Are You Ready? Get Prepared To Take Care Of Your Pets

It’s that time of the year again. June 1st will officially mark the beginning of the 2016 Hurricane season. This is as good a time as any to start preparing for the well being of our special friends–our pets, in case of a storm. It is a pet owner’s responsibility to take care of their pets, and to plan for their safety before the storm strikes, during and after it has passed.

If you are a pet owner, this is the perfect time to be proactive and do a couple of things to help you get ready. First, begin by preparing an emergency hurricane kit for your pets. Second, formulate an evacuation plan. It is important to take some time now and think about where your pet will spend the storm—at home with you? At the home of a friend? At your veterinarian’s office? At a kennel? In a pet-friendly hotel or shelter? Planning ahead and having your “pet plan” ready for this years hurricane season will lessen your stress and make it much easier to make decisions when a storm is approaching and in the event that your evacuation is required.

To help make things manageable if an event does occur store your pet hurricane kit with the kit you have prepared for your family. Knowing that these kits are assembled and ready will make your hurricane preparedness and actions that much easier. It is important to note that besides having an emergency kit for your family and pet, planning an evacuation that includes a pet, will involve extra planning. In short, plan, plan, plan.

Below are helpful tips to help you and your pet get ready for hurricane season: (Information courtesy of Crown Weather Services):

• Identification tags with your pets name and your phone number that is attached to a collar they will wear during the entire event.
• Rabies/County/City license tags that are attached to a collar they will wear during the entire event.
• Microchip: If your pet isn’t micro chipped, you may want to consider doing this. One important note is to update any information with the microchip company if they already have one.
• Vet records: Make sure you have a copy of your pet’s vaccination records in your evacuation kit.
• Proof of Ownership: Copies of registrations, adoption paperwork, and microchip information all should be included in your evacuation kit. Recent photographs should also be included. One important note is to include a photograph of yourself with your pet in case you are separated to demonstrate proof that you are owner of your pet.
• Written Instructions for the following: Diet – how much to feed each pet and when along with any special diet requirements; Medications – list each pet and their medications separately. Include dosage and frequency; Emergency Contacts – Your regular vet phone number and address, emergency vet number and address, a friend or relatives name and address.

Remember: If you have to evacuate, take your pets with you and do not leave them behind! Pets that are left behind in a disaster can easily be injured, lost or killed. If it is not safe for you, it is not safe for your pets.

Basic supplies for your pet:

• 2 week supply of water and food. (Don’t forget a can opener for canned foods). Also, tap water could be contaminated after a storm and this could harm your pet as well. So make sure you have clean water (bottled water or from water containers from http://www.mywatersafe.com/ ).
• Collar, leashes, harness, favorite toys/blankets, treats, kitty litter, litter pan, muzzle, water and food dishes, paper towels, trash bags, travel crate/carrier (be sure to label with your name, pet’s name and your contact info)
• Make sure you have a list of pet friendly hotels handy to store with your evacuation plans in case you need to leave your home. If staying at a hotel isn’t an option, then ask people outside your immediate area if they would be able to shelter you and your pets or even just your pets. If you have more than one pet, you may need to arrange to house them at separate locations. Below are some websites to help you with this search:

If your dog is fearful or gets stressed out by severe weather: Check into the “Thunder Shirt”.

If you have horses: If a hurricane or other severe weather is approaching, write their names on their sides (with a livestock marker), along with your name and phone number. Also, don’t leave a halter on them because if it were to get hung up on something, they could hurt themselves, or worse.

If you have reptiles and birds: Have a travel cage or carrier for them and if you have to evacuate to another state, check to see if your reptile/bird is legal in that state. Different laws in different states.

Other Preparation Tips:

• If it is at all possible, store more than two weeks of food for your family and your pet(s). Canned food would be best. The reason why is that canned food has its own waterproof container and dry food can contaminate. In addition, dry food should be stored in a low-humidity environment which probably will not be possible during and after a hurricane due to power outages.
• Place medications, records, rabies certificates, and so on, in a good quality, double seal, zip lock freezer bag. If you have a vacuum sealer, that might even be better.
• If you have to evacuate with your cat(s), make sure you pack plenty of cat food, cat litter and plastic grocery bags for litter disposal in addition to meds and papers. One tip: Aluminum foil turkey roasting pans can make for good emergency litter boxes.
• If you are evacuating inland with your pet(s), make your reservations EARLY. Hotel/motel rooms are sold out quickly once those watches and warnings go up and pet friendly rooms aren’t as plentiful as regular rooms.