Mary Allen
Does your cat like to watch the New Year’s fireworks from the windowsill? Congratulations – then nothing stands in the way of a happy new year for both of you. Or is your cat one of those who won’t be seen after New Year’s Eve? Or does she make it until midnight, only to then quickly disappear under the bed or on top of the closet? In that case, it’s clear that New Year’s Eve means a lot of stress for your cat – and probably for you too.
Good News for Scared Cats
Fortunately, contrary to popular belief, fear of New Year’s Eve can be reduced – even in our supposedly “untrainable” cats. However, you shouldn’t count on your cat getting used to New Year’s Eve over the years. The time intervals between the changes of the year are simply too long and the banging with sounds, light effects, and smells is too intense. But there are a number of simple exercises that you can use to take away your cat’s greatest fear of firecrackers and the like with a little playful diligence. Plus, there are some helpful precautions you can take yourself on New Year’s Eve.
The Super Place
A few weeks before New Year’s Eve, start setting up a super spot for your cat to retreat to on New Year’s Eve. Something cave-like is usually well suited, e.g. a cardboard box. Every day, do a little superspace game with your cat, where you either give it small treats on/in this superspace or crawl it there into deep relaxation. If you notice that your cat has understood the game and likes to go to this place, from now on put it in different places, in different rooms, for “training”. Then you can offer it to your cat for New Year’s Eve wherever it is.
Was There Something? – Habituation to Noises
The worst thing about New Year’s Eve for many cats is all of a sudden and very loud pops and hisses. But that can be changed. Namely, by presenting this type of noise in everyday life frequently and initially very quietly (!). You can get a corresponding “noise fear CD”, which is mainly offered for dog training. Then you play the New Year’s Eve sounds several times in a row at the quietest level your CD player can handle. Start slowly with only about half a minute at a time and a maximum of 2-3 repetitions throughout the day. Then increase it to up to 30 minutes at the same low volume. Does your cat not react at all? Perfect! This training is going well if your cat never reacts strongly!
In the next step, reduce the duration to half a minute again and play the sounds a bit louder. Only when your cat has reacted completely relaxed to it several times does the length of the foreplay increase. If that is also relaxed, the next volume level comes.
A Bang – “Woo-Hoo”!
Is there anything you can do to make your cat happy anytime? Then you even have the chance that your cat will eventually get in a good mood when it hears a bang. You can achieve this if you include this highlight of your cat in the noise training just described. Here are some examples: After every bang, there is a piece of food. Or: Immediately after starting the sound CD, you pull out your absolute favorite toy rod or offer your cat the beloved brushing. The sounds of New Year’s Eve become an announcement that something great is about to happen. And joyful expectation can replace fear.
Important: timely preparation
If you want your cat to get a super place or you want to train her on the New Year’s Eve noises, it’s best to start early. A good time is September or October because then you can start completely pressure-free, slowly and playfully – and you are not yet in the Christmas stress yourself. The better you practice these things together, the more effective they will be on New Year’s Eve.
Spot-on or vaporizers can help your cat relax in a stressful situation. The products contain pheromones, which can also help the cat and reduce anxiety.
New Year’s Planning
Please do not leave your cat alone on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Eve so that you can stand by her if she becomes unsure. If your cat doesn’t love visitors more than anything, it would be happier for her if you didn’t have a party at home either. Table fireworks and sparklers are also not appropriate at this point in time. But don’t worry: if you help your cat for a year or two to overcome its fear of New Year’s Eve, you can later pay more attention to your own New Year’s Eve fun.
In addition to the delicacies for your own New Year’s Eve dinner, please also get the tastiest things your cat can imagine. If possible, portion them into tiny pieces well in advance of the banging and bring them to room temperature.
The New Year’s Eve
The less your cat sees the fireworks, the easier it will be for her to get through the night. Please keep all windows completely closed and draw the curtains. If you have external blinds, please lower them. Even if your cat actually likes to go outside or on the balcony, going outside and going to the balcony/terrace is taboo from midday on New Year’s Eve until the following afternoon (in some areas you should lock your cat up earlier). The risk that she would panic outside and run away in fright would be too great.
The Firework
Now it’s getting serious. Remain unobtrusively close to your cat throughout the evening. Let them choose which room they feel comfortable in. Let small nice things follow after the first firecrackers: a treat, a game offer – just like in the training before.
Just before midnight, offer your cat her super place, which is now really positively connected, and slowly but steadily serve her the prepared super treats there during the fireworks. This is not the evening to worry about dieting. The tiny morsels help stretch the total serving at least through the worst first 30-60 minutes of the bang. Feel free to tell your cat short stories in a normal voice, as you would read to a child who is too excited to fall asleep. Don’t let the fear infect you, but signal to your cat that you don’t see anything to worry about.
Outlook
With these simple measures, you can make your cat much braver and more relaxed within a few New Year’s Eve. The more afraid your cat is at the moment, the more diligent you will have to be. But don’t worry – the whole package is not as time-consuming as it may sound at first. Feel free to find out more about the type of training and don’t be afraid to get professional help if necessary to tailor the New Year’s Eve training perfectly to your cat.