How to Keep Your Pets from Being Freaked Out by Fireworks

New Year’s Eve is a tough time to be a dog or cat: Lots of people, lots of excitement and, most distressing of all from an animal perspective, lots of noise. If your beloved pooch or kitty reacts badly to fireworks, New Year’s Eve ranks second on the Animal Anxiety Meter after the Fourth of July. Cats and dogs possess hearing that is much more senstive than human hearing. In addition, the bang of a firecracker strikes many pets on a survival level and spells certain doom, much the same as we might feel when falling. The sensation instills a visceral, primitive fear. With that in mind, how can you keep your pet calm this holiday, whether you’re home alongside him or out for the night at a party?

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

1. Find out what’s scheduled. Depending where you live, your town or city may sponsor an official New Year’s Eve fireworks display early in the evening, or closer in time to the main event. Go on the Web and check, or consult a newspaper. If a concentrated artillery barrage is scheduled for 10 p.m. then hold off on attending your party, and stay home with your pet, until it’s over. Fireworks displays rarely last longer than 30 minutes or so. As for the unscheduled variety, such as the neighbors who bang pots and shoot off firecrackers at midnight every year, go to the party early and be back by 11:30 so you'll be home to comfort your pet when the racket begins.
2. Be reassuring. Depending on their temperament, your dog or cat may dart straight into your lap when the noise starts, so it'll find the usual nuzzles, hugs, and cooing noises very calming. If your pet streaks under the bed or into a closet and cowers there in a quivering lump, talk to them and let them know you’re right outside. In the worst case, you may have to wait until the fireworks are over for your pet to slowly emerge from its hiding place.
3. Plan a distraction. If you’re heading out for the night, put a soothing CD on repeat mode or leave the TV on. This will reassure your pet (especially if you normally play music or watch TV on nights when you’re home), and the noise will also slightly muffle the sounds of revelry outside.
4. Hire a sitter. True, most adults have plans of one sort or another on New Year’s Eve, but the same doesn’t apply to kids. Ideally, you should ask a grade-schooler or teen who’s familiar with your pet to stop by and stay for a while. Be sure to explain that their job isn’t necessarily to calm down your pet—that may or may not be possible—but only to keep him or her company and make sure your pet doesn’t accidentally get hurt.
5. Ask your vet. If you have no choice but to leave your fearful pet alone during a fireworks extravaganza, ask your veterinarian for a sedative that you can administer a few hours beforehand. Yes, this should be done only in the most extreme cases, but think about which is better: a mildly buzzed or sleepy pooch or coming home at 2 a.m. and finding a big hole in the window.