It is well known how much pets suffer from anxiety during the firework season, however their owners often get overlooked. With this in mind, a survey by Ceva Animal Health, manufacturer of ADAPTIL and FELIWAY, has revealed that nearly 65% of owners are anxious about their pet while fireworks are going off, with over 65% of owners believing that their pet picks up on this anxiety.

Moreover, nearly 80% of those questioned stated that they try and calm their pet if it is anxious while fireworks are going off and over 50 per cent of owners are so concerned about their pet that they do not leave it alone in the house.  As a result, over 50% of owners state that they enjoy fireworks less due to their pet’s fear.

Andrew Fullerton MRCVS, behaviour technical manager at Ceva Animal Health, comments: “The firework season is a stressful time for both the nation’s pets and their owners, however owners should act normally around their pets and try to keep as calm as possible to help them feel more settled.  Overly fussing a pet that appears frightened will reinforce this behaviour.  Instead owners should try and distract pets with a toy or game.

“Building a den for a dog and a hideaway for a cat a few weeks in advance will give pets a safe place to retreat to when fireworks start.  Plugging in an ADAPTIL or FELIWAY CLASSIC Diffuser close to the den will help them feel secure and create a calm environment for them to retreat to.   Ceva also has a list of top 10 tips to give to owners (along with the diffuser) around firework time.  Confining two cats to a household while fireworks are going off may cause inter-cat aggression.  FELIWAY FRIENDS can help reduce conflicts and aggression between cats.”

Ceva is offering retailers a comprehensive marketing pack to help educate and support customers with noise sensitive pets in the run up to the firework season.  The pack features a 60-minute video, a range of marketing material including leaflets, leaflet holders, posters, wall displays and a PR toolkit to support PR campaigns, copy for websites and newsletters and suggested social media posts for Twitter and Facebook.