What of the animals?

Part of Preparedness training in my house is figuring out what to do with the pets. We have a dog Black lab/boxer. She is about a year and a half old. In another year or so it will be no problem as she is being trained as a tracking dog, and first thing to be trained is obedience. But by far the biggest problem is our spoiled rotten House cat. She doesn't travel well at all. She is 13 years old and has never been out of the house in less in a cage.

I want to make this clear we love our pets and have no intention of abandoning them. Our family will stay together and they are in fact part of our family. That being said we had to figure it out.

As I said the dog is will be no problem but what of the spoiled brat cat the way we justified taking her other then out of love is because you can not ask for a better rodent killer. We will keep her in her little cage if we have to travel then when we get to our retreat she will be our little shelter rodent patroller. My daughter has taken it upon herself to look after and protect the cat if we ever have to bug out.

ideally It would be great if we just hunker down then she wont ever have to leave her home but we aren't counting on that.

I only ask that people respect us when discussing this topic. Please don't say stupid things like oh kill the cat or cats are stupid, we don't feel that way.

What I would like to know is how many of you have pets and have taken into consideration your pets in your preparedness. if you have taken them into consideration what is the plan.

WARNING
if your plan is kill them or abandon them please don't bother posting in this thread, keep that plan to yourself.

What I would like to know is how many of you have pets and have taken into consideration your pets in your preparedness. if you have taken them into consideration what is the plan.

I have a herd of cats...and two additional outside ones that I take care of. My plan is train some of them for leash work, and the rest go into carriers. Should the need come to bug out, they come with. I have a large, netted, foldable/lightweight shelter that will do fine for them. And that is packed up in my GOD bag, along with my tent. 4 are happy on leashes, and the others are working on it. The two outside ones I'll deal with as needed; probably trap and bring them in a separate carrier.

As for food preps, I always have lots of cat food on hand, as well as litter. I figure it's my responsibility, and I view them like I would children; they bring solace and peace to me, and I would not leave them behind.

Regards-
Aimless

you know what cats and dogs really are, right? EMERGENCY FOOD RATIONS!!!1

sorry, couldnt resist....seriously though, the american indian method would be the best bet for dogs....give them scraps to keep them around, but dont feed them so much that they absolutely depend upon you. at that point, they become useless. if you've already been doing this, prepare to ween them if the worst case scenario happens.

cats, well, what can i say. i'm a cat lover and i can tell you, that they are never really completely domesticated. let them outside and they will either bring back a small animal or get killed.....because thats the way cats are: super smart or super dumb, no in between. my only other recommendation about cats is DONT GET THEM DECLAWED!!!!!!!! doing so takes away pretty much their ONLY defense mechanism, at which point they will remain completely dependent upon you forever, and therefore completely useless.

at the risk of sounding callous ,

the faster you ditch the emmotional baggage of " no pet left behind " the better . because if the situation goes south - you will have to make far harder choices very fast .

my situation is fortunatly far simpler - there is just scott and i , and to be blunt - in most disaster senarios he will fare far better by himself than he will by sticking to me .

PS : where do you draw the line in your " n o pet left behind " plan ? what about the rabbit, the hampster, even the gold fish ?

are you going to be running to the hills with a chuffing menagerie in tow

mod edit: removed censor circumvention

Terms And Conditions Of Use
1b.) Profanity: You will not use profanity in our forums, and will neither post with language or content that is obscene, sexually oriented, or sexually suggestive nor link to sites that contain such content.

[edit on 17-12-2006 by UK Wizard]

If you wish to keep your cat around in a survival or bug out situation, then I suggest that you get your cat prepared just like you prepare everyone else. Get your cat used to the idea of being outside the house. Get your cat used to the outdoors. Let it hunt for mice outside. Let it re-learn to find live food.

If you don't you will be stuck lugging a lot of canned food around and having to deal with a litter box while trying to stay alive. When the fit hits the shan you will have much more important things to think about and wont have time to pack tons of food and kitty litter. Cats are natural hunters and it is time you started letting your cat act like a cat and not as a stuffed animal. Don't get me wrong, I like cats, but if you really care about your cat and want to do the right thing then prepare by letting nature take it's course.

AngryAmerican, I know exactly how you feel. 2 years ago, my husband and I moved to our refuge. It was a cross country move and we had to take our animals by airplane. It was not a pretty sight. At that time, it was a dog and 3 cats. All of them were pretty rattled by the whole thing and it took several months for everyone to get back to normal. One cat got very sick, the other one had a frightening experience with a snake and stayed in a closet for 2 months. I really wouldn't want to do it again but fortunately we're at our final destination/refuge awaiting the Fall of Civilization if it happens for whatever reason. Anyway, we did all survive the move. I would recommend tranquilizers or an herbal sedative such as Rescue Remedy, to help keep them calm. Since your cat is already a mouser, he can, in emergency, provide food for you and the rest of the 2 leggeds in your family, even though it sounds yucky to eat a mouse, when you're desperate, you'll eat anything and it is good protetin. Also, your cat will be able to provide food for himself, too, so being a good mouser is very important for all of you.

And I do know what you mean by your animals being family members, that's how ours are for us, family. I'm glad you feel that way.

Originally posted by ignorant_ape
at the risk of sounding callous ,

the faster you ditch the emmotional baggage of " no pet left behind " the better .

Dont know if you can understand this but the emmotional baggage is what spurs me on. My family is all to me. If it was just me I would probly grab a beer grab a chair and watch the horseman play hockey with my head. But you add my family in the mix and things change. My animals are part of my family. I brought them into my house and made them defenseless I owe them a life.

PS : where do you draw the line in your " n o pet left behind " plan ? what about the rabbit, the hampster, even the gold fish ?

are you going to be running to the hills with a chuffing menagerie in tow

Pretty simple answer to that one. If ime not willing to take it with ime not willing to bring it into my family.

Originally posted by Terapin
If you wish to keep your cat around in a survival or bug out situation, then I suggest that you get your cat prepared just like you prepare everyone else. Get your cat used to the idea of being outside the house. Get your cat used to the outdoors. Let it hunt for mice outside. Let it re-learn to find live food.

The litter box is the big one. She is a little finicky about ware she goes. Thats a good thing . Food isnt a problem she is one hell of a hunter. Our house is a 125 year old farm house full of mice bats and bugs of all sourts she catches them all. and brings them to us. We tell her good girl and then let her chow. It amases me how she can eat a mouse and not spill a drop of blood. Ive seen it.



[edit on 17-12-2006 by angryamerican]

Originally posted by forestlady
Since your cat is already a mouser, he can, in emergency, provide food for you and the rest of the 2 leggeds in your family, even though it sounds yucky to eat a mouse, when you're desperate, you'll eat anything and it is good protetin.

Actually mice, and other rodents are quite tasty. I'm not sure if I would eat a city rat unless there were no options, but his country cousin does indeed both taste good and provide good nutrition. I have eaten a variety of rodents but my favorite is probably "Paca" a type of agouti. They are about cat sized, 6 to 12 kilos.

In the Andean countries you can often find barbecued rodent on a stick for sale at many markets. The rodent they commonly eat is one we keep as pets in the US, namely guinea pigs. Guinea pigs are native to the South American Andes Mountains. They are high in protein(21%) and low in fat(8%) and in Peru they eat an estimated 65 million annually. Rodents like guinea pigs have been bred for human consumption for over 4000 years.

Never overlook a good food source.

You might want to [url=http://www.karawynn.net/mishacat/toilet.html]toilet train you cat[/urll]. If you ever have to leave for someplace, this skill will travel with her. She might be reluctant to use the toilet at a gas station (although, quite often, so am I), but she should be able to understand the purpose of any toilet with which she's presented.

Heh, I never would have thought it possible until I ran across a video on YouTube of a cat using a toilet.

I had a cat once. Unfortunately it got eatin by a bigger cat. Everytime a mountain lion would come in around our place, bunch a cats would go missing.

Unless you can keep the thing close, which means no hunting for mice or whatever, then you may just be transporting a meal for a wild animal. Which could put that animal onto you next! Not to be callous, but I really think it's a bit much to add into a fight for survival situation. I mean, if it puts your wife or kids at greater risk, is a cat really that important?