A week after Jess’s post on preparing for storms, a major thunderstorm came through my neighborhood. One neighbor who was at home said it reminded him of hurricanes he lived through in Florida. If the wind had blown in a slightly different direction, massive tree limbs would have hit my apartment, causing a lot of damage. More importantly, my cat who sits religiously in the window under that tree (she’s even sitting there in my Gov Gab profile picture), could have been injured.

After that near miss, I wanted to know more about what I could do to protect our two cats during emergencies. What I found was that all you really have to do is to have a good plan. According to the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), the first step is to think about what disasters could happen in your area and how that might affect you. From there, develop an emergency plan with your veterinarian and make a pet evacuation kit. If the emergency is going to require you to leave home for a while, find places to board or stay with your animal.

The AVMA says you can do some things to notify neighbors and emergency preparedness responders about your pet’s presence if there is a storm, fire or some other emergency while you’re not at home. You can place stickers on your front and back doors to notify first responders where your pet generally dwells. I currently have a sticker on my window letting first responders know I have cats, but I think I may now put one on the front door as well. In the worst case scenario, the Centers for Disease Control lists organizations that rescue animals during emergencies.

Have you created an emergency plan for your pet?

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