Last night, exhausted, I went to bed with a stonking migraine. I found out why the next morning – we had a thunderstorm. My head appears to have turned me into a barometer.
Poor BeAnne was terrified and jumped onto my bed and was straight under my duvet.
BeAnne hates thunderstorms. A few years ago, she ran away from a massive lightening strike outside the backdoor and ran into the hills for the whole night. Despite searching and searching, we only found her a few miles away the next morning, totally drenched and terrified. BeAnne (and I) have never forgotten the worst night of our lives.
My poor little girl spent the morning in my bed shaking and panting.
Out came all my aromatherapy things. I sprayed the duvet with a calming lavender mist and put the diffuser on as well, using a calming oil mixture.
I also put some music on to drown the sound of the thunder. Together we snuggled under the bedclothes listening to Al Stewart’s Year of the Cat.
Eventually BeAnne settled down and went to sleep.
The storm came and went a couple of times and I also used the time to sleep and rest too. My migraine had left me exhausted this morning.
I don’t think we have seen the end of these thunderstorms but we have a drill in the house – all doors and windows are shut, all plugs are pulled out including the telephone and BeAnne only goes outside on a lead.
As I write this, BeAnne is feeling a bit perkier now – she managed to steal Monster’s tea so life is back to normal.
As a “weather” migraine sufferer too, I feel for you (and of course, for BeAnne who must have been terrified). Both of you, take it easy today (yeah, I know you’ve got stuff to do).
“Weather” headaches are the worst! Have you tried a Thundershirt on BeAnne? The Maine Coons are fans of thunderstorms either. Take it slow and easy today, the both of you.
We have thunder rumbling around but it’s not developing into anything. We need rain! I hope your migraine has gone now and that it stays away. My dog’s another one that hates thunder so I’m sure she’d send hugs to BeAnne if she could!
http://www.thundershirt.com/
Agree with the Thunder shirt idea and you can just make it yourself cheaper than buying one. Just get a toddler size T shirt that fits snug on BeAnne. My kids swear by this for their dogs.
I used to have a Yorkie who got similarly stressed. Pet shops and Vets can supply a diffuser that releases doggie pheramones that calm them down. They do one for cats as well.
Poor BeAnn – it’s so hard to see them get so frightened (especially because I happen to love thunder and lightening). We’re on dog #4, and each has had a different reaction. One needed doggie sedatives, the other three just quietly retreated to a dark, quiet corner of the house.