Finicky felines prefer to live their lives free from interruptions to their daily schedule and disruptions from their favorite pastimes. There are a handful of things cats despise and unfortunately, many of these annoyances happen on Halloween. While you might be looking forward to this spooky day, remember that your cat will have entirely different feelings which you should be sensitive to. Try to help him avoid these stressors by keeping him quietly indoors and away from all the masks, mummies, and grim reapers outside
- Loud noises. Halloween can be a noisy holiday! Whether it is the haunting music coming from your neighbor’s yard, the smashing sound a kid’s toy sword or light saber makes, the volume of “Hocus Pocus” on your TV, or the song “The Monster Mash” that you have playing on repeat; noises are everywhere! And it doesn’t help that your typically peaceful neighborhood is now alive with costumed creepy-crawlers either! Flashing lights, spooky decorations, wailing ghosts and crashing thunder sound-makers, all these things might provide too great of a visual and audio overload for one little kitty to manage. If your cat seems distressed, or is meowing repeatedly, clawing, or racing around, and showing signs of fear, be sure to keep all unnecessary noise to a minimum. Some sounds are unavoidable on Halloween, but whatever you can do to minimize your cat’s discomfort, the better off he will be. NOTE: Try using calming collars, soothing sound-makers, or even ThunderShirts to guard your cat from anxiety!
- Doorbells ringing. Be prepared, your doorbell will be buzzing all night, which could very well drive your cat up the wall if he can hear it! Even hearing a doorbell ringing once or twice might be traumatic enough, if the cat is particularly shy of strangers. If a cat associates the doorbell with the arrival of unfamiliar people (stressful), it would be difficult for them to hear the bell ringing, over and over and always bringing more gruesomely clad people to visit! If your cat is skittish, try keeping him in a room far from the front door.
- Being dressed in costumes. Did we mention that cats don’t like wearing bonnets, hats, ribbons, or any other kinds of costumes in general? You might think he makes the perfect “Flounder” for your Ariel get-up, but your feline will be miserable. Save him the agony and discomfort, and forego a costume.
- Frightening costumes. Not every visitor will be terrorizing to your cat (the 2 year old lady bug is hardly as threatening as a menacing 6-ft man dressed as the killer from the Scream films). But some trick-or-treaters might be horrifying to a cat, especially if the kitty was a rescue, whose past experiences you might not be aware of. Save your cat from Halloween horrors by keeping him safely away in a back room, with his food, water, litter box and bed during the busier hours of the evening.