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(and during) the stormKaBOOOOOMMMMMM! A clap of thunder rattled the house.
"Lady! Lady! Woof, woof, woof! Let me out, let me out, NOW!" Nipper arfed impatiently scratching at the door.
"Why?" I asked suspiciously, narrowing my eyes, "Just so you can go out on the porch to run around, bark like a nut-case and annoy the neighbors?"
"Well, yeah," he admitted, prancing about. "C'mon, there's a storm out there; I've gotta go show it who's boss."
Sighing, I opened the door and watched in amusement as our 14-and-three-fourths-year-old, arthritic dog ran back and forth, barking at the top of his Cocker-Spaniel lungs. Spring, and its thunderstorms, used to be a major trauma at our house, causing Nipper to shiver and cower. That changed last year, when he went deaf. No longer able to hear the loud claps of thunder, his fear dissipated and was replaced by excitement. Now he loves stormy weather; happily wagging his tail and sniffing at the air.
But, what about the owners whose pets are still bothered by storms? What can we do to comfort them as we go into thunderstorm season?
Nipper's vet, Aaron Stamper, DVM of Highland Heights Animal Hospital (www.petwow.com) suggests putting your pet in a place in the house where they can't watch the storm; preferably in a spot that has as much sound proofing as possible.
"There is evidence to suggest that dogs and cats can sense when a storm is coming," he said. "Most likely from barometric pressure change, and so anxiety sets in from past experiences."
It is the sound, he believes, that causes most of the pets' anxiety. That would be why Nipper's reaction to storms has changed since he lost his hearing.
"The sound of thunder extends from the highest to the lowest frequency," Stamper said. "And since dogs hear better than we do it stands to reason that pets would be more sensitive to the loud noise created by storms."
Stamper, who owns several dogs, has successfully used ear plugs on his own pets to help keep them calm.
"They are easy to put in," he said. "Safe, comfortable and easy to remove.
"Most ear plugs are designed to drastically reduce the noise of firearms which is similar to the frequency and decibel level of most storms."
How about medications? Even though it would be preferred not to use them, he says that tranquilizing medications are probably the most widely accepted means of curbing the effects of storms or fireworks for pets.
The problem is, it is difficult to control the timing. You can't predict exactly when a storm will hit and the medication needs enough time to take effect before it does.
According to Stamper the most commonly used drugs are Acepromazine, a long acting tranquilizer lasting six to 12 hours and Valium that lasts two to four hours for most pets. Acepromazine takes about two hours to be effective making it not desirable when a quick storm pops up and Valium is not great for storms that last long into the night as it often wears off. There are some other tricyclic anti-depressant drugs like Elavil and Xanax.
Karen Pilis, behaviorist for All Creatures Animal Hospital (www.all-creatures.com) in Amelia, finds that there are two versions of thunderstorm phobia.
"The first is caused by the owner," she said. "The second is an actual phobia from the pressure and noise of a storm that the owner has no contributing factors to."
For example, she explains, "Two dogs I adopted at the age of 10 came to me with the phobia and no matter what I did I couldn't change it. The ones I have had since puppies have never had storm phobias. Only the ones owned by someone previously have had it. The way that a dog behaves during a storm has everything to do with the owner's reactions.
"You gasp and the dog wonders what the problem is. The fear transfers to them and then we reinforce that fear because we comfort the dog and we pet them. So every time a storm happens, the dog knows the fear is going to begin again and the behavior is then trained into the dog."
Owners need to be able to show their pets what is and is not acceptable by example. If a pet reacts to a loud clap of thunder, she says that you must correct that immediately. "Tell them to lie down, that's enough. If you don't allow them to overreact, that is how the animal will continue to behave. Make sure you are relaxed, think about your own behavior and body language is saying to the dogs."
"And," she said. "It's not just undesirable behavior that deserves attention. You should reinforce desired behavior with food, verbal or physical praise."
Most of what the experts told me covered canine, not feline behavior, so I called Cheryl Franklin, owner of Confetti Cats in Mt. Lookout (www.confetti cats.com). She has owned cats since grade school and is considered by many to be an expert in the area. Through the years, she has had several fearful felines.
"The best thing that I have found," she said. "Is to put them in a part of the house where they don't feel the storm. That means a calm place not exposed to the windows or to the sounds. I play classical music on the radio and leave the lights on."
She believes that the agitation cats exhibit during thunderstorms is not necessarily from fear, but more of a sense of protectiveness of the house.
"Our energy can also affect how they respond," she admits. "We can transfer our feelings to them. I see it all the time. People come in here and ask questions about their cats' behavior, and I find that there is something going on in their own lives, health related or work related and they realize that they are transmitting that information to their pets. After all, their role in our lives is to absorb some of our stuff."
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