National Preparedness Month: Is Your Pet’s Go Bag Ready?

September is National Preparedness Month, and for those of us who share our homes with pets, it’s a good reminder to ask a very practical question:
If you were told to evacuate today, could you safely gather your pets, grab what they need, and leave?

Here in San Diego, we know how quickly wildfire conditions can change. An evacuation warning is not the time to start looking for the cat carrier, gathering medications, searching for vaccination records or wondering whether you have enough pet food packed.

That preparation needs to happen before we are told to go.
Your Pets Need Their Own 72-Hour Go Bag.  We often hear about keeping a 72-hour emergency kit for ourselves, but our pets need one too.

A Pet Go Bag should contain enough of the essentials to care for your pet for at least the first 72 hours away from home.
Think about what your dog, cat, bird, bunny or other companion animal depends on every single day — and what would be difficult to find quickly during an evacuation.
For most pets, I would start with:

• At least three days of food and water
• Prescription medications and supplements
• Food and water bowls
• Collar, harness and leash
• Current ID tags
• Pet carrier or crate
• Waste bags or litter and basic cleanup supplies
• Copies of vaccination and veterinary records
• Microchip information and current contact information
• A recent photo of your pet
• First-aid supplies
• A towel, small blanket or familiar comfort item

If your pet has special medical, dietary or mobility needs, pack for those needs too.
A senior dog may need medications or mobility assistance. A diabetic pet may require insulin and feeding supplies. A cat on a prescription diet needs enough of that particular food to get through the first few days.

Your emergency kit should reflect your pet, not somebody else's generic checklist.
Keep the Carrier With the Go BagThis is especially important for cats.
Please don't let the carrier live behind the holiday decorations in the farthest corner of the garage. 😉
Keep carriers somewhere you can reach them quickly, and make sure they are in good working condition.
During an emergency, frightened pets may hide or behave very differently than they normally do. Having the carrier ready saves precious time and gives you a safer way to transport them.
The same goes for leashes and harnesses. Keep them with — or immediately beside — your emergency supplies.

Make Your Pet Easy to Identify!
An evacuation can separate animals from their families.
Take a few minutes this month to make sure your pet's ID tag and microchip information are current, including your phone number.

I also recommend keeping a recent photograph of each pet with your emergency documents. Have copies of important veterinary information available electronically as well as in your Go Bag when possible.

These are small things to do today that can become incredibly important during an emergency.

Don't Forget Food Rotation and MedicationsPacking the bag once and forgetting about it isn't quite enough.
Pet food expires. Medications change. Pets gain and lose weight. Veterinary information changes.

National Preparedness Month gives us an easy annual reminder to open the bag and check it.
Replace expired food and supplies, confirm medications are current, check batteries and update paperwork.
I like the idea of putting a reminder on the calendar twice a year. It takes just a few minutes when you're prepared — and can save a lot of scrambling when you're not.

San Diego Pet Families:
Prepare Before the Evacuation Warning.  For Rancho Peñasquitos and other San Diego pet families, wildfire preparedness means having both people and pet supplies packed and ready before an evacuation order arrives. That is  really the heart of this.

We aren't preparing because we expect something bad to happen tomorrow. We're preparing so that if something happens, our attention can be where it belongs:
Getting our family safely out.
When the warning comes, I don't want to be deciding what my pets need.
I want to grab their bag, load their carriers, gather the family and go.

Make September the Month You Pack the Bag.  If you don't have a Pet Go Bag yet, start this week.  You don't have to make it complicated or buy everything at once. Start with a sturdy bag you already own and gather the things your pet absolutely could not comfortably or safely go without for 72 hours.
Then build from there. If you already have one, pull it out and check it.
Is the food fresh?
Are the medications current?
Does the collar still fit?
Is the microchip information correct?
Can you actually find the carrier?

Preparedness isn't about fear.
​It's about giving yourself precious time when time matters.

Prepare your people. Prepare your pets. Be ready to go. 🐾💜