On Monday, April 8, a solar eclipse will be visible in totality within a band across North America. Even if you’re not in the path of totality, you may still be able to observe one of nature’s most exciting spectacles. When the moon moves across the sun, day will become twilight, the temperature will drop, and nature will react. That includes animals – but will your cats react to the eclipse?
How does the solar eclipse affect animals?
Wildlife, especially birds, will be far more affected by the eclipse than cats (and dogs.) Many wild animals may mistake solar eclipses for twilight. Crickets and frogs may jump start their evening chorus, diurnal animals might quiet down and even nocturnal animals like bats and owls might be lured into activity in the eclipse’s totality. The Washington Post has a fascinating article on how the eclipse affects birds, bees and even plants.
However, you probably won’t need to worry about your cats. Some cats may be confused by the eclipse, especially if you live in the band of totality, but the eclipse will probably affect them far less than fireworks or a thunderstorm. The eclipse is silent, and totality only lasts a few minutes at the most.
Most cats will just be going about their normal business that day, eating, playing and napping like they do every day. “I have no recollection of anyone ever telling me that an eclipse affected their cat,” says Andrea Tasi, VMD, a holistic veterinarian and owner of Just Cats Naturally.
Will your cats need protective glasses?
If you’re going to watch the eclipse, you know by now that you shouldn’t ever look directly into the sun, even during partial eclipse, unless you have protective glasses. While cats’ eyes can theoretically be damaged just like human eyes if they look directly at an eclipse, cats tend to not look directly at the sun – and they won’t be tempted to do so on Monday.
So rather than worrying about your cats, enjoy this rare event, and spend a moment on Monday being grateful that of all the billions of planets in the universe, you get to live on this one. After Monday’s celestial event, the next total eclipse visible in our part of the world won’t be until 2044.
In our area, the sun will be 89% eclipsed. I still have my safe glasses from 2017. Fingers and paws are crossed for a cloud-free day!
We have a partial. It only got like it does before a summer storm.
six cats, one dog. no reaction.
We only had a partial eclipse. I kept my dogs inside. It was very sunny. No darkness at all. Only had a slim half moon, but I could tell it was moving. They closed the school here and told people no stopping on the roads, they had a big party at the Planetarium in Chapel Hill. I heard on the news this am, they were fmdoing a study on ansilmals abd other animals that is going to be completed at the NCS VET School.
We are in the path of totality. I’ve thought about it, and have planned to be home and treat it like I do the 4th of July holiday. Me, my cats and dog will be keeping our daily rituals and routines. I’ll be quiet and calm. If they sense the changes in environment bc of the eclipse, it will be their natural inclinations and responses to it; not me doing something to tip them off. It should be very interesting. I think they won’t even notice. However, the wild birds that visit my feeders might!
Enjoy! I’m going to be curious to hear whether your cats and dog reacted in any way.
I’m in the 100% path (Buffalo NY) for the first time in my lifetime and am SO excited. I’m blowing off work that afternoon and enjoying this universal event 🙂
Enjoy!
Thank you for this information Ingrid. While this eclipse will not be visible in India, it’s good to know that an eclipse won’t affect cats. (My Amber does get very scared with thunder and fireworks – she hides under beds)
We just had a 4.8 earthquake in the Northeast. Now an eclipse on Monday, kinda spooky. Love the specs on Allegra.
It is a bit spooky, isn’t it? How did Tasha do with the earthquake? Some friends in the area have reported that their cats were really freaked out by it.
We had a partial eclipse last fall, but this time we get the total. They weren’t effected at all last time. I’ll let you know if/how my cats are effected on Monday.
I hope you get a cloud-free day. I would love to see a total eclipse some day, but traveling for something that like seems so iffy given that it’s so dependent on weather. I can’t wait to hear how your cats do.