryBlooms]

51. omg, your sig line

Props to MADem on that one.

[zappaman]

25. Loud music works for me.

And my black lab.

[Brother Buzz]

27. That's the plan

that, and a lot of coddling, with an improvised thunder blanket held in reserve. She Who Must be Obeyed is working the cotton balls angle.

[In_The_Wind]

20. Miss PIA hates storms and firecrackers. I'll be home with her tonight.

[MerryBlooms]

33. There were a lot of firecrackers around here last night,

which kind of surprises me since all our neighbors have dogs. You wouldn't think folks who kept dogs would be setting them off, but they were. :/

[zappaman]

24. You bet.

Spring for the pay per view dead and trying to drown out the bangs.

[MerryBlooms]

35. Yep, whatever does the trick to lower the anxiety.

[narnian60]

28. I love

Miss Marple and Poirot. If The Twilight Zone marathon wasn't on, I'd get out my Poirot dvds, too. One of my dogs is deaf, but the other one is already panting heavily in fear. Only 4-5 hours of torture to go.

[MerryBlooms]

34. :( Poor thing.

Luckily, our neighborhood quieted down a bit before 11, so it wasn't horrible.

The cats and I watched, "Murder At The Vicarage", and "Nemesis"... Joan Hickson as Miss Marple, natch.

[calimary]

29. Yep! Dog and cats.

They're pretty mellow if they're around us. So we're just kicking back at home. We're old!

[MerryBlooms]

36. We're always home on the 4th and New Year's--

We're old too!

[dixiegrrrrl]

46. Howdy from another geezer-ess....

If I wasn't so inherently lazy, I would be a crazy cat lady...but my one demanding feline fur kid keeps me plenty busy doing revolving door duty.

[calimary]

53. Yeah. Animal-maintenance can be a pretty heavy lift sometimes.

It's like having babies around again, but (at least with the cats) they change their own diapers and serve themselves when they're hungry and thirsty. The dog is much more dependent.

Meh - gotta do it, though. Can't help it. I like having 'em around!

[woodsprite]

30. We send ours for the weekend to her doggie daycare.

It's in a non-residential area a few miles from our home. They pipe in white noise and music for their boarders when there are thunderstorms, and I'm sure they do it on the 4th as well. Our home is literally 2 blocks from our city's celebration that draws ~40k people. The fireworks lasted 35 min. tonight, with the 'grand finale going on for 3 min. Even Rescue Remedy doesn't calm her for the fireworks. It does work during some storms. We pick her up tomorrow.

We do the same thing for Halloween. She gets freaked out with the costumes, commotion, noises, etc. even when we greet the kids outside so there is no knocking or doorbells ringing. She's stressing in the house, barking, even when someone is inside with her. She's no better when we have her outside sitting right with us.

[MerryBlooms]

37. Oh, that's Great! Terrific idea.

Our old doxie was very much the same about Halloween. We left our light off and didn't hand out treats for a few years before he passed, because it was just too tough on him.

[shenmue]

31. Murphy the Poodle did okay

[MerryBlooms]

38. Good deal!

[eShirl]

32. My cat's afraid of: thunder, fireworks, lawnmowers, motorcycles, snowplows, snowmobiles, snowblowers

Those all make sense, but she's ALSO afraid of anything falling from the sky or moving around in groups in the air: snowflakes, light rain, the air filled with lots of fluffy dandelion seeds, blown soap bubbles indoors

[MerryBlooms]

39. Our nervous one doesn't mind snow or bubbles, but hard rain or hail and he's a wreck.

Hope your cat did OK last night.

[NJCher]

44. I'm bookmarking this thread

Because sometimes when I read about animal cruelty, it stresses me out so much that I have to counterbalance it. I will head immediately to this bookmarked thread to remind me of all the wonderful humans who care deeply for their fur babies.


Cher

[MerryBlooms]

52. Same here, I can't stand the animal cruelty or child abuse stories...

I avoid them all as much as possible-- even the ones with happy endings. I just can't take it emotionally lately.

[mythology]

49. My parents took the dogs out of town.

One of the dogs is afraid of her own shadow, so she would no doubt be terrified, the other dog would have been fine and the two cats are fine.

We used to have a dog who was afraid of both thunderstorms and fireworks, but then she lost her hearing and never had a problem again. We weren't convinced she had fully lost her hearing until we watched Twister and she slept through it on her bed in front of the tv.

[restorefreedom]

54. i never go out on july 4 or halloween

fireworks for 3 hrs last night. i half thought of parking my car by their driveway, turning in my brights, and laying on the horn just to ruin it.

[ailsagirl]

55. I had three fans going...

so I (and the cats) didn't hear a thing.

[hunter]

56. Yes.

Our city is wild and lawless on the fourth.

Big, big, explosions that rattle the windows and set off car alarms.

We were all cozy and comfy on the sofa watching Dr. Who and M.A.S.H., hoping to convince the dogs it was part of the show.

They were not entirely convinced, especially the loud explosions past midnight when we were all trying to sleep.

[trinidad]

57. It's a mix.

It's a mix. We have one pet that sleeps like a log through the noise. The other one practically has a stroke. We just drive to the country, make a picnic of the day and come back later. We will put our one dog in the basement for the rest of the evening.

[murielm99]

58. My big dog was a basket case today (Sunday)

because the neighbors were setting off fireworks. She was trying to cram herself into spots where I would not fit! Little dog hid between the wall and the bed. I think she was mostly reacting to big dog's distress.

It took a long time to get them calmed down.