Disaster management for your pet

Disaster can strike at any time, especially when you live in a state, country or city that often experience natural disasters such as flooding, earthquakes or hurricanes. Your pets count on you to protect them from harm and you should do your best to stick to your part of the arrangement.

How well prepared are you for leaving your pets for an extended period? Will they have enough food and will they receive medication on time, every day?

Compile a disaster supply kit

This kit should be easily accessible to you when you need it with only a few minutes to spare. The emergency kit should contain items that can feed, medicate and entertain, and sanitise your pet. Put these items in a sturdy container but make sure that the kit is mobile so that you can easily move it when you have to.

Medicate: medication, a first aid kit, and the pet’s immunisation records

Entertain: find toys that can entertain them when they’re

Feed: enough food and water to last for at least a couple of days. It is best to use dry food.

Sanitise: cat litter, a poop scoop or anything else that your pet would need.

Identification and documents: Current photos, feeding schedules, medical documentation, and contact details of your veterinarian.

Find a place of safety for your pets

Don’t leave this until it’s too late. Organise this before something big happens, and everyone else is also scrambling around to find a place that’ll take care of their pets.

• A list of places such as hotels and motels that are ‘pet friendly’ can help a lot during an emergency.
• Speak to friends, neighbours and family members and ask whether they would be prepared to look after your pets. Ensure that they wear pet tags so that they can easily be identified by those people in charge. Be prepared that your pets may be split up if you have more than one.
• Speak to animal shelters and find out about boarding facilities and veterinarians who could give your pet or pets shelter. Make sure you have a list with their contact details where you can easily find it. Save it on your phone as well as on the computers at home and at work.

Author bio:

This article about pet tags was written by Pet Tags to highlight the importance of planning for emergencies.