What do your pets do in thunderstorms?

[Archae]

Big rainstorm with some thunder just went through, both cats slept through it.

My neighbor's big German Shepard mix hides in my neighbor's shower during T-storms.

[union_maid]

1. All my labs were terrified

Scared the bejesus out of them or hurt their ears. Not sure which. Now we have two Shar Pei who could not care less as long as you don't ask them to go out in the rain.

[OriginalGeek]

2. Yeah, our Papillon shakes and whines for as long as she can hear the rain

the cat just laughs at her.

[sharp_stick]

3. I used to have a three legged mutt

ugliest damn dog I've ever seen but also one of the nicest. He was so terrified of thunderstorms that he'd take off to the downstairs bathroom, close the door and hide in the tub in the dark.

[hibbing]

4. hides

Hi,
My cat used to pay no attention, but now she usually hides in the laundry room, I find it quite odd that they started bothering her all of a sudden.

Peace

[Callmecrazy]

5. I had a rottweiler ...

And he would jump up and bark at the thunder.

[GoCubsGo]

6. She ignores them.

None of the cats I have ever had were bothered by thunderstorms. The only exception is when lightning strikes really close to home, and the thunder is really loud, which startles them. After that, it's back to normal.

[ashling]

7. When it looks like rain, Rocky generally

carries an umbrella when we go out. Nothing unusual, however.

[pipi_k]

8. Both of my German Shepherds

run around the house whining and shaking, trying to find a place to hide.

I give them Calm Quil calming tablets and put them in their crates, where they calm down and often take a nap until the storm is over.

[RebelOne]

9. My Chihuahua hides behind the couch at the first sign of bad weather. n/t

[nadine_mn]

10. My Chesapeake/Lab mix crawls into my lap

or sits on my head if we are in bed and our German Shepherd crawls into bed with us. Our cat doesn't care, but joins in the pile of fur because he likes a good cuddle.

It was worse when we had 4 dogs - they all wanted on the lap.

[surrealAmerican]

11. They refuse to go outside, but ...

... that's true any time it's raining. We're really lucky: the thunder doesn't bother them at all.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

12. If there's really loud thunder, the kind that makes you jump,

the cats might look up, blink, yawn, and go back to sleep. Or they might just keep sleeping.

[Major Nikon]

13. One of my border collies could care less

The other goes ape shit. Usually she wants to get underneath me, regardless of whether I'm trying to sleep or do anything else. It's so bad the vet had to give us tranquilizers for her.

[dixiegrrrrl]

14. Our Goldie gets Valium, via a vet prescription.

He has been scared of storms every since he was a pup and the nighbors set of an enormous firework display on Christmas Eve. We had no idea they were going to do that and were outside with the puppy.
Now even a good wind makes him nervous, as do fireworks, thunder, lightening, guns firing.
So during storms he likes to hide under my computer desk, which is NOT built for an 80# dog.
Thus I cheerfully drug him as soon as I have any warning that "boom-boom" weather is on the way,
and he sits leaning against my leg during the storm.

The 10 y/o cat, mostly indoors, scootches under my bed, the newest cat sleeps thru anything, is totally unflappable.

[Moondog]

15. Nothing. Maine Coon ignores it. Little kitten has not experienced one yet.

Now the lawn guys, with mowers, string trimmers and blowers all going at the same time on different sides of the house - that's different. They hide under the nearest piece of furniture, and don't come out until it has been quiet for at least ten minutes.

[lastlib]

16. my cat always wanted to go out in it!

the dog freaked at the sound of thunder, scratched at the door to get inside; he'd usually head for the basement and hide in the bathroom. It was the smallest, darkest room, and was most insulated from the sound. Now that his arthritis is too bad for him to go down the stairs, he wants me to walk around to the back basement door (in the rain, naturally) so he can go in that way.

[Raven]

17. They attach themselves to my hip...one on one, one on the other. :-)

[trof]

18. Our German Shepherd went apeshit.

She'd claw at the trim around the door, trying to get out.
Poor girl didn't understand that 'out' was even worse than in.

[femmocrat]

19. 0nly one of the corgis is terrified. She hides in the walk-in closet.

The other two don't pay any attention.

[Still Blue in PDX]

20. My pibble ignores them.

She's okay with fireworks as well. It's funny, because in all other matters she behaves as though she is somewhere on the autism spectrum: When she was young she didn't like to be petted or to snuggle and still doesn't like her feet, teeth or ears touched and is scared unto death of the bathtub. She loves playing in the sprinkler, though. She needs doggie Valium to go to the vet.

She's also a little obsessive. She won't eat by herself and she takes her kibble out of the bowl, puts it on the floor a mouthful at a time and sorts it before eating.

Thunder doesn't faze her, though.

[a la izquierda]

21. Big Viszla/Boxer mix does nothing but sleep.

Our Shiba Inu/Weiner mix never used to do anything when we lived in Oklahoma. Now that we're in Ohio, he whines and pants incessantly.
Our Chihuahua hears the storms well before we do and climbs up onto one of us and pants in our face, shakes, and is generally inconsolable. Even in the middle of the night.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

22. doesn't seem to bother my kitties. they keep right on napping. raise their heads for the really loud

thunderclaps and then back to dreamland.

[MineralMan]

23. They look at me like it is my fault.

Then they go back to sleep. I am pretty sure they think I farted very loudly.

[bluedigger]

24. My dog (60lbs) crawls in my lap, if it's available.

Same for anything else that scares her. Like when I use the oven. Her backup plan is cowering on the bed until all is clear.

[MiddleFingerMom]

25. I grew up with a collie who would sense a thunderstorm LONG before...

.
.
.
... we could hear it and start "trembling" visibly. It was painful to see her
get like that. She was SO stressed out that we got her mild tranquilizers
from the vet.
.
When I first moved to Pennsylvania, I boarded in a house with a woman
and her two kids, 5 and 10. She was so terrified of thunderstorms that she
would get them out of their beds and the three of them would sleep on the
floor in the central hallway (no windows, strong wall support). Those poor
kids were almost certainly doomed to share her terror their whole lives.
.
.
.

[avebury]

26. When my dog 52 lb. dog Sandy was younger

she would come up on the bed if there was a bad thunderstorm at night. Once her hearing started to go with old age she seemed to not notice so much. The other babies (2 small dogs and 1 cat) don't seem to notice.