Does anyone else here have nervous pets

[Ohiogal]

Here in NE Ohio we are under a high wind warning. It’s howling away out there and our lights have flickered a half dozen times already. My Sophie is pacing around the house and drooling and acting very clingy. Our bird feeders toppled over on the patio with a loud clang, and some branches have hit the sky lights in the dining room. The noise of the wind must affect her more so than it does us. None of the humans in the house are acting panicky, so I don’t think she’s taking her cue from us.

[treestar]

1. my sister has one

a dog that must have been traumatized in the situation with the previous owner. There are pills you can give her. Also there is a jacket that is designed to "hug" the dog. Thunder and lightning frighten this dog so much and sometimes even the jacket does not help all that much.

[LakeArenal]

2. My dog takes a pill.

The problem is they need to take it everyday to have a build up on their system.

So rarely I use it when bad storms are expected or the week before the hunting season or the 4th of July I start giving them to him.

What helps a bit is to turn on something like Fleetwood Mac on pretty loud. Drums and all.

Good luck. It’s hard not to get frustrated and make it worse. Or baby him. Whichthe Dog Whisperer says is the worst thing. But...you know...

[Ohiogal]

15. What if your pet prefers

Beatles? Lol.

We took her on vacation once and had to medicate her. She is very nervous in the car.

It’s the wind storm today that’s doing it. She just doesn’t like it for some reason.
:

[LakeArenal]

26. He prefers anything Ohiogal posts. 😉

[badhair77]

3. We are in PA and our labradoodle was hiding in the laundry room when we came home

this morning. Normally she might do that during a bad storm. The wind hasn’t started yet but she knows it’s coming. She’s been at our feet since we returned. She is really afraid of wind so we won’t leave her today or tomorrow.

[Dennis Donovan]

4. My pups and I are in CNY and TWC texts have been fast and furious

[Ohiogal]

20. Yep -- it's coming!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

5. We're under a blizzard warning and the wind is howling outside.

Two of the cats are asleep. The third is sitting next to me purring. I don't think it's bothering them at all.

[Ohiogal]

16. Your cats are nice and mellow!

[procon]

6. Those Thunder Shirts really work.

My nephew's little pup was always nervous about noises. She would tremble during storms and try to hide, but when he got her the shirt she became calm and relaxed. It was almost like a switch getting turned off. Maybe she felt like she was being hugged by the snug shirt, whatever it does, it is very effective.

In a pinch, you might try a T-shirt and pull it up nice and tight then secure it with clips or safety pins. Even an ace wrap might work?

[Laffy Kat]

13. Those work!

I have a friend whose dog is terrified of thunder and lightning and she swears by the T-shirt!

[DesertRat]

39. Yes! We actually use a cheaper version called "Mellow Shirt"

Both of ours chill right out when they wear them.

[Freedomofspeech]

7. If there were emotional support classes for dogs...

Our Golden Retriever/Beagle mix would be enrolled. Our Lucy Ricardo is a Nervous Nellie all the time...thunder and wind make her a wreck. When we have to take her in the car she pants the entire time. She has never once slept in the car...

[canichelouis]

8. Yes, have had several over the years

Put pet in quietest room, with least number of windows and turn on tv, loud enough to distract from the environmental noises. A

Radio can help too. If I knew it was likely to rain or storm, I enclosed them ahead. OR if leaving the house .... Helped emensly.

[Hortensis]

14. That's what a friend did, and it helped a lot.

And staying in the room with him or her also, of course.

She also learned the hard way to take absolutely no chances her sweet little dog could get out. He was missing for two weeks after Fourth of July firecrackers terrorized him into running out a door she opened. All her friends posted fliers everywhere in town, and when a trucker reported a small dog trying to climb in his cab at a gas station on a distant highway we knew it must be him. He thought all cars went to his house and would hop in anyone's. Happy ending.

[Ohiogal]

19. ...

[Ohiogal]

17. My sis puts NPR on for her dogs

when she goes to work, she says it calms them.

[Polly Hennessey]

9. Yes.

I have a rescue Golden Retriever. I have had her since she was five years old. In the beginning, she was frightened of almost everything. Crinkling paper, walking towards her with a large box, thunder, loud noises, gunfire, etc., etc. She is now eleven and better, but some noises still scare her. The wind and rain on the roof, for sure. She comes to me for comfort when it is bad and I give it to her (sorry, Ceasar). She came from Utah and her previous owners never let her in the house. Spent every moment in a backyard. She knows she is safe and she has improved. Don’t know how to remove a five-year memory, so we simply understand and love 💕💕 and love her.

[Ohiogal]

18. Please give her a big hug for me

If she will tolerate it!

[renate]

10. My dog takes Relora

Its ingredients are in some calming supplement I read about. The people version of those ingredients are cheaper than the dog version.

I give it to her when she’s going to be extra stressed; it doesn’t totally solve the problem but it takes the edge off. She’s on regular anxiety medication every day too (she’s kind of high maintenance) but she would still freak out without the Relora.

[Vinca]

11. My cats are both sensitive to noise. They hide under the quilt on the bed.

That wind is in our forecast for tomorrow so I guess I've got something to look forward to.

[Docreed2003]

12. As others have recommended, the thunder jackets/vests seem to work for us

We have a greyhound that's extremely sensitive to storms and she will burrow into our walk-in closet with thunderstorms. She seems to be calmed with the "thunder jacket".

[spinbaby]

21. Our cats are nervous for other reasons

We have a new kitty in the household, who is still working out territory and hierarchy details with the five already living here.

[Cirque du So-What]

22. My 🐱 Sophie is in low-rider mode

When she's not creeping around the house, she's wedged between me and the arm of the chair. This is typical whenever she hears wind, rain, or fireworks.

[Ohiogal]

23. ...

[Brother Buzz]

24. I have an uber-nervous rescue Border collie

The thunder coat and CBD oils have worked miracles getting her through rough times. And by helping her through the rough times she's getting noticeably better with fewer and fewer episodes.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

25. You THINK none of the humans are acting panicky.

Sophie knows better.

I'm in SE Mich and had to kick branches off the driveway so I could go to the grocery. Branches have been hitting the roof all afternoon, sounds like living inside a bass drum.

Plus, the Bernoulli effect of wind gusting over the house's plumbing stack is creating waves in the toilets. This is some strange storm.

Oh, well, at least there's no snow in the wind, unlike Omaha.

Stay calm.

[applegrove]

30. Mine hate trucks. The snowplow was around my house the other day. Captain Morgan did not know

Whether to hide or look out the window. I kept telling him it was alright. But the these were big trucks hauling away the 4 ft snowbank right outside my window. He hates the garbage truck too.

[Ms. Toad]

31. Our cat is calmly licking his tail

(not long after a couple of branches came down overhead). So even though he's a nervous kitty, the wind doesn't seem to be bothering him.

We do have numans nervous, though. Our idiot neighbor decided that it was a good day to burn old furniture. We called the fire department to check it out. Somehow, it does not seem to me like a good idea to have 10 ft flames in today's 60+ MPH wind gusts. Not to mention that he was burning crap that produced toxic fumes.

[Hekate]

37. I am sorry your neighbor is an idiot, and I hope the FD induced him to put out the fire

[Ms. Toad]

41. The landlord is well known -

and hated by the local police and fire. He only rents to the best idiots.

They called the landlord, who showed up, and told his tenant to put it out.

[Poiuyt]

32. This thread is useless without photos

I thought you people knew that!

[House of Roberts]

33. My cats don't seem to react much to weather.

Mojo, my ex's Schipperke makes a fuss every time there's thunder, but I think it's just because he expects a treat now, because they always give him comfort calms when it storms. He makes the same fuss when he expects a treat for any other reason.

[malaise]

34. Stay safe

Pets hate bad weather

[3catwoman3]

35. One of our 3, our muscular 15 pound...

...tabby male, heads for the basement when the doorbell rings. If it turns out that the person at the door is someone he knows, he will cautiously creep back up the stairs after a few minutes, and rejoin the household. If it is a “stranger,” he will stay down there until that person leaves.

[Hekate]

36. Dogs are as individual as humans in this regard.They weren't necessarily traumatized by prior owners

We used to have a Sheltie who was very neurotic. But all the same, other dogs we've had who were very sturdy in their personalities (like our current Poodle-Lhasa mix, Callie) still got disturbed by thunder and lightning, high winds, and fireworks. I just let them stay close to me if they wanted to, as I do with Callie.

Pretty much as I would do with a little kid: be matter of fact, but still shield them as much as possible from the scary thing.

[Codeine]

38. Our cat is singularly unaffected by weather

but panics and vomits whenever anyone not in the immediate household enters the apartment. He cannot cope with visitors.

[LuckyCharms]

40. Really whipping here in NYS.

60 MPH by morning, probably the same for you. So far, my pup is ok, but he usually goes nuts. Good luck!