Mary Allen
Hardly any cat likes loud noises – but the shock usually passes quickly. When the natural reaction turns into a phobia, the animal needs help.
While dogs with noise phobias – especially those with a panic fear of fireworks and thunderstorms – are regularly presented in behavioral practice, corresponding problems in cats are rarely an issue. However, this is not because cats are less sensitive to noise and unfamiliar sounds – on the contrary. The main reaction of cats is to escape and hide. Only when the danger is over does the cat reappear. With this strategy, however, more serious anxiety disorders often remain undetected.
Jumpiness and quick reactions do not necessarily have to be abnormal in cats. It can always be safer for a small animal like a cat to react first and then check whether it was necessary. Then, within seconds, the cat reappears on the scene, deeply relaxed and showing no symptoms of anxiety.
Fear of noise and unfamiliar sounds is in cats’ nature. Thunderstorms in particular, but also avalanches or earthquakes trigger fear – even without a bad experience. This makes perfect sense from an evolutionary point of view – after all, the triggering events are life-threatening.
Gain Lots of Experience
At the same time, pets are forced to live with us in an increasingly noisy world – with road and air traffic noise, loud music, and numerous household appliances such as vacuum cleaners and lawnmowers. This adaptation works best if the house cat gets to know such noises in the first few weeks of life. During this time, a reference system is created in the brain with which the cat can compare what is normal and what is every day. Everything in the environment that falls outside of this framework can later trigger fear in the adult cat.
This means that kittens raised in a relatively quiet area may have less experience of noise than kittens who have experienced a lot in busy, noisy households and are therefore familiar with a much wider range of noises. The more information the brain has already processed, the easier it can deal with further experiences and classify them correctly.
Increasingly Sensitive
But beware: an excessive number of traumatizing experiences have the opposite effect. Being outside in a sudden thunderstorm without a safe place to shelter can leave a cat with a constant fear of thunderstorms and associated noises like thunder, wind, and rain. It should also not be forgotten that noise itself – noises of certain frequencies and especially volume – can be painful and trigger anxiety if it is unavoidable for the velvet paw.
The bandwidth of possible behavioral reactions thus ranges from physiological and quite sensible fear to pathological fear (phobia) and, in the long term, a chronic anxiety disorder. So New Year’s Eve and August 1st fireworks may be uncomfortable for most cats; but after the banging is over, they are awake again and the insecurity gradually gives way to a certain life experience or even serenity. But not for the cat with a phobia: Even after years, they still don’t learn that there is no real danger from the banging. She doesn’t get used to any noise but is becoming more and more sensitive – also to everyday noise.
In dogs, it has been shown that physical illnesses, such as pain, can also lead to anxiety disorders. Around every second dog with a noise phobia also has a physical problem. That this also applies to cats cannot be ruled out. So if a cat suddenly develops symptoms of anxiety, they should also be physically examined, because treating anxiety successfully only works if they are generally well. Last but not least, the chronic stress caused by fear eventually makes the affected animal physically ill.
One of the most important measures for cats in almost all problems is to make the living environment more cat-friendly. Safe, warm, and snuggly retreats for cats to relax in, instead of uncomfortable dusty hiding places in the farthest corners under the bed or behind the closet are among the most important changes. Once the cat has chosen one of these uncomfortable places to escape, it’s difficult to convince it of better alternatives.
It is, therefore, best to teach the young cats that they have a living transport box as a safe retreat. This means so-called transport boxes should always be available to the cat as living space. Simultaneously with the offer of attractive hiding places, the emergency hiding places can gradually be made inaccessible.
Man Gives the All-Clear
If possible, cats with access to the outside should stay inside during predictably loud events such as New Year’s Eve or other celebrations to prevent panic flights. With synthetic pheromones or discreetly used essential oils, you can create a relaxed space as well as with special frequency-modulated music to calm you down. If an anxious cat can still be talked to, then distraction with games treats with or without simple fun exercises can be helpful. If the cat is too scared, it will not be motivated by food or play. From their point of view, it is now about survival and other activities have priority.
In the case of pronounced or prolonged anxiety symptoms, therapy with anxiolytic, psychoactive preparations can also be useful. It doesn’t always have to be medication. There are also dietary supplements that can easily be administered via the food, especially for cats.
Cats can also learn to relate to humans emotionally. Eye or body contact then helps them feel more secure. Young cats can also learn that they also get information from people: If you always comment on loud noises such as mixers, coffee machines, or vacuum cleaners with a word like “watch out” from the start, the cat can associate loud noises with this information. In later life, noises with the label “watch out” are automatically classified as “loud but harmless” in cats.