Winter PSA for pet owners

[asterroc]

I live in New England, which was hit with a horrible ice storm overnight. Many people throughout my state are without power, and cities and towns are setting up emergency shelters for people without heat. While my heat is oil, both the burner and thermostat require electricity, so if it went out, we'd be going somewhere else. Which reminded me to do a mental inventory of my bird emergency kit.

For those of you with pets, please pick up some chemical hand warmers, which can be found for under $10 at sports stores and outdoors stores. Also make sure you have a carrier for your pet. If your heat goes out, wrap the chemical handwarmer in a couple layers of a hand towel or pillowcase (after activating of course, wrapping protects your pet from heat injuries as they can get quite hot), and place it in or next to the carrier. Make sure to also provide plenty of food and treats for your pet - most wild animals that freeze to death could have survived had they had enough food sources to be able to shiver.

If you need to evacuate, BRING YOUR PET WITH YOU, there's no guarantee that you'll be able to return to your home in a timely manner. Bring whatever you need for your pet to last a few days, as long as it doesn't require refrigeration or cooking. While you can keep food cold in your trunk, keep in mind that it may freeze and you may be unable to thaw it, since you do not want to waste body heat or chemical hand warmers on thawing food.

I hope none of you reading this ever need these tips, but it's better to plan ahead than to be caught unprepared.

x-posted

Comments

[meig.livejournal.com]

Sometimes you cannot bring your pet, but if you can, by all means please do.

Also, my advice would be to not put the handwarmers in the carrier or cage but instead put them underneath because some of those chemicals can be toxic.

[marquiswildbill.livejournal.com]

Most are just iron particles that oxidize on exposure to air, or an analogous metal to metal oxide system.

[meig.livejournal.com]

That's good to know, however, animals are different than humans when it comes to what is and what isn't toxic to them. Plus, birds are especially funky about metals (and will chew on just about anything). Better safe than sorry :)