A lot gets written about preparedness for humans but very little for animals. I remember watching the coverage of Hurricane Katrina, and what affected me most was the death of so many pets. Perhaps my viewpoint is somewhat warped, but I felt worse about the animals than the people.
I’ve always felt that when you take an animal in as part of your family, you have in essence created a contract binding on you regarding the welfare of the animal. A human supposedly has the ability to reason, foresee the future, and act to avoid harm. Animals cannot do this, and I believe that it is your duty to do this for them.
At my house there is a cat and a dog, and I have done my best to ensure that they come through a crisis with us and not become casualties or refugees. It takes only a little forethought to make their chances look a lot better. Here are a few simple things to do to prepare your critters.
First of all, food and water storage. For our dog, it consists of extra bags of dog food gotten pretty much for free. For example, there is currently a coupon offer available for a 3-kilogram bag of dog food for FREE. The coupon is good until December 31st, and I have several of them, each valued at $13.99! These sort of offers come up all of the time, and the sharp eyed dog owner can not only lay up enough dog food to see Rover through a crisis, he can substantially reduce the costs of daily feeding! The same is true of cat food. It may not be the best quality food, but it’s far better than watching your pet starve to death.
Water is just as easy. Two liter pop bottles of water changed every month or so will make your pet’s life far more pleasant. A few pennies of water now saves you from having to make hard choices later.
Second, make sure your animal’s vaccinations are up to date. Likely incidents of animal specific diseases will increase following a crisis, and keeping the basic vaccinations up to date is simple. Consider whether other vaccinations might be worthwhile (For example, my dog is vaccinated against Lyme disease, only sensible in tic infested Manitoba).
Further, you may want to consider laying in a stock of medications that might be specific for a pre-existing condition, or as a prophylactic for things like heartworm.
Third, take a pet first aid course. I know that these are available through organizations like St. Johns Ambulance. Seems silly, I know, but it is worthwhile. I don’t think you can ever get too much training, especially in first aid. And lay in a few supplies like self-adhering gauze ('cause tape don't stick to fur!).
And last, make sure your pet is prepared to bug out with you. This might range from having a carrying cage for your cat to making sure your dog has his own pack for food and water. Most dogs can carry 25% of their body weight without difficulty. That’s about eighteen pounds for the dog pictured at the top of the article.
How elaborate you want to get with pet preparedness is up to you. As I said earlier, I believe I have a moral obligation to ensure that the animals I have are cared for, not killed, and not forced to become feral and thus pose a hazard to others. I also believe that this can be done with a minimum of cost and just a little thought.
I’ve always felt that when you take an animal in as part of your family, you have in essence created a contract binding on you regarding the welfare of the animal. A human supposedly has the ability to reason, foresee the future, and act to avoid harm. Animals cannot do this, and I believe that it is your duty to do this for them.
At my house there is a cat and a dog, and I have done my best to ensure that they come through a crisis with us and not become casualties or refugees. It takes only a little forethought to make their chances look a lot better. Here are a few simple things to do to prepare your critters.
First of all, food and water storage. For our dog, it consists of extra bags of dog food gotten pretty much for free. For example, there is currently a coupon offer available for a 3-kilogram bag of dog food for FREE. The coupon is good until December 31st, and I have several of them, each valued at $13.99! These sort of offers come up all of the time, and the sharp eyed dog owner can not only lay up enough dog food to see Rover through a crisis, he can substantially reduce the costs of daily feeding! The same is true of cat food. It may not be the best quality food, but it’s far better than watching your pet starve to death.
Water is just as easy. Two liter pop bottles of water changed every month or so will make your pet’s life far more pleasant. A few pennies of water now saves you from having to make hard choices later.
Second, make sure your animal’s vaccinations are up to date. Likely incidents of animal specific diseases will increase following a crisis, and keeping the basic vaccinations up to date is simple. Consider whether other vaccinations might be worthwhile (For example, my dog is vaccinated against Lyme disease, only sensible in tic infested Manitoba).
Further, you may want to consider laying in a stock of medications that might be specific for a pre-existing condition, or as a prophylactic for things like heartworm.
Third, take a pet first aid course. I know that these are available through organizations like St. Johns Ambulance. Seems silly, I know, but it is worthwhile. I don’t think you can ever get too much training, especially in first aid. And lay in a few supplies like self-adhering gauze ('cause tape don't stick to fur!).
And last, make sure your pet is prepared to bug out with you. This might range from having a carrying cage for your cat to making sure your dog has his own pack for food and water. Most dogs can carry 25% of their body weight without difficulty. That’s about eighteen pounds for the dog pictured at the top of the article.
How elaborate you want to get with pet preparedness is up to you. As I said earlier, I believe I have a moral obligation to ensure that the animals I have are cared for, not killed, and not forced to become feral and thus pose a hazard to others. I also believe that this can be done with a minimum of cost and just a little thought.
It’s about preparedness, dawg!
Originally posted May 7, 2010 @ MPN
No comments:
Post a Comment