Scared of thunder

William is scared of thunder. Badly. We had a thunder storm the other day and he hid under the bed and shook the whole time and for a couple hours afterwards. When he finally came out, there was a small damp spot and a bunch of fur where he had been. My poor boy. Is there anything I can do to help with the stress of this for him?

My dog, Tucker, is scared to death of thunder and hail. He runs and hides in his crate, which is very comforting to him, with his favorite toy and some warm towels to help him calm down, or under the bed. This is a normal fear in felines and canines. I would suggest rubbing a few drops of Bach Rescue Remedy inside William's ears to help calm him down. Give him a safe place to hide, and warm up some towels to wrap around him. Maybe give him his favorite toy, talk to him with soothing words. If he's under there for hours, turn your radio on so he doesn't feel so alone. Good luck with the poor fella!

Originally Posted by JusticeLynn

William is scared of thunder. Badly. We had a thunder storm the other day and he hid under the bed and shook the whole time and for a couple hours afterwards. When he finally came out, there was a small damp spot and a bunch of fur where he had been. My poor boy. Is there anything I can do to help with the stress of this for him?

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Alley heads under the bed when bad weather arrives. I usually coax her out and hold her and pet her until the bad weather passes. Persi is not affected by bad weather so in my case it seems to depend on the cat. When the bad weather comes, try to console your poor boy until the storm passes (if you can get him to come out from under the bed, which I sometimes have a problem doing with Alley.)

Maybe set up a safe place for him in a closet. Our cats have a spot in the basement that they all congregate to. I find that it helps them to have other noise on in the background, either the tv or the radio. Make a nice little nest for him where he can retreat to in all times of stress. Make it warm and cozy with preferably a wall or support around him (ours have a spot in the closet and so have 3 sides surrounded and feel safe). I tend to leave mine alone as they really don't want company during storms, but you have to judge to see if your cat is the kind that wants company or to be alone. I suggest try it alone as you don't want them to depend on you to be there of every storm - that just isn't humanly possible. Good luck.

Poor baby! My Loki is also scared of thunder, but not to the extent of poor William! Loki hides under my bed, too, but recently I've made a nice spot in the closet available. We haven't had any thunderstorms lately, so I don't know where he'll head next time. Under the bed, he'll hide at the very end of the bed, but the blankets usually make a nice curtain. Unless the thunderstorm is really bad Possum just sits there totally unfased.

My dog-niece Jinx is completely afraid of storms and consistently hides in the bathroom of whatever house she's in (she's lived in three). She likes to lay down on a bathmat. At my Mom's house she also liked to hide in a deep closet on the floor where he mommy slept (the bathroom was on a lower floor), which provided us with endless "coming out of the closet" jokes. Once she even hid in the basement, which is odd since she usually avoids basements at all costs. This was, however, soon after my sister had to force her down there because of a tornado threat. She quickly went back to refusing to even step foot on the basement stairs.

Tricia