Behavior

Help Your Cat Overcome a Fear of Fireworks in Time for New Year’s

FireworksIt’s common knowledge that dogs are stressed out by fireworks, but a lot of cats are confused and afraid of the noises, too. For many of us with pets, New Years can be the most dreaded time of the year. For us, the evening is often spent comforting a fearful feline from the first crackle to the grand finale. We use Thundershirts, calming sprays, soothing music, and more to settle our stressed out kitties, often only finding relief when the explosions finally die down.

Instead of just dreading the big day, why not start to prepare now?

Professional Cat Trainer, Jennifer Mauger of L’Chaim Feline explains how to help prepare your cat for fireworks by desensitizing them to the noise:

474665469“We can start by desensitizing them to the sound of fireworks.  By playing a fireworks noise quietly in the background while feeding their favorite treats, canned or raw food and playing with their favorite toy, we can desensitize our cats to the noise.  If they are doing well for the first couple days or week slowly turn up the volume every four or five days, You know the volume is right if your cat continues to eat or play.  If they stop you need to bring the volume back down.”

Check out this YouTube video with fireworks sounds. Play at a low volume while your cat eats or does anything they LOVE to do. Repeat every  day, very gradually increasing the volume while pairing with something awesome for your cat – playing, treats, or a delicious meal. The video was created for dogs, but it works equally well for cats! 

Start today! Go slowly and keep your sessions short. This is very important as moving too quickly can actually make your cat’s fear of fireworks worse. Just take your time and make sure your cat is having a blast while the video plays in the background.

Jennifer also recommends these other things that can help in conjunction with your desensitization plan – Feliway diffusers, Thundershirt for cats and Through a Cat’s Ear, a CD of music and soothing sounds just for cats!  Be careful with the essential oils that you might use with a dog.  Many can be dangerous for a cat.

For more training tips and cool animal behavior information, check out L’Chaim Feline on Facebook by clicking here.

Do you have any New Year’s Resolutions for your cat?

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