Your Pet in a Disaster: How to Be Prepared

An earthquake, a flood, a fire, a snowstorm or a two-day power cut – in each of these, your dog and cat depend entirely on you. Preparing is not complicated. The Emergency Preparedness & Pets guide published by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (2015), on which this series is based, reduces it to three steps: prepare, plan and recover.

This article is the entry point to the series. Here you will find what each step means, a short test of your readiness and links to the eight more detailed articles – from the microchip to your animal’s behaviour after the disaster.

The rule that ties everything together: never leave without your pet. You cannot predict when you will be allowed back home.

Why it matters

In an emergency, animals are often left without water, shelter and care. They get lost, are injured or do not survive when left on their own. The guide gives the example of Hurricane Katrina (2005): people left their homes without their animals, confident they would soon return, and were then not allowed back for weeks. Over 600,000 pets were left behind, many of them died, and only a small share of the survivors were reunited with their owners.

If you are not prepared, neither is your pet. The family plan must include the animals too – supplies, documents, contacts and a place where you can go together.

In Bulgaria the risks are well known: earthquakes (Pernik, 2012), floods (Varna and Mizia, 2014; Tsarevo, 2023), forest and field fires in summer, snowstorms and icing, prolonged heat, power and water cuts. How animals react to each of them is covered in Earthquake, flood, fire: what happens to your pet.

The three steps: prepare, plan, recover

Each step has several elements, and each element has its own article in the series.

Step 1 – Prepare

• Identification. A collar with an ID tag, a microchip with up-to-date details, a veterinary passport and a recent photo of the animal with you. In Bulgaria, the microchip and registration in the database of the BFSA (the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency) are mandatory for dogs under the Veterinary Activities Act; for cats they are recommended. More in Pet identification: microchip, passport, ID tag.
• Contacts. A neighbour, relative or friend with a key to your home who knows where the lead, the carrier and the supplies are and can collect the animal if you are not there. How to build this network is covered in Who will look after your pet if you cannot.
• Supplies. Food and water for 7 days for each animal, medicines, a carrier, a lead, litter, a blanket, copies of the documents – all gathered in one bag that you take with you on the way out. The full list is in Emergency kit for your pet.

Step 2 – Plan

• Know the risks in your area – fire and snow in the mountains, flooding near a river.
• Evacuation. Decide in advance where you will go with the animal (relatives outside the area, a hotel that accepts animals, a pet hotel or a clinic with boarding), how you will get there and what you will carry it in. Practise every 6 months. Details in Evacuating with a pet: plan and route.
• Staying at home. In a gas leak, chemical contamination or a severe storm, the safest option may be to stay where you are – in an inner room, with the animal in its carrier, away from the windows. How to prepare such a room is covered in Sheltering at home in a disaster: a safe room for your pet.
• People with specific needs. If you have difficulties with sight, mobility or hearing, live alone or have no car, arrange help for the animal in advance. If such people are your neighbours, offer them help.

The best plans have back-ups: several people and several places – family, neighbours, your vet, the person who looks after the animal when you travel.

Step 3 – Recover

• Emotional and physical support. After a disaster, animals may be confused, frightened and restless; appetite, sleep and behaviour change. Familiar blankets, toys and routine help. Before you let the animal out of the carrier or off the lead, check the home and the garden for debris and chemicals.
• Health. A healthy animal recovers faster. Regular check-ups, vaccinations (especially against rabies) and parasite control are part of the preparation.

Both topics are covered in full in After the disaster: stress, behaviour and your pet’s health and A healthy pet is a prepared pet.

Test yourself: four questions

The guide opens with a short quiz.

• How much food and water should you have for each animal – 3 days, 1 week or 1 month? The answer is 1 week. Shelters and pet hotels may not have enough supplies in a disaster. For people the recommendation is 3 days.
• What will a pet hotel ask for before accepting your pet – a passport with a current rabies vaccination, a microchip, or bowls and a litter tray? The answer is the passport with the rabies vaccination. Without the document, the animal may be vaccinated again. See also Do I need all the vaccines to get a rabies certificate?.
• The animal is frightened during and after the disaster. What helps most – leaving it outside, watching its behaviour, or putting it in its carrier? The answer is the carrier. Most animals feel calmer in it, and it also keeps them from getting lost.
• The authorities order an evacuation. What do you do with your pet – leave it at home and come back later, leave a note on the door saying you have left with your family and the animal, or leave it with extra food and water? The answer is the note – in other words, the animal goes with you.

If you got even one answer wrong, start with the corresponding article.

Common mistakes

• Counting on being back in an hour. In a flood or fire, access to the area may be restricted for days.
• Leaving the animal tied up outside in a storm. Animals sense the change in the weather and hide; bring them inside early.
• Not having a carrier the animal is used to going into. A cat that sees it for the first time on the day of the evacuation will most likely hide.
• A passport without a current rabies vaccination. Without it, a pet hotel may refuse to take your pet.
• Keeping more animals than you can get out in an evacuation.
• Not checking the supplies. Medicines and food have expiry dates; go through them at every drill, every 6 months.

If you are not sure exactly what your pet needs, book an appointment for a check-up – the vet will draw up a list according to its age and medical conditions.

When it is an emergency

Specifics: cats, small animals, older animals

• Cats. During a tremor or a loud noise, a cat hides, often somewhere you do not know about. Make a list of its hiding places and share it with the neighbour who has a key. The carrier should stand open in the room at all times so that it is a familiar place.
• Rodents, birds, reptiles. The same three steps apply: a small cage that can be covered with a towel so the animal is calmer; spare food that does not spoil; for birds and reptiles – a source of heat in a power cut. Talk to the vet about the species you keep.
• Older and chronically ill animals. A reserve of the medicines the animal takes regularly is the most important part of the kit. A copy of the prescription and a short description of the condition save time for an unfamiliar vet.