A pet emergency kit starts with one rule: if it’s not safe for you, it’s not safe for them
A pet emergency kit is the piece of household preparedness most people put off. The American Red Cross puts it plainly: if it isn’t safe for you to stay in your home during an emergency, it isn’t safe for your animals either. That covers a lot of households here, since plenty of them have livestock or poultry alongside the dog and the cat.
What goes in a pet emergency kit for dogs, cats and other animals
Pack sturdy leashes, harnesses, or carriers for safe transport, along with several days of food, water, and bowls, plus any medications your pet takes and copies of their medical records in a waterproof container. Litter and supplies for cats, a favorite toy or bed for comfort, and a couple of recent photos of you together, useful for proving ownership if you’re separated. Keep vaccination records current and make sure every collar has an up-to-date ID tag; if your pet isn’t chipped, ask your veterinarian about it. The American Veterinary Medical Association points out that the chip only works if it’s registered and the phone number on file is current, so check your registration the same day you check your kit. A chip with a disconnected number is the most common reason a found pet doesn’t make it home.
Practice before you need it
A carrier that’s only ever seen the inside of a closet becomes a fight during an actual evacuation. Run a practice drill getting a nervous cat into a carrier or a large dog into the car, on a calm afternoon, not during a flash flood warning.
Livestock and farm animals need a different kind of plan
For horses, goats, chickens, and other farm animals, evacuation often isn’t realistic on short notice, so the plan looks different. North Carolina State University’s Extension recommends permanent identification, ear tags paired with a tattoo, or identifying information braided into a horse’s mane, so animals can be matched back to their owner if fencing fails and they scatter. Move animals to interior pastures before a storm rather than fields along Spring Creek or the French Broad, plan the water first, because it is the heaviest thing you will need: a horse drinks ten to twelve gallons a day, a cow more, a goat one to three, so multiply by the number of animals and the number of days you want to cover. Keep it in plastic containers with feed stored somewhere dry and flood-resistant, and arrange any trailer you would need days ahead rather than on the morning of, and keep a fencing repair kit, posts, wire, clips, and temporary fencing, on hand for afterward. Keep your veterinarian’s contact information and your Farm Service Agency office number with your other emergency documents.
Where pets fit in a shelter plan
Service animals that assist people with disabilities are always welcome in Red Cross shelters. Household pets are a case-by-case call: Red Cross shelters try to accommodate them when they can, though animals sometimes need to be housed separately from people depending on the situation. Identify a pet-friendly hotel or boarding option along your evacuation route ahead of time, rather than searching for one while you’re already on the road.
If you have to leave animals behind
If you evacuate and leave animals in place because there wasn’t time or the roads weren’t safe to move livestock, a rescue sticker on the door or a note at the end of the driveway telling responders what’s inside, and that you’ve already evacuated, can save a search-and-rescue team real time.
The one thing to do this week: put a week of pet food, a spare leash, and copies of vaccination records in a bin by the door, and confirm your microchip registration still has your current phone number. Everything else in this post gets easier once that bin exists. Next in the series: flood risk on the French Broad, and how to read the river gauge before you need it.
Resources mentioned in this post
- Pet Disaster Preparedness & Recovery, American Red Cross: https://www.redcross.org/get-help/how-to-prepare-for-emergencies/pet-disaster-preparedness.html
- Preparing Your Farm for Natural Disasters, NC State Extension: https://beef.ces.ncsu.edu/news/preparing-your-farm-for-natural-disasters/
- Prepare Your Pets for Disasters, Ready.gov: https://www.ready.gov/pets