Disaster Prep: A Dog Mom’s Point of View

Unless you have been living under a rock, you have heard about COVID-19. If you are just now crawling out from under your rock (maybe you are crazy busy or vacationing off the planet), COVID-19 is a respiratory illness that is spread primarily from person to person. Since I am not a doctor, I am just going to provide you a brief description of the Coronavirus and leave the details up to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).  The CDC has a great one page fact sheet on this illness.  People with the virus usually have mild to severe respiratory illness with common flu like symptoms.  Generally the folks that are at the most risk for severe complications are the young, elderly and those with compromised immune systems.  Sound familiar……

Since this feels very much like a slightly more dangerous flu, why the panic?  According to the CDC, somewhere around 12,000 people in the US die each year as a result of flu complications.  Enter the big and bad Coronovirus. Ironically it has claimed less than 100 victims in the US as of March 1st but we are in total panic mode.  You know the kind of panic when the first snowflake hits the ground in Texas and all of the bread and milk is gone!!!! .Why are we panicking? Are we just fearing the unknown?   In all honesty, it IS serious. Schools have closed, businesses are closing, even cities are closing – Regardless of HOW we got here, most of us are sitting in isolation.

Facebook and the news are filled up with people posting photos of EMPTY shelves at the stores –  WHAT is being bought ?? —- TOILET PAPER! I promise you, this leaves me scratching my head. I can understand doing some disaster preparedness (non perishable food/water etc), but why in the world stockpile toilet paper?  I am sure there is a think tank of psychologists all trying to figure out and explain the panic, but quite frankly, it’s just out of my league.  

Here’s the good news!  I am going to use this outbreak of fear as a great way to platform what YOU need to know as a dog mom to prepare your dog(s) for a disaster!  Any disaster – even one that seems irrelevant! Let’s look at what you need to prepare as a dog mom! 

Lets start with the fantastic information that is available from the CDC at their Pet Safety In Emergency Page. Here are the items you need to make sure you have all ready to go:

PET INFORMATION AND VET RECORDS

• Photocopied veterinary records including rabies certificates, vaccinations and medication.  I recommend having a hard copy along with the files in cloud storage such as google drive. Here are some other items to consider: 
  • Most recent heartworm test result (dogs)
  • Most recent FeLV/FIV test result (cats)
• Photocopied registration information or proof of ownership
• Pet descriptions
• Recent photographs of each of your pets
• Waterproof container for documents (ZipLock Bag will do) 
• Microchip information 
• Pet boarding instructions

CRITICAL SUPPLIES FOR YOUR POOCH

• 2-week supply of food for each animal stored in waterproof containers
• 2-week supply of water for each animal
• Non-spill food and water dishes
• Manual can opener
• Feeding instructions for each animal
• 2-week supply of any medications (if applicable)
• Medication instructions (if applicable)
• 1-month supply of flea, tick, and heartworm preventative
• Collar and Leash

OTHER HELPFUL ITEMS TO PREPARE FOR YOUR POOCH

• Toys
• Appropriate-sized pet carrier with bedding, blanket, or towel (Amazon has a great travel kit)
• Pet first aid book and first aid kit (Amazon has a great one here)
• Cleaning supplies for accidents (paper towels, plastic bags, disinfectant)

You should gather all of this information and keep it together as much as possible.  I keep a backup in my closet that has all of my necessities and files. Remember that Pet Food does have a shelf life, so you should rotate it yearly.  A huge shout-out to the CDC for having all of this great information on their website.  If you want a printable version, you can download the CDC’s Pet Emergency Checklist Here. 

One last topic, I wouldn’t be a REAL dog mom if I didn’t worry more about my dog’s health than my own so I wanted to pass on the information from the CDC about dangers to your pet.  According to the CDC and WHO, they do not believe that our pets can become ill with COVID-19 by catching it from us. As of the writing of this article, there have been no confirmed cases of pets with COVID-19.  IF YOU DO GET SICK, as a precaution, to limit exposure and practice good hygiene while feeding pets just to be safe. (e.g washing hands, don’t cough on their food or wear a mask) This would be the same you would do to prevent spreading illness to human people that live with you. I don’t kick my husband out of bed when he is sick, so there is no way I am kicking my dog out of bed!  You can find FAQs for Pets and Coronavirus here.  

So what have we REALLY learned through this Coronavirus experience.  It is important to be prepared. Use the tips and tricks in this article to get your pooch prepared. As I update this article, some people are unable to leave their homes and the shelves are the store are EMPTY! AND FINALLY – Last but not least, WASH YOUR HANDS! If people would just wash their hands more often, I will be able to write my next article about how to craft the night away with all of that extra toliet paper you bought during the Coronavirus meltdown of 2020.  What do YOU DO to prepare your pooches for the unexpected? Make sure you comment below!

Not a dog mom yet, but you would like to be? There are so many wonderful dogs looking for a home! Check out this little Easter Princess. I have met her on multiple occasions. She is ONE OF A KIND. Please consider Adopting Darla – Find more information at PAWS for Irving.

Wishing everyone wet noses and tail wags – Keely and Biscuit