In last weeks article we briefly looked at the legislation pertaining to fireworksmanufacture, importation, sale and usagefor Trinidad and Tobago. This week we focus on the effects to animals, management and treatment.Over the past year, I have been compiling data on the reactions of domestic dogs and cats to loud noises such as thunder and fireworks. The results of my survey indicate that of the 110 animals studied, 55 per cent showed moderate fear to severe phobic behaviour. Nights fraught with fireworks (such as Divali, Independence and New Years Eve) have the highest incidence of animals which run away from home in terror, injure themselves while trying to escape the distress they feel, or suffer silently while their owners drug them up.
Remember that dogs and cats experience the world through their senses: nose first, then ears, eyes, tongue and paws. Their senses of smell and sound detection are far more attuned and sensitive than ours, which is why they can detect certain stimuli quicker than we can. If you have an animal who is scared of thunder, ever noticed how its behaviour changes with the weather? Bright blue skies and shining sun yet he becomes subdued, whimpers and starts looking for a place to hide long before we notice the dark cloud hovering on the horizon.
A pyrotechnic display is very different to a thunderstorm for an animal. A dog or cat can usually predict the approach of a storm through changes in scent, electrical charges and movement of the wind. The hand of God, also known as Mother Nature provides these omens before her fury is unleashed, giving the animals time to find shelter. Man simply lights up on nights that suit his fancy with no prior warning, leaving the animals unprepared for sudden booms, flashing lights and burnt aromas. In addition, fireworks are usually closer to the earth in proximity, accompanied by artificial squeals as they rise into the air, and are more vibrantly coloured and repetitive than a peal of thunder or intermittent strike of lightning.
The policy statement of the British Small Animal Veterinary Association on the management and treatment of firework phobias in dogs declares that, it is the duty of veterinary surgeons to recommend and support evidence-based therapies for this noise fear or phobia in order that they may improve the welfare of animals under their care and it is one of my New Year wishes that the Trinidad & Tobago Veterinary Association will follow this example. Most veterinarians in T&T simply prescribe anxiolytic or amnesic drugs which may manage the phobia temporarily, but do not treat the phobia.
The aim of using short-term medication is to reduce the emotional impact of a fearful/phobic event without producing sedation, ataxia or hyper-excitability that might make the animal more difficult to manage. The emotional impact of a fearful/phobic event may be reduced either by reducing the dogs emotional response to that event, or by altering its memory of it. Given that all short term medications used for phobia management are liable to produce adverse effects, some of which might be highly undesirable or even dangerous during a phobic event, it is essential that any drug used must be tested with an individual patient and the dose titrated to effect.
It is inadvisable to leave animals unsupervised when they have been given short-term tranquillisers or anxiolytic drugs, especially during phobic events, and animals must not be left alone together if one of them has been given such a drug.Behavioural therapy using desensitisation and counter-conditioning in conjunction with pheromones and calm, relaxed owner presence are safer and more effective methods of treating fears and phobias in animals in the long-term.
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