Astraphobia - Dogs and Cats

Dogs and Cats

Dogs frequently exhibit severe anxiety during thunderstorms; between 15 and 30 percent may be affected. Research confirms high levels of cortisol - a hormone associated with stress - in affected dogs during and after thunderstorms. Remedies include behavioral therapies such as counter-conditioning and desensitization, anti-anxiety medications, and Dog Appeasing Pheromone, a synthetic analogue of a hormone secreted by nursing canine mothers.

Studies have also shown that cats can be afraid of thunderstorms. While it is very rare, there are some unusual exceptions in which cats will hide under a table or behind a couch during a thunderstorm.

Read more about this topic:  Astraphobia

Famous quotes containing the words dogs and, dogs and/or cats:

    “A long war like this makes you realise the society you really prefer, the home, goats chickens and dogs and casual acquaintances. I find myself not caring at all for gardens flowers or vegetables cats cows and rabbits, one gets tired of trees vines and hills, but houses, goats chickens dogs and casual acquaintances never pall.”
    —Gertrude Stein (1874–1946)

    “We recognize caste in dogs because we rank ourselves by the familiar dog system, a ladderlike social arrangement wherein one individual outranks all others, the next outranks all but the first, and so on down the hierarchy. But the cat system is more like a wheel, with a high-ranking cat at the hub and the others arranged around the rim, all reluctantly acknowledging the superiority of the despot but not necessarily measuring themselves against one another.”
    —Elizabeth Marshall Thomas. “Strong and Sensitive Cats,” Atlantic Monthly (July 1994)

    “A long war like this makes you realise the society you really prefer, the home, goats chickens and dogs and casual acquaintances. I find myself not caring at all for gardens flowers or vegetables cats cows and rabbits, one gets tired of trees vines and hills, but houses, goats chickens dogs and casual acquaintances never pall.”
    —Gertrude Stein (1874–1946)