Preparing your dogs and cats for a potential emergency evacuation

With all the wacky weather we have been having in Iowa this summer, I decided to organize things in case I ever needed to evacuate the house quickly with the kitties ~ Chloe and Kate.

Luckily they are both healthy and pretty flexible (well, Kate is anyway).

I did some research and came up with the following list in preparation for an unexpected evacuation. The most important thing being to always take your animal friend with you. Leaving a dog tied outside is a death sentence.

**Plan to be away from home for at least 3 days.

**Have a sturdy carrier large enough for your animal to stand, turn around and lie down.
Put a label on the carrier with the animal’s name, your name and cell phone number. List any problems or medical conditions on the label.

**Have non-perishable items in the carrier: canned food, food and water bowls, cat litter and litter box, a familiar toy, bedding, medical records, sturdy leash.

** Keep perishable items at hand and ready to go: dry food, medications, water

**Identification: have a collar and license of ID tag on at all times.

Chloe and Kate don’t have ID’s on their collars..so that is something that I need to get done. Then I think we will be all set.

I also ordered (they are free) emergency stickers for the front and back door (in case there is an emergency and I am not home) alerting rescue people to the fact that there are animals inside the house. They can be ordered from here:

http://www.aspca.org/site/PageServer?pagename=pets_rescuesticker