Emergency Prep Pt 1 | Foundations
Wildfire. Tsunami. Earthquake.
Not trying to give you nightmares, friend, but these are among the realities we might experience on this beautiful and wild Earth. Since furbabies need our protection more than ever during a natural disaster, and since proactive planning is the cornerstone of successful disaster response, we need to get our Pet Emergency Prep game on lock.
Nodding but feel a knot forming in your stomach?
Same. Despite being a grown woman, I am still disproportionately overwhelmed by a few adulting basics like calling insurance companies and eating produce before they up and wilt. The mere thought of emergency planning practically mandates a gallon of chamomile tea. However, 2020 is the year we look directly at our fears and mobilize from an empowered, research-based place, right? Ok, well, at least that can be the intention.
Not long ago, I attended a webinar on natural disaster preparedness for pets (Ref 1). It was full of useful information, and being my research-nerd self, I dove headfirst into a rabbit hole of emergency prep resources by vets, animal emergency response specialists, and animal rescue professionals. SO MUCH interesting advice! However, as a cat parent, my focus is on synthesizing this web of advice into an actionable plan that I can implement, ideally with minimal damage to my calmness quotient. Ease and thoroughness, that is the mantra.
In the spirit of digestibility, I’ve organized this guide into several sections: (1) Mindset & Foundations, (2) Emergency Kit, (3) Community & Map, (4) Rituals & Resources. Today, let’s tackle Mindset & Foundations.
Before we start, keep in mind your environmental context, as knowing what kind of threats your geography is prone to will enable you to prep accordingly and holistically. One, knowing the type of natural disaster risks gives you a pulse on lead time. Two, there may be specific precautions that are appropriate based on the risk. To share an example from Dr Roger Welton (Ref 2), if you live in a flood-prone area, vaccinating your pet for certain putrid, standing-water prone bacteria might be part of routine vaccines to discuss with your vet.
Mindset
Google “why does mindset matter?” and you will be inundated with approximately 119,000,000 results in 0.43 seconds. I’m no Tony Robbins or Cathy Heller, but as I understand it, mindset matters in the context of emergency prep because we are more effective pet parents if we are not hiding under the covers or bowed over by the aforementioned knot-in-the-stomach.
So, I invite you to join me in contemplating the idea that wherever you are, it’s a perfect place to start. Even if you have never created a contingency plan, are already behind on your to-do list, or have a reputation for freezing up in unexpected situations. Also, your disaster preparedness plan doesn’t have to be 100% in one swoop.
If the subject of natural disasters, or just the state of the world currently, provokes intense anxiety, please consider connecting with a trusted counsel. We all have our triggers, and we all need community to help us reconnect with our inner strength.
Speaking of leaning on one another - if possible, get creative and make this fun! I am a huge fan of tackling scary goals through resource parties. In these pandemic times, a virtual resource party with your best pet parent friends during which you plan, share resources, eat snacks and get videobombed by your respective furbabies sound pawsitively fabulous, no? :)
All this to say: No matter where you are and how you feel, have confidence that you will do right by yourself and your furbaby in the event of a natural disaster. After all, you were chosen as a pet parent! Furbabies have excellent taste in people. Also, contingency planning might be less of a herculean task than it seems.
Which brings us to …
Foundations, aka Gold Stars Before You Even Start
Good news! You likely already have several natural disaster preparedness tasks done just through your routine cat parenting. If you have the following covered, consider it a lil extra air in them Air Jordans.
Vaccines – Is your furbaby up to date on her vaccines? If so, double win! Not only is this good standard health maintenance & preventative care, but it also behooves emergency preparedness. If you need to seek shelter, be it in an animal-specific facility or at a hotel that is serving as emergency shelter for people and their pets, you will likely be asked for updated vaccine (esp. rabies) records, for the safety of all other animals being boarded.
IDs – After each major natural disaster (e.g. Hurrican Katrina, Butte County Camp Fire), hundreds of pets are lost and never reunited again with their families. The lucky ones are rehomed. Just writing that fact makes my heart break. Staying together is, obviously, the best way to prevent family separation, but natural disasters can take many things out of our control. If our furbabies have multiple forms of ID, the likelihood of reuniting is higher. Collars & tags are useful for immediately visibility, and are especially recommended for pets with allergies or sensitivities like diabetes because nowadays there are specialty tags that make this information immediately known to animal rescue workers. However, (1) many of our indoor furbabies do not usually wear tags and collars and, in urgent situations, we may not have the time to put one on them; (2) even if they are wearing this form of ID, tags and collars can both fall off or get damaged. Thus, microchipping is highly recommended as a more permanent form of identification – BUT ONLY IF YOU KEEP THE CONTACT INFO UP TO DATE! For my fellow data and privacy sensitive people, Dr. Karen Louis (ref 2) shared this fascinating insight into how microchip data works: In short, when someone scans your pet’s microchip, a pin number from the chip provider (there are now several different companies) appears. It does not show your name, address, or contact info. The vet/shelter/animal control officer then contacts the corresponding microchip company, who will provide your phone number. A microchip is not a GPS, and its data does not update automatically. This means, to quote Dr. Louis, “if you don’t update when you move or change phone number, your pet might as well not have a microchip.” YIKES. A third and final form of ID to have on hand is up-to-date, clear photos of your furbaby (mug shot and whole glory) as well as of your cat with you. These are useful for physical and digital flyers. Advanced facial recognition technology is also increasingly leveraged by animal rescue professionals to unite families.
Carrier – If you read the Bringing Home Baby: Essentials Kit lately, then you know I am still searching for the Holy Grail pet carrier. (If you’ve found one that closes faster than an indignant cat’s claws strike, holla at me!) In the case of an emergency, though, quantity has a quality of its own. In other words, you need enough carriers to transport all of your pets safely. Usually, that means one carrier per pet. Not only is it easier getting everyone into the carrier if you don’t have to juggle escapees, but designated/sufficient carrier space can also help the escape and immediate aftermath less stressful for your pets. They may need to stay in the carrier longer than you can initially anticipate, e.g. during long car rides out of the area of danger, waiting to check into a shelter. Pro tip: Label your carrier(s) with your name and contact info!
How did you do? Got three gold stars to your name? If not, it’s ok! Remember our mindset mantra. Get these prerequisites done as soon as possible. I had to label Junipurr’s carrier, get backup collar-and-tags, and double-check our microchip contact info. Now I am sipping a chamomile tea cocktail and handing you the baton.
You got this!
Next time, we will dive into Part II: The Emergency Kit, aka the heart of natural disaster preparedness. Yippee!
REFERENCES
Mims, Carmel. Pet Disaster Preparedness. Pasadena Humane Society, 16 Sep 2020. Webinar. (No public link available; recording may be available upon request from Pasadena Humane Society)
“Natural Disaster Preparedness For Pets!” Veterinary Advice, Animal News & Views. 1 Sep 2017, https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/veterinary-advice-animal-news-views-hosts-dr-roger/id365643318?i=1000391728644
“Deconstruct This: Preparing for Disasters.” VetFolio Voice, 17 Sep 2020, https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/vetfolio-voice/id1058677996?i=1000491564450
Shaw, Hannah. “Prepping for a Disaster: Is Your Cat Ready?” YouTube, uploaded by Kitten Lady, 8 Aug 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5i3idDDcPx8
Mims, Carmel. Pet Porter Pals Emergency Kit Checklists. https://www.petporterpals.com/petdisasterpreparedness. Accessed 16 Sep 2020.
Pasadena Humane. Pet Emergency Prep. 8 Sep 2020. https://pasadenahumane.org/pet-emergency/. Accessed 1 Oct 2020.
