When a disaster strikes, it is usually without warning. Hurricane Harvey seemed to materialize out of nowhere. Being a category 1 hurricane just days before it struck the coast of Texas, many didn’t have much time to prepare.
The recovery from Hurricane Harvey is just getting underway and it may be some time before we know the amount of damage and loss it caused both in life and things. It’s hard to believe that Sunday, August 23rd marked the 12-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, which left over 2,000 humans dead and an estimated 600,000 pets deceased or homeless!
Nearly 44% of the people who decided to ride out the storm did so because they couldn’t take their pets or didn’t want to leave them behind. Check out the list of essentials you’ll need if, for whatever reason, you need to leave in a hurry.
Here’s What You’ll Need:
- First Aid for Cats
Guide Book
- Food – Plan on at least 7 days worth of food (dry and wet) for both people and each pet. Consider keeping dehydrated food, like Honest Kitchen Chicken or Stella & Chewy’s in your car along with bottled water.
- Disposable Bowls – Clean Healthy Bowls makes great disposable, biodegradeable pet bowls so you don’t have to worry about washing dishes.
- Cleaning supplies – Pack garbage bags, liquid dish soap, disinfectant and paper towels
- Bottled water – Pack 7-14 days worth of water. Be sure you are packing enough for you and your pets.
- Collars and Harnesses – Be sure your pet has its ID tags on at all times, even if they are indoor pets. Check out LINKS-IT Cat Tag Connector
- Pet Carriers – Make sure you have Pet Carriers
one for each pet.
- Cat Harnesses – You’ll want to have a cat harness for your cat. At some point, your cat will need to use a litter box or go to the bathroom outside. Be sure you’re prepared for this scenario with a well-made cat harness like ones that include light reflectivity. Standard collars with dog leashes don’t work because your cat will break away of hurt himself if he is scared.
- Blankets, Towels, Bedding – Bring along enough for all pets. Remember that you may need to use a towel to keep your kitty calm.
- Disposable Litter Tray – Bring along disposable litter trays like this convenient pack of three.
- Litter, Travel Scoop and Poop Bags – Bring a container of litter – I recommend Tidy Cats Lightweight so you don’t have to lug heavy litter around – and ultimately you get twice as much with half the weight. Be sure to include a travel scooper and poop bags
to dispose of the waste. I recommend Litter Lifter® brand.
- List of Medications – Be sure you bring a list of medications and any medical records that you have. Keep them on a USB drive for easy travel or store them in the cloud using services like GoogleDrive or Dropbox so that records are accessible anywhere.
