In the recent issue of our monthly e-mail newsletter, the e-Journal, we invited readers to submit their ideas for animal disaster preparedness. Here are just a few of the great ideas they shared with us:

• If you have a cell phone with video or picture capabilities, photograph all of your pets with it. This would be an easy way to carry around a photo or even a video of you with your pets...because the first thing that a lot of people grab when they go anywhere is their cell phone.

• Keep an emergency kit containing food, treats, bowls, medications, a toy, an extra leash and your contact information in case you have to leave your pet with someone (all of this can be stored in your pet’s carrier or near it).

• When you buy your pet food or treats, switch it with your emergency kit food, this way you always have fresh food in the emergency bag.

• Keep a travel water container and bottled water and canned or bagged food with you in your trunk with treats.

• Use heavy plastic carriers when transporting animals; wire cages will be crushed on impact (car accident - disaster situation etc) while the heavy plastic bounces back and give the animal a better chance to recover.

• We have water purifying tablets on hand for our animals’ water.

• Include toothpaste in your disaster kit. It stops bleeding on hard-to-stop places like ear and tail tips.

• Use a backpack for your disaster kit so in an emergency, you can throw it on (leaving your hands free to handle your pet) and go!

• Always have extra food and water for your animal in your home as well as car. And that includes medications & flea control products.

• If your dog is not "dog friendly," include a soft muzzle in your car and in your emergency bag. This way if you have to evacuate to a shelter that has other dogs, you are less likely to be turned away or possibly separated from your dog.

• I scanned all of my dogs' paperwork - vet records, microchip information, pedigrees, pictures, everything I have that identifies them as being mine - and put them on CDs. I keep one in my car. One could also be sent to a family member or friend that is not in your immediate "disaster area".

• I am taking lots of digital photos of my pets -- front view, side view closeup, etc. Then I make a pet passport page for each of them with a couple of the photos, their name, description, contact info for several people -- all the stuff you would put on a Lost Poster and more. I turn the posters into PDFS which anybody can read on any machine. When I'm done, I transfer all the images and posters to a Flash Drive and keep with my emergency stuff.

If you’ve got other ideas, please post them here!

There is some excellent information here. Do you have any suggestions on how to handle a larger number of pets (18 cats)? I think it is a matter of storing supplies at home and planning to stay. I have crates and I have seen some made to fit side by side in cars but I don't know how many cats in crates or carriers you can actually fit in an SUV. I have several carriers and wonder if crates or individual carriers is the better way to transport a large number. They do have cardboard carriers that could be stored knocked down. Pam

You might want to try getting some cat evac sacks.

They have some at ACES: http://www.animal-care.com/product_list.cfm?sub2a=71&prod=1

These are $33 or $29 for 5 or more.

They also have a different kind at the Cat Fanciers Association website:

http://www.cfainc.org/catalog/carrier.html -- these bags go for $10

You can also check out the higher quality mesh bags that places like Bed Bath and Beyond have. I believe they run for $7 or so and a rescue I work with has used them successfully.

The cat goes in the bag and then you tie a knot at the top.

Stay away from the cheap mesh bags because cats go right through them.

That said, while these bags will save you space and let you carry many cats out of the house at one time, they can't be used to hold the cat indefinitely.

You might want to invest in some folding cat condos that will fit in or on top of your SUV -- the kind with 3 platforms (you can buy extra platforms). That way, if you use the mesh bags to evacuate, you can put the cats into the condos when you get to safety.

Please see my article on
Your Pet's Emergency Plan on www.havedog.com

tina in fla

I'm new to the list. I was happy to find this posting; I'm always open to new ideas. For instance, I never though to put the emergency supplies in a backpack. That makes a lot more sense than a totebag. I'd like to share a few tricks of my own. I had a senior cat who traveled with me every time I went out of town due to her medical needs. She was a great traveler, but would sometimes have "acidents" in her carrier. I got the idea to buy the type of absorbant pads used on chairs and beds for indontinent adults, sometimes called "blue pads" or "underpads". Like piddle-pads, but cheaper. I fold a section of newspaper or cut a piece of coregated cardboard the size of the bottom of the carrier and wrap this pad around it. It's absorbant and plastic backed. I've found it fairly east to pull over to the side and swap out a soiled pad for a clean one, often without taking the cat out of the carrier. Ball it up like a disposable diaper, and toss in the next trashs can you come to. I have usually 3 to 7 cats; 2 mine and the rest fosters. The fosters are separated from each other and from my other cats. This system started for the convenience of cat sitters, but it works well for emergencies also: I have one carrier per cat, lined and ready to go, in the room with the cat. All the medical records, chip and tag numbers, photos, etc are in folders in a totebag that hangs on my back doorknob. It's easy to grab and go no matter what the emergency is. With the death of my senior, none of my cats now are on special diets or meds, so food , water, litterboxes etc I don't worry too much about. The types of disasters that would hit the upper midwest, unlike a hurricane, do not give much forewarning. It would be grab the cats fast and go. But they do not cover as wide an area, so I could stop outside the affected area and buy what I need.

For the person with the 18 cats, I would STRONGLY suggest a dry run or two. If you don't know how many carriers would fit in the SUV, take a day to haul all the carriers and crates out to the car and try it out. I suspect she will have to leave the crates folded flat on the bottom of the pile and load the cats two or three to a carrier and stacked two deep. When you get to shelter, if the cats have to stay in the carriers, they can be rotated into the crates for potty breaks. But try fitting the carriers BEFORE an emergency happens! The evacuation sacks sound like a great idea! I'm going to look into it. But in an emergency, pillow cases will also work.