Pet Ready Emergency Kit

Pet-Ready Emergency Kit – What You Should Have…

Pet Ready Emergency Kit

In an emergency, your pet will depend on you for their safety and well-being. So it’s crucial to prepare them like you would any two-legged family members.

Surveys reveal that approximately 50 percent of people have not stocked extra emergency supplies for their pets.

Start by creating a pet Ready kit that includes basic items such as food, water, medication, important documents like rabies vaccination forms, and other items.

Additional things for your pet emergency kit might include any of the following ideas:

Items for your Pet Emergency Kit

  • Food (enough for the potential duration)
  • Water (ordinary water bottles are convenient for storage)
  • Bowls (they make convenient collapsible bowls for food and water)
  • Collar, harness
  • ID tag
  • Leash
  • Crate or pet carrier
  • Doggy Bed
  • Medicines if relevant
  • Your Vet’s phone number / info.
  • Sanitation / Litter as necessary
  • Copy of documents (Rabies vaccination, registration, etc.)
  • A picture of you and your pet together (helps verify ownership if lost)
  • Familiar items (toys, bedding)
  • ?

My mini-Dachshund eats special canned food due to gastric sensitivity issues when he eats other foods. So I simply keep many cases of food for him. He gets about 2/3 can a day. So I figure I’ve got about 8 cases. That will last him more than 3 months. Hmmm… maybe I should get more ;)

If you have to evacuate with your pet

After packing the kit, create a plan — detailing where you might be going during an emergency evacuation.

Remember, if you have to evacuate, most emergency shelters cannot accept animals due to public health reasons. And many / most hotels / motels don’t accept pets.

Try to locate a pet-friendly hotel chain (e.g. La Quinta, some Best Westerns) that would accept you and your pet. Figure this ahead of time for your region. Keep a list of potential locations in the pet kit with addresses and phone numbers of your way-point destinations.

Also consider out of town friends or relatives who would be willing to lodge you and your pet during an emergency.

Never leave your pets behind in a disaster; they can be hurt, lost or killed. Sadly, this happens!

Any other ideas? What unique items should you have in your pet Ready kit?

Get a Pet Ready Kit

22 Comments

  1. Can’t forget our furry friends. Our Pug is more family than some actual human relatives. The love, joy and companionship they give unconditionally makes them one of God’s greatest creations.

    1. Ken,
      this is a great reminder for our fur buddies.
      I would add if you are using a particular flea/tick prevention you should have a good supply.We put apple cider vinegar in their water. We make a turmeric paste and add that to their food. So we will add some to their “bug out kit”.
      We use vinegar and water in a spray bottle fb or fleas. It may just be anecdotal but it seems like the fleas dont like the turmeric in their diet.We are seeing less fleas since we started the regimen. Less allergies and skin issues as well…

    2. Dogs weren’t created by God though… humans bred dogs thousands of years ago. Maybe you should be thanking our ancient human ancestors instead of God :)

  2. Took mine into the vet early this morning, tumor removal and tooth extraction..
    A bit over $1,100
    So much for an emergency fund, my little dog is more important but the price still hurts.
    Hopefully this will make her better.

    1. I love the way you see just her tail sticking out wagging after she goes full bore into the leaves!

  3. Ole Blue is more “important” to me than most people. Sorry, but true.

    He’s well stocked and will be well taken care of if I meet my demise.

    Speaking of which. Have ya all made arrangements for your best friends if you meet your maker?

    1. NRP, we have no one to take our animals, and we are old. However, the Oregon Humane Society, which is a huge, stable organization, has a program called Friends Forever that we belong to. You do not have to donate to them, but we have, in our will, and they will assume ownership and responsibility for our animals, even the horses. They have legal services and all that to take care of those matters after our demise. They will also take the animals if we become unable to care for them. As horse owners, our biggest concern is that our two aging horses would not end up being shipped to Canada, or worse, Mexico, for slaughter. Lots of peace of mind, if you can find such a program in your state or area. Even reach out to OHS, their influence seems to reach to many states.

  4. As your little guy shows, blankets too. Both cats and dogs tend to want to burrow under something when stressed. If needed you can also use it to wrap around them to keep them less wiggly because they may fight to get away from if you’re having to hold them to get someplace. And of course it will serve to cover their cage to block smoke, or light or chaos, so they’re less agitated.

    You might also print the map of where you’re planning to head because back roads may become important to get there. Paper towels and a ziplock since they do tend to upchuck when stressed. Also grab grooming supplies such as shampoo in case you need to get something off their fur, as well as a couple of towels, plus a comb and scissors for anything that may get matted into fur if they’re long haired.

  5. Living in the ‘Deepest South’ for the last 54 years,I have gone through my share of Hurricanes. In my youth back in the 50s, in Connecticut, I went through 2.
    Evacuating, for me, is not an option. I have, and always will, ‘ride it out’. And, I’ve been through some beauties. Survive, clean up, go on.
    During this time, I’ve always had at least one dog, at times more. Outside dogs.
    And every one of them has always ridden out the storm outside, none the worse for wear.
    I have acreage, and they always find a spot to hunker down, more or less protected from the elements.
    Like their owner, they’re survivors.

  6. We are now home from evacuating due to the western Oregon fires. We took with us two horses, a dog and a cat. We were never under immediate threat, but we were under GO NOW! orders. However, we had a day to pack before we suddenly went from Level 1 to Level 3. We packed like we were going on a three day horse camping trip. We were able to stay with some friends who had a nice, empty corral for the horses. Many livestock owners who were displaced had to evac to the jam-packed fairgrounds. One observation for our pets, which had to remain outside, was the weather turned from very hot, dry and windy, to very suddenly cold, still and highly humid. The dog was staying in the truck at night and the cat had a very large, collapsible wire crate that accommodated her box, food, water, and a corner to hide in. She actually traveled in a small cat carrier. Her crate was set up in the horse trailer, covered by a heavy down quilt. But both pets are house pets, and being out in 40+ degree, damp cold, was not good for them.

    Our cat also has severe food intolerance. We keep a 6 month supply of her food, so I packed a case (12 cans/1 month) for her. As we re-equip the truck for the remainder of the fire season, we will get a pad for the crate and a little “nest” of some sort for her to hide/snuggle in. I may also see what’s available to cover/insulate the crate.

    The dog will get a warm coat. I don’t know if she’ll wear it, but I’ll get one anyway. She has a soft bed in the back seat of our ancient super cab truck. They are both microchipped, but the cat should be wearing ID and a harness, which she’ll have to get used to.

    The biggest consideration for all of us was how it suddenly turned from hot to cold. I actually threw jackets in for us as an afterthought.

    I saw a picture of some chickens that had been evacuated to the fairgrounds. They had been transported in a crate, but were housed in a small, securely zipped tent, with some litter on the floor. Very, very clever, I thought!

    Our horses are not chipped, but I braided ribbons with contact info into their manes. Ideally, I would have a portable corral on board the trailer. They would easily stay in an electric fence enclosure. I need to either put a kit together, or buy ready made. Many people were crying for help evacuating horses, that were barely halter broke, much less trailer trained. Many, many people had collections of goats and other small animals to evacuate but without the means.

    I truly believe that those who think livestock are the path to self sufficiency should strongly reconsider. They become a tremendous burden in a bug out situation. Supply chains are disrupted, feed is unavailable. It is inconceivable how many will be without hay this winter because of these fires. If we’d lost the barn, we’d have nothing to feed the horses, and likely have great difficulty re-supplying.

    I am preparing to unload the truck and trailer to get reorganized to bug out for the remainder of the fire season. Recently, I created an extremely useful spreadsheet to track my preps on Google Sheets. It’s fantastic. As I unload, I’m going to inventory everything that comes out of the vehicles, then reorganize and repack, and I will have every container numbered and the contents and location of said container listed on my spreadsheet. In this way, I will be able to make sure anything that needs to be “turned over”, resupplied or inspected will be accounted for and I will know exactly where every item is located.

    Packable, shelf stable food. I want more packable, shelf stable food.

    In closing, I’d like to share a thought with those who don’t have space to store bug out items that will mean the difference between comfort and stark survival. Perhaps if able, one should select their bug out location, and rent a small storage unit there to store your stuff. With our good camping gear we could have lived in comparative comfort for some time. I can tell you, living in someone else’s space got extremely uncomfortable within two days, and the pets were not welcome in their house. One more day and we’d have pitched the tent and dashed home quickly for the Mr. Heater.

  7. Lots of good information, suggestions, and food for thought y’all. We have supplies stored up for our dogs in case of another lockdown, but I hadn’t really thought a lot about needing to bug out.

  8. GSP Odis is only 1 but I would give anything to protect him from 2020.

  9. As a long time doxie owner myself I loved the pics. Since we have two places we keep food, toys, and doggie beds in both places. In addition we have supplies in the rv for travel. Don’t know if Dixie would be able to continue to live in the spoiled luxury she’s accustom to in a shtf situation but she will be alright.

  10. Our dog (and the cat has too) had problems with itching ears, ie mites. We live in the country. So having ear wash/antibiotic/mite medicine is important to have on hand.

    1. Ear mites can be controlled/ gotten rid of by using oil of oregano 6%, a few drops in affected ears.. olive oil will help by its self… keeping ears cleaned… key.

  11. I’m sold on Thunder Shirts. They have tremendously helped one of our dogs (thunder and fireworks) and a cat (car rides and loud noises). The shirts are on the list as surely bugging out will be stressful. Shoot, maybe I can get one for me.

  12. I also have a first aid kit for our two GSDs. Its a blue medical bag. Ours, for people, is a red medical bag. It goes with us if we ever have to evacuate. It includes meds for diarrhea for them. Happens to some animals when changing food or water, or just stressful situations. It also contains ear cleansers and meds, first aid items for cuts and abrasions, etc., etc. We keep photo/vet records taped to carriers (water-proofed taped on), and also in our BOBs. Would NOT leave without my furry kids.

  13. Consider keeping some DMG on hand to help the immune system. Keeps well. Can be used for cats, dogs, birds and other creatures. Can be used long term also. Vetri Science is the brand I use. Amazon has it as well as Tractor Supply. Gotta have the meds for them too.

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