Pet Safety on the Fourth of July

So - if I am being perfectly honest - I dread the week of Fourth of July.  We have people in our sub-division who think its grand to shoot of LOTS of fireworks for multiple days in a row - its quite distressing for the animals and as such for the zookeeper as well.

Here are some of the precautions we take during the holiday week.

1.  Upstairs and downstairs fire extinguishers - we keep them at the ready because I would not be surprised if the crazy fireworks people caught our house or others on fire.  People just are not careful.

2.  ThunderShirt - Emma pretty much lives in her shirt for the entire week.

3.  Upstairs and downstairs hiding spots - Emma will be under the bed if we are upstairs but if we are downstairs she wants to be with us so we set up a "fort" in the laundry room using a clothes line and a comforter.  She appreciates a place to hide.

4.  Monitor her food and water intake - make sure she is eating and drinking - sometimes she won't want to if she is upset.

5.  More frequent potty trips - all the stress often causes tummy upset - so I take her out more frequently to prevent accidents in the house.

6.  Sticking close to home - we try not to make a ton of plans and we most definitely don't take her to places where there will be fireworks.

7.  Be careful not to feed Emma people food - again - stress = upset tummy.

9.  For the kitties and the ferrets - I make sure we are accessible for them when fireworks are happening - sometimes they want to be comforted by Mom or Dad - Finn like to hide under the covers and lay in my lap when loud noises are happening.

10. Identification - make sure your furries have collar tags, microchips, or even better - both so you can find them should they manage to get out.

Hoping you and your critters have a happy and safe 4th!