Fireworks!!!

Poor old 18 year old puss is still terrified of fireworks despite being very deaf - he creeps about the edges of rooms and cries continuously until eventually settling between us.

We never go out at night around this time of year, we draw all the curtains, have TVs on programmes that are unlikely to feature loud bangs - Q is quite handy for that! - and have Feliway diffusers up and downstairs.

Unfortunately for him, we live near areas where Diwali is celebrated with fireworks for weeks - often until 2 or 3 in the morning. OH and I love watching fireworks but don't feel we can leave him.

My 3 cats aren't bothered at all nor is one of my dogs, but the other one is terrified. At the first bang he starts panting and shivering and it gets progressively worse with each noise. He jumps up on my knee and won't budge until he's sure it's over. If I get up he practically flings his legs round my neck to hang on. He doesn't stop panting and shaking until a couple of hours after the last bang. It's so distressing and it's getting worse every year. I'm going to have to get him some sedation from the vet tomorrow as I can't stand another night of this for him.

My cat Milly was deaf as a post so she was never aware of the noise and my Tom cat Bertie although he could hear perfectly well was never bothered about fireworks at all both sadly are no longer with us
but I must say I am totally fed up with the constant bangs from around 6.30 till 9 or 10 at night and often some *** thinks its funny to let a few bangers off at 2or 3 in the morning and wake every one up, they obviously dont have to get up for work in the morning and this has been for the past three nights and its not even bonfire night yet
hell I must be getting old and miserable

awwww....poor things. all the dogs i grew up with were terrified of thunder and fireworks but fortunately have never had a cat who was affected.

I can sympathize with that petpixie. The two dogs I have now don't mind fireworks and will actually sit on my lap and enjoy watching them through the window. My old dog Edward, however, was a panting, shivering wreck for days on end around bonfire night. Even the vet's sedatives had little effect and he spent hours trying to wrap himself around my neck and wouldn't even let me visit the, ahem, cloakroom without him.