Be Well: Keeping Your Pets Safe During July 4th Celebrations

<div class="block">Alina Hauptman, Best Friends Animal Society, joined Cheddar News to share some best practices for pet care during the July 4th holiday. </div>

Wake Up With Cheddar

Elena and Bert. Thank you so much for joining us today. We want to keep you safe during the Fourth of July fireworks. So, first of all, should pet owners plan on staying home during the Fourth of July or go out and enjoy yourselves? Well, it really depends on the type of pet that you have in their anxiety level. So I adopted Bert from Best Friends Animal Society around three months ago. He does have a lot of anxiety. So I will be spending the Fourth of July home with him and my senior dog because I'm not a fan of fireworks either, but it's a personal decision. So if you don't know how your dog was going to react because you just got them or if you've never been home with them during the Fourth of July, what should you look out for? Are there signs that they may be a little skittish? Absolutely. So some of the signs you can look for are hating hand howling and barking and also hiding under the bed. So, what can you do to help your pets? Is it a way to fireworks proof your home? Well, there's no real way to firework, proof your home. But the things you can do are create a safe space for your dog or cat. So, if they have a crate or a kennel, you know, put their favorite toys, make sure you close the blinds a yawn. Yeah. Make sure you close the blinds, the windows have some TV, or classical music playing, put on a humidifier or noise machine. All of those things are gonna help. And what about medication? Are there? Anxiety, medications, maybe for pets or anything like that? There are, but that's something that every pet parent needs to talk about with their veterinarian and the sooner you talk to them before the holiday the better. Um, there's also thunder shirts or compressions, sleeve type garments that can help with anxiety and then there's different supplements that can help. Yeah, you're so cute. Yes, you are. So, are there any other things that we should know about protecting our pets do on the Fourth of July works on a holiday? Absolutely. So it's a really important time to make sure that your pets are microchipped and that their I DS are up to date. Pets can escape if they, you know, hear the fireworks and get nervous, they can run. You don't want them to end up in the shelter. Shelters are already, are already incredibly overcrowded and it's just really important that you keep your pet with you and safe and, you know, don't bring them to the fireworks. This is not a holiday that they enjoy. That's true. A lot of people will take their pets to the park to see the fireworks and the dog's like, no, I don't wanna be there. I don't wanna be there. It's best to leave them home. Well, I'm glad Burt wants to be here and hang out with us. So, thank you so much, both of you for joining us and hopefully everyone will continue to keep their pets safe.