I'm not sure what caused Molly May to be afraid of storms, and I've not yet been able to help her get passed her fears. There was one instance when she was a puppy that might have triggered the fear, but it's merely a guess on my part.

We were all (three cats, Molly and I) in the living room sitting on the couch during one of the worst electrical storms we had in quite some time. Molly was only a few months old. Since I had two dogs prior to Molly that grew to be afraid of storms in their older years as they became deaf and partially blind, I wanted to be sure that Molly felt relaxed during the storm. This was her first experience with a storm. We had many that year when she was a little pup.

All of a sudden a lightning bolt hit close by. I saw the lightning bolt as soon as I heard it, so it was very close and the whole house trembled and rattled. All three cats sprang up and bolted. Molly saw this and bolted too although she'd never experienced a storm before. From one second of relaxation to the next second of totally frenzy by the adult cats, might have caused her to be afraid. Like I said it was a horrible spring and summer filled with electrical storms. Had it been one severe storm, it might not have been anything she would have remembered and feared. But it was an intensely hot and humid spring and summer that year.

Normally what I try to do now is not act any differently than what I would normally do during the day. I used to try to talk her through it by petting her and reassuring her everything would be okay. I tried distracting her with a game of fetch the ball, and even enticing her with one of her yummy treats, etc. but none of those worked.

When we got Happy Jack a year later, he was in fact not a bit afraid of thunderstorms. In fact, he whines and growls during the storm because wants to go outside and chase it! Generally he lies on the back of the couch and watches the storm from start to finish.

Where is Molly during the storm?

During the beginning of the storm or when you hear it in the distance, this is where you'll generally find Molly May. As the storm progresses, she pulls herself entirely under the coach. If it is an especially severe storm and there is no available lap to sit on, she'll curl up in a small ball in the smallest room of our house. Our small bathroom is in the center of the house and is the only room without windows and without exterior walls. Perhaps she senses something we don't?