16/10/2025
🌩️ Helping your pet through storm season 🌩️
Thunderstorms and fireworks can be terrifying for our pets — but there are safe and effective ways to help. 💚
⚠️ Why we don’t recommend ACP on its own:
Acepromazine (ACP) is an old-style sedative that makes pets look calm or sleepy, but it doesn’t actually calm their mind. Your pet might still be terrified — they just can’t move, shake, or hide the way they normally would.
This can be very distressing for them, because they feel the same fear but can’t do anything about it.
In some cases, ACP can even make pets more sensitive to sound and less able to cope with sudden noises.
We occasionally include a small dose of ACP as part of a combination plan for pets that may injure themselves during panic — but never on its own.
🐾 What we do instead:
At Chase Valley Vet, we design a customized storm protocol for each pet, which may include:
💊 Over-the-counter calming supplements and natural products
🩺 Prescription anti-anxiety or calming medications if needed
🐕 A safety plan for your pet’s environment (safe space, white noise, desensitisation advice)
📅 For Schedule 5 or 6 medications, your pet needs to have been seen by one of our vets within the last 6 months.
If it’s been longer, we offer a quick R250 “storm consult” so we can safely update their plan and find what works best.
💚 Let’s help your pets feel safe and comforted this storm season — not just sleepy.
