Which is the noisiest species of all? Nope, not the lions, or the elephants, or the geese… it’s us, humans. Our voices were not enough, we started making music and creating musical instruments to help us being louder.

This Holiday season will not only be noisy, this year we’re starting earlier because this year we have Election Day! Where I’m from, we go to the streets and make loud noises with our car horns after the results are official and we know our party won, maybe you’re so excited because you know your candidate is going to win, that you are already prepared with everything to celebrate your triumph the noisiest way, but have you thought about how that noise affects your pet?

Pets don’t understand what is happening, even if you dress them with a patriotic costume. They don’t know this are “happy” noises, they just perceive them as a sign of danger. They get nervous, afraid, and if they feel they’re exposed they will try as hard as they can to look for a hideout, sometimes this means they run away.

What can you do to minimize the effect of loud noises on your pet?
1. Ask your veterinarian if it’s recommended to give your pet a mild sedative, be sure to ask for the correct dose depending on the pet’s weight. There are natural remedies to cope with stress for pets you should consider those too.
2. Keep your pet in a room in which he/she feels safe. Put there his/her bed, fresh water, food and make sure the room has proper ventilation, but that the pet is not capable to escape.
3. If you have to leave your pet outside, check all fences for loose parts or openings and fix them in order to prevent your pet from escaping through them.
4. Keep your vet’s phone number at hand in case of an emergency.
5. Make sure your pet wears his/her collar with ID tag at all times, and that the contact information in the tag is updated.
6. Keep a recent and clear photo of your pet available, in the event of your pet getting lost, you can make flyers and post them everywhere. Remember that a frightened pet can run long distances so he/she may end up far from home and don’t know his/her way back. Send the photo to your local paper too, they must have a missing pets section and it can reach more people than the flyers.

Remember this is only the beginning, later comes, Christmas, New Year, 4th of July… Keep these precautions at hand and your pet will do fine.