Fireworks season is upon us, and for pet owners, this can be a stressful time of year. However, there are ways to ease into the end of the year, and to make sure that your pet doesn’t bear the brunt of the silly season, thanks to advice from Hill’s Pet Nutrition advisor Dr Guy Fyvie.
Fyvie says that it is vital to know what you can do to relieve any stress your pets may feel as a result of fireworks and raucous parties, especially if you have an anxious pet.
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Because our pets’ hearing is sharper and more sensitive than our own, they can hear noises from much further away. So, even if there is a party a few kilometres from your home, it may still be distressing to your pet, says Fyvie.
He recommends that pet parents look out for the following signs of anxious behaviour:
To counter these negative behaviour as a result of stress, Fyvie says there are simple things you can do around the house to make your pet feel more at home:
For pet parents who’d like to find out if their dogs or cats are anxious, take the Hill’s pet stress test here.
The use of fireworks is regulated by South African bylaws under the Explosives Act of 1956. This states that no fireworks may be set off within 200m of any hospital, clinic, petrol station, old-age or using home, or animal welfare organisation, and that using fireworks to frighten pets is illegal.
“However, even if the fireworks display is a fair distance from your home, dogs and cats’ hearing is far sharper and much more sensitive than ours, and the noise could still trigger an anxious reaction,” added Fyvie.
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