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Welcome to Flick, Dot, Buzz . com - Emergency Preparedness for Cats

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8 Ways Cats can be prepared for emergencies and natural diasters

Carrier Comfort

Don't just bring out the pet-carrier when we're going to the V-E-T, and make it into something we're scared at the sight of... bring out the carrier occasionally, put treats or toys in it, and let us play with it. That way it's a normal thing we see not something to run away from. If you ever have to evacuate in an emergency, it will be easier to get us into our travel carrier.

Food and Water

Do you have 3 to 5 days worth of food and water for each of your cats? (dogs/birds/goldfish and family members)? If you're snowed in or there's an earthquake, do you have enough consumable supplies for *at least* a few days (or a week)? What about cat-litter?

Carriers

Do you have a pet-carrier for each pet in the household? Do you have a way to carry all the carriers? If you have more pets than people in your household, you might need a plan (wheelbarrow? wagon?) to carry all the creatures.

Evacuation Plan

Make an evacuation plan for various emergencies, and consider how to prepare for power outages, extreme weather, fires, floods, hurricanes, tornados, earthquakes, toxic chemical spills and other similar disasters. You can research local emergency preparedness initiatives in your area. (Links to more info below)

Sign for Pets

Do you have a window-decal or sign to let emergency services workers know how many pets are in your household? Some municipal governments and fire departments offer window decals or print-your-own signs you can post in a front window to let firefighters or other emergency serives personelle know how many (and what kind) of pets you have in the house.

Evacuation bag for the pets

Most Emergency preparedness plans suggest each person in the household should have a 'grab and go' emergency evacuation bag, prepared with the bare necessities, that you can take with you if you have to evacuate on short notice (fires/hurricanes) and your pets should have one too. The cat-carrier, a harness and leash, and a bag of cat supplies (or dog supplies) should be prepared and kept with the people's grab-and-go bags. You cat's bag should have a few days worth of food (and any medication needed) first aid supplies, plastic bags/gloves for cleaning up pet-messes. Bottled water, tho' heavy to carry, could be very useful to have.

ID Package

With the cat carrier, and in your grab-and-go bag, you should have copies of your pet-records - your micro-chip numbers/collar-tag numbers, a description and photo of your cat, your vet's contact information, and care information for any conditions your cat may have. Links to examples of Pet-ID records are below.

Disasters in YOUR area

Investigate your local governments emergency preparedness plan, find out what they suggest for disasters more common in your area, and how best to prepare your pets. A little bit of planning can help keep you and your cat together in an emergency!

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Purrrs to you all.

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