Singer/Songwriter Terri Clark, and dog Rudy pose backstage at the 17th Annual Country Thunder USA music festival on July 18, 2009 in Twin Lakes, Wisconsin. (Photo : Getty Images/Rick Diamond)
While humans may enjoy the July 4th celebrations, this day may not bring a lot of happiness to the pets. The sound of the fireworks scares them a lot and the owners often are baffled on July 4. In a desperate measure to help the dogs, this year the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a medication which will bring down the anxiety levels in dogs created by the noise pollution.
40 percent of dogs suffers from a fear of loud noises. Also, they may run away from home in order to safeguard themselves and may get stuck in noisy traffic signals and other hiding spots and finding them again becomes a difficult task for the owners. According to New York Times, historic data proves that July 5 is the busiest day for different animal shelter organisations as they have to find missing dogs.
Veterinarians all across the globe agree that all the days which are known for firecracker bursting are bad for dogs and other pets. In the Asian countries, the days when there are cricket matches between countries like India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan etc. the victorious team celebrates with fire crackers and the pets do get frightened and hide under beds, try to escape through narrow windows etc. and get hurt.
"It's very serious," said Dr. Melissa Bain, an associate professor of clinical animal behavior at the University of California, Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine. "It's a true panic disorder with a complete flight response'' she added further.
Prozac and Valium were used as calming drugs in the past which were administered on the pets on such days, reported Bustle. There were other home remedies, homeopathy and music therapy were used to calm the dogs down. However, this year FDA has approved a drug Sileo which is believed to help the dogs during festivities.
This drug will inhibit norepinephrine which is a brain chemical that induces the fear-factor and anxiety in pets. On the other hand, some vets prescribe strong sedatives, but the side-effects cannot be negated. This year's numbers will decide how successful this drug was and based on this success, may be this drug will be shipped to other nations of the world too. Watch this video which is an ideal music therapy for dogs when they are scared.
