Disaster Planning for your Pets

Tornadoes…floods…fires…. Unfortunately, disasters happen. Unexpectedly. Make sure your pet is well taken care of by including them in your disaster planning. And June is National Pet Preparedness month…a great time to make sure you have a plan in place to keep your pet safe!

Copies of Important Information

Make sure all the important information you need for your pet is kept together somewhere handy and easily accessible. This includes their basic info (breed, age, etc), as well as your contact information, emergency contact information, contact information for veterinarians/emergency rooms/boarding facilities, copies of their vaccine records, information on any medications (drug name, dose, frequency), microchip information, insurance details, etc. It’s a good idea to include recent photos of your pet as well for identification purposes.

You may want to keep several copies of this information. Hard copies in a binder as well as digital copies on a flash drive are both really good ideas. Just make sure to keep them in different locations in case a disaster hits when you’re away from home or you can’t get to a particular location in your house.

Up to Date Identification

Just like having multiple copies of your pet’s important information is a good idea, it’s also recommended to have multiple forms of up to date identification. These can include a microchip, ID tags on their collar, and even just writing contact information on their kennel if you’re using one. Make sure that you keep the contact information updated for all your pet’s forms of ID.

Appropriately Fitted Leash or Carrier

Because disasters can be scary, dangerous situations, it’s important to have some way to maintain control over your pet to keep them safe. Make sure you have an appropriately fitted collar or harness…or an appropriately sized carrier for each of your pets. You may want to consider something like a slip lead or martingale collar which reduce the risk of your pet backing out if it and escaping in a stressful situation.

If you plan on using a kennel, practice putting your pet in the carrier on a regular basis. You can actually train your cat to enjoy spending time in their kennel. Check out this YouTube video from Mikkel Becker that shares great tips on how to make kenneling stress free for kitties. In an absolute emergency, you can use a pillowcase to transport a cat or a small dog for a short period of time if a carrier is not available.

You may also want to consider purchasing a muzzle and acclimating your dog to wearing it. Not only can it help provide protection for everyone involved if your dog is nervous or scared in a disaster situation, sometime places or situations require a dog to be muzzled to gain access (public transportation, etc). Good information on training your dog to wear a muzzle can be found in this article by Mikkel Becker.

Supplies

When you’re preparing your own emergency supplies, don’t forget about your pet! Make sure to include enough food and water to last your pet for several days…and rotate these out on a regular basis to ensure that they’re fresh and ready to go.

You probably know how much food your pet eats on a regular basis, but how much water do they need? A dog will drink about 1 oz of water for every pound per day. So a 10 lb dog will drink 10 oz of water a day and a 50 lb dog will drink 50 oz. This need goes up if they are young or nursing…or if the weather is particularly hot. An average cat will need approximately 5-10 oz of water per day.

It’s also a good idea to have a well-stocked first aid kit on hand. Check out this blog post for ideas of what you should include in a pet first aid kit.

If your pet is on medications, you should include a couple days’ worth in your supplies as well. Just like the food, make sure to rotate these out on a regular basis to ensure they’re always fresh and ready to go. Also, make sure medications are carefully labeled with the name of the medication, the strength, and how often your pet takes it. An easy way to do this is to take a photo of the label on the bottle.

You’ll need to consider cleaning up after your pet as well. For dogs, make sure you include poop bags in your disaster supplies. For cats, include a litter box, at least a couple days’ worth of litter, and a scooper.

Disasters are stressful for people and for pets. A comfort item can go a long way to making everyone feel safer and more comfortable. Consider adding a toy, some favorite treats, or even a comfy bed to your disaster kit to help your pet cope with the stress.