It's that time of the year where we hear thunderstorms and the BOOMS of fireworks, making life not-so-great for our pets, but there is help.
Dr. Brandon Beebout of the Hilltop Pet Clinic said humans hear at about 20,000 hertz, dogs are at least double that, around 45,000 hertz.
“They're just more sensitive to sound,” said Dr. Beebout. “And obviously here in Nebraska, we can have some violent thunderstorms. And obviously the end of June, up to the 4th of July, we're going to have quite a bit of fireworks. We want to beat the stimuli, so we want to get those medications on.”
The Hilltop Pet Clinic has a plethora of medications to choose from. Dr. Brandon said your pet needs to take them an hour before lighting fireworks or the possibility of a thunderstorm.
There are possible side effects to the medicine, but it is just going to quiet them down and that is the goal. Dr. Beebout said your pet may become a little bit blasé, or droopy.
"But that's okay because again, that's kind of our goal is to kind of keep them from trying to destroy a kennel or trying to dig their way out of a bedroom, or potentially if they're outside, be able to escape the yard, get themselves tangled up in fences, and issues like that."
When we are at home, we want find a favorite location, a place our pets like to seek out. They prefer an area we like dark room, and white noise. There's a company called Petco Stix that has some soundtracks that they can use that has been proven through some studies that can help ameliorate some of those signs.
Dr. Beebout said to give our pets their favorite toys, games, rawhide for them to chew on.
"During a thunderstorm, our pets feel our stress, so we need to try to reassure them everything is ok and to act calm. We want we don't want that stress to hit them, because if they know mom and dad are stressed, it may intensify their stress."
If your pet needs medication to make it through thunderstorm and firework season, Dr. Beebout said the medicines lasts somewhere between six and 12 hours, but if your pet can hear fireworks all day, medicine can be taken every six to eight hours as necessary for anxiety.
As long as your pet is healthy and the Hilltop Pet Clinic has seen them within a year, and they have that veterinary patient-client relationship, Hilltop is okay scripting some medication for them.
If you have questions for the Pet Docs, Dr. Brandon and Dr. Pao Beebout:
Hilltop Pet Clinic
4507 1st Ave. Place
Kearney, NE
(308) 236-5912