With the festive season here occasions such as Christmas and New Year’s Eve, firecrackers are braced for the skies.
Allan Perrins, spokesperson at the Animal Welfare Society of SA provided some tips and tricks on how to keep animals safe and calm during this spectacular time.
• Speak to your vet. If you know your pet will still be very distressed, there are a number of off-the-shelf or prescribed calming remedies that one can give to pets to help lessen the trauma.
Also read: Pilot project at Malvern Clinic
• Keep your pet in a safe and secure room for two reasons. Firstly, doing so will keep them from running away. Secondly, try to select a room that will muffle the outside noise from outdoors and surround pets with familiar and comforting items.
• Distract them. Have a selection of healthy treats that you can keep on hand to use as a distraction while the fireworks display is going on.
• Encourage hydration. Fear makes animals pant, and while they might want to hide and avoid the water bowl, make sure your frightened pet is staying hydrated and keep their food and water bowls nearby.
• Don’t leave windows open. Even with secure screens, a cat or small dog may be able to escape in a panic. Animals have very sensitive hearing and noses and the burning scent of fireworks can be distressing, so rather keep the windows closed and if it is hot, put a fan on in the room.
• Check name tags/discs and microchips. Make sure your pets have name tags with phone numbers and home addresses that are up to date so that if they do happen to run away, someone can get them back to you. If your pets are micro-chipped, make sure that the information associated with the microchip is current.
For more news and interesting articles, like Joburg East Express on Facebook or follow us on Twitter. Email joburgeast@caxton.co.za
