Cats fear of storms.

[Grace56]

Late last night, we had a thunder storm in Norwich. I was thrilled as I love them. But.....Dave was not. It's the first time that I've been with him during a storm and I was a bit shocked at his reaction.
He hid behind the sofa, and when he did emerge, he seemed very uneasy. And when we went up to bed he hid under the bed. Very odd.

And now, this morning he seems a bit 'down' and hasn't come down for his breakfast. He's just lying on the bed looking miserable. Poor boy.
So I'm a little worried. Should I leave him and see what he's like today?
Any advice gratefully received.

[alanc]

Reminds me of my old Misty, who disappeared into his igloo whenever thunderstorms were around! It would take him some time to get over the fright (same as fireworks).
Regarding Dave's behavior this morning, have the thunderstorms gone completely? If they are still growling away in the distance, he can probably still hear and feel them even if you can't.

[Grace56]

Hi alanc and thanks for reply. Well, according to the weather forecast, we could have some more thunder today. It certainly feels like it as its quite humid and sunny after rain.
Anyway, Dave has emerged from bedroom, he's eaten and is prowling around outside. So that's good.
Seems like I'll have to buy some Felliway for any future storms.

[Baggypants]

Our Jerry is like this when we have thunder - she absolutely hates it. But then it's not surprising as she lived outside (she was a farm cat) before she moved in with us and one night we had a 'cloud burst' storm - an absolutely awful storm with torrential hail and thunder and lightning! It scared the living daylights out of us indoors so the poor animals outside must have been traumitised. Now when I know there's thunder approaching I try to encourage Jerry to hide in the wardrobe or in her igloo bed where she feels safe but she still panics because she doesn't know where it is.

[MysticalVamp]

My two boys get quite anxious around thunder as well... The last bout of thunder and lightening we had I ended up cuddling both of them under the quilts on the bed.

They aren't too bothered by fireworks, but thunder and lightening gets them. Albeit not as bad as some cats, they don't dart for cover or anything. They do seek out my attention and try and hide behind/next to me, hence under the quilt when I was in bed last time lol.
Ours usually recover quickly, unless the thunderstorm hangs around at a distance. Then they take some time.

[Crewella]

A couple of mine hate storms and are a bit subdued for a day or so after, he'll get over it. Others, not so bothered .... and I've actually caught Merrick watching fireworks out of the window!

[alanc]

Well we had an almighty boom at 3:55pm today - a pair of RAF Typhoons going supersonic from Brize Norton in a high speed dash towards Bath (false alarm, I believe). The bang was apparently heard over much of the south of England, but Brize only being 10 miles away from us it was pretty loud here! Rattled all the windows and doors. Tilly was inside, fortunately, but when I got home an hour later she was still pretty disturbed and needed quite a bit of comforting before she would eat her dinner.