Helping dogs weather the storm

A canine’s senses of smell and hearing are significantly more sensitive than our own, which would explain why they are susceptible to bouts of anxiety when the weather changes. The welcome change of weather across the country has made for some frightful pooches as a result.

Boksburg Advertiser spoke to Boksburg SPCA manager Maggie Mudd about how to cope with your pet’s possible anxiety when a thunderstorm approaches.

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Mudd explains that animals and thunderstorms were very much like animals and fireworks – when you know that they are approaching and that your animal gets scared, you need to take precautions to help prevent your animal from being terrified.

This can be done by:

• Keeping tranquilisers (from the vet and prescribed for the animal) on hand and administering these when a storm is approaching.
• Ensuring that the animal is in a safe and secure place so that it cannot escape and run riot in the streets and end up hurting itself.
• Turning up the volume on a TV or radio to help drown out the sounds of the thunder.

“The only difference – and it’s a big difference – is that with fireworks we usually know when they are going to happen and can make any of the above arrangements,” Mudd said.

“However, with storms, especially the unpredictable weather that we are experiencing at the moment, it can be more difficult as lots of owners work and may not be able to pop home to do any of the above for their animal.”

So what about dogs in kennels at the SPCA?

Mudd laments that it is difficult to manage thunderstorm anxiety in a kennel environment.

She explained, however, that all their kennels had areas at the back that are sheltered and closed off from the front section of the kennel so that in the event of severe weather, the dogs can retreat from the wet and noise.

“However, if we see that a dog does not go into the sheltered area and is showing signs of panic, we remove the animal from the kennel and place it in our clinic area,” said Mudd.

“If the animal’s anxiety is very bad, our veterinarian will administer something to help calm the animal down.”

If you need any further advice on helping your animal cope during a thunderstorm, contact the Randburg SPCA on  011-462 1610/50.

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