How to help your cat cope with fireworks

In our experience, fireworks induce fear and stress in most cats. Interestingly, our cats were more scared by the fireworks in Amsterdam than on São Miguel - we figure it’s because on São Miguel there’s fireworks basically all year round and in Amsterdam there was pure absolute mayhem once a year.

The good news is that there are many things you can do to help your cat cope with fireworks. Calming diffusers and supplements, changes in the house, and desensitising. As always, speak to your vet or a qualified behaviourist if your cat is showing serious signs of stress like vomiting, aggression or anorexia. Here’s a few practical tips to help de-stress your fur baby.

Keep them indoors

First things first, if you let your cat roam at all, keep them indoors in the period leading up to New Year’s Eve and other big fireworks events. This also means making sure the cat flap is locked and windows are shut properly.

Create positive association

Starting about a month ahead, play the sounds of fireworks (here’s a good example) at an increasing length of time and volume. While that’s on, do something positive with your cat – offer their favourite treats, give cuddles or play their favourite game, and tell them it’s all going to be okay. Don’t push it. If they show signs of fear just stop and then do back to it the next day.

De-stress

Install a pheromone anti-stress plug-in (Beapher or Feliway are our favourites) a couple weeks before. Giving a natural supplement like Zyclene or pet-grade CBD oil a week or so ahead may also help lower anxiety. A trick for the CBD: they don’t like the taste, so put a drop on their fur so they lick it off.

Build a fort

Cats typically hide when they’re scared. Make a “fort” a few days ahead either by their go-to hiding spot or just in the quietest room of the house. Make sure their litter box, water, food and bed is close by and that they feel happy in the space. Then, using a cardboard box that’s a max of about twice the size of the cat, create a fort by wrapping it in a duvet. You can help drown out the sounds as well by putting on music close to the fort. Search for meditation or yoga playlists, or these are our go-to calming music playlists: here and here. On the night itself, close all doors and windows and draw the curtains. You could even put up extra curtains or fabric to further help muffle the sound.

Read your cat

Cats are sensitive to your energy. When you react and get stressed about a loud bang, so will they. So, always remain calm and don’t scold them for acting out of fear. Also, not all cats will want affection or to be distracted by play during fireworks and that’s okay. Read your cats body language and go with what works best for them.