While you’re making potato salad and counting to be sure that you have enough hot dogs for that Independence Day cookout, animal shelters around the country are preparing for the busiest day of the year for lost animals. Cats and dogs, afraid of the noise of fireworks, panic and flee. Remember, cat hearing is much better than the human sense of hearing. That’s why you can never open a treat jar without heir hearing it. But it also means that fireworks several miles away that don’t sound so loud to you can be really loud and scary to your cat.
Most cats will try to hide at home from the noise, but some cats can become so afraid that they do things out of character, like breaking through screens on windows or running through open doors in their panic to try to get away from the terrifying noises. That’s dangerous for everyone.
What can you to do be ready for this weekend’s fireworks?
- Use calming scents in your house like the Comfort Zone Feliway Diffuser to help your cat feel like it’s a safe space. The scent of these can take hours to distribute through the room, so be sure to plug them in ahead of time for best effect.
- Make sure your cat is indoors before dusk to be sure he isn’t caught outside when the fireworks begin.
- At nightfall, close the windows and curtains to help muffle the sounds from outdoors.
- Turn on soothing music inside to help drown out the sound of the fireworks.
- Make sure exterior doors are completely shut both to minimize noise and to prevent your cat from slipping out. Be sure that anyone who has to enter or exit after dark is aware that they should shouldn’t let four-legged friends follow them outside during the fireworks display.
- Know where your cat likes to hide, and don’t try to block your cat from her favorite spot under the bed or in the closet. If she doesn’t want to come out during the fireworks, let her stay in her hiding spot where she feels more secure.
- Make sure that your cat has on identification in case your cat bolts out of the house and becomes disoriented. It’s best to have a microchip as well as a breakaway collar with name and phone number.
With just a little bit of care and planning, the fourth of July can be a less scary experience for everyone!
References and Further Reading
RSPCA, Fireworks
ASPCA, Why Fireworks and Pets Don’t Mix
My human is probably going to stay home with me for the Fourth! She wants to make sure I’m okay. Like anything would scare me!
we’ve already had some banging here … late the other night and Tim almost hit the ceiling. mom doesn’t have any plans, so the house will be shut up and the tv on for noise
Good advice. Hopefully, it won’t be too loud here. But we’re ready to go UTB if it is.
Great advice! The neighbors set off fireworks the other night while Truffles was lounging in the window and she didn’t even flinch!
Good advice for this time of year. XOCK, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth and Calista Jo
awesum post guys….round heer…wildlife can get spooked two…few yeerz bak we wuz lookin out de window at a dawg that just ran past R houz while de food gurl waz out puttin waterz in de burd bathe ………letz forget that…….N de dawg ranned
past her…then her came in & said did ya see de coyoteez !!! ??? we noe him waz knot afturr a road runnerz…..him waz that kinda scared frum de noize 🙁
Heerz two a climbin catfish kinda week oh end ♥♥♥
We live in the burbs – might as well be the boonies. Thankfully we don’t get to hear any booms for the 4th.
Excellent advice!
That’s some great advice. Fireworks don’t scare us. We used to live next door to Disneyland and heard fireworks every night.
Keeping the kitties inside and muffling the noise is so important. Also, cats can easily pick up on the feelings of humans. If you stress because the kitties they are stressed, you’ll only make matters worse.
That’s great advice. Would you believe the fireworks scare Mommy more than us? She can’t believe it, but it’s true. She’ll probably stay home with us anyway.
I’ve never been scared of fireworks cos we hear them so often around here. The police have been very vigilant about rogue firecrackers so all we hear are the big displays. I WAS at heightened alert last week when the display sounded like it was on the next block. TW is hoping it didn’t freak me out enough to make me scared for good. Our dogwalker lost one of her dogs years ago cos her husband let me off the leash during fireworks. She left husband shortly after.
Super advice. We’re not scared of fireworks, which is good because there are TONS of them around here. Our woofies used to be really scared on the 4th.
The Florida Furkids
at least our town had a fireworks celebration last month and doesn’t do anything for the 4th. here’s hoping not too many of our neighbors got any of those TNT packages…
pip, smidgen, Minnie, hollie
I particularly loathe fireworks because I was abandoned right around this time when I was only about 3 months old. It was very scary, I can tell you, especially since a park abutted the complex where I was thrown out and people shot off those evil things there. I’m so glad my mom rescued me (once I was coaxed out of hiding) after that, and I’ve been safe ever since.
Great post for this time of year. My kitties will be safe at home watching dvds with the hubby and I .
Great tips and good advice for our US friends on July 4th, and for us on August 1st ! Purrs
Those are all great ideas and suggestions, informative post…we are lucky not to hear fireworks here.
Our mom deserted us for the skies last night – it’s a GOOD THING she came back down!