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Entitled ‘Long-term help for pet firework fears’, the 24-page booklet is written by clinical pet behaviourist, Charlotte Carr MSc BSc (Hons), technical behaviour manager at Ceva Animal Health and it covers extensive advice to help desensitise dogs and cats to loud noises.
Featuring useful information on all aspects of desensitisation, the booklet covers: the impact of loud noises on pets and the signs to look out for; the importance of planning ahead with a desensitisation plan and hints and tips on finding the right recordings for desensitisation, preparing a room for therapy and appropriate rewards and reactions. It also includes a step-by-step plan on how to implement desensitisation by associating noises with a pleasant experience and teaching the pet that noises are not scary by associating them with something that a dog or cat enjoys, such as high value treats or a game. The booklet encourages the use of an ADAPTIL® Calm Diffuser or FELIWAY® Optimum Diffuser to support therapy and positive association and provide comfort and support during desensitisation whilst pets hear the loud noises.
More than 90% of dogs that have used the ‘Sounds Scary’ programme, which is available for free online from the Dogs Trust website and is recommended in the booklet, showed a significant improvement after eight weeks and the combination of desensitisation with firework sounds and ADAPTIL has the biggest effect in reducing the stressful response to noises by dogs, bigger than desensitisation to sounds alone. With more extreme worries and fears a desensitisation programme may take longer than eight weeks.
“Just like people, pets have fears and anxieties and the most effective way to support a pet while loud noises are going off it to carry out a desensitisation training programme, which should be done well in advance of noisy events such as fireworks,” comments Charlotte Carr, technical behaviour manager at Ceva Animal Health. “Our ‘Long-term help for pet firework fears’ booklet offers extensive advice on desensitisation and provides pet owners with practical information on how to desensitise their dogs or cats to loud noises.”
To order copies of the ‘Long-term help for pet firework fears’ booklet vet professionals can contact their local Ceva Animal Health territory manager or email cevauk@ceva.com. For information on ADAPTIL or FELIWAY visit www.adaptil.com/uk or www.feliway.com/uk.