NO POWER & Going through bad weather/tornadoes with a cat?

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Sushi (GA 5/05-3/14)

Sushi (GA 5/05-3/14)

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Hi there!
Tropical Storm Lee is upon us here in south Louisiana, which means tornado warnings and bad weather. A major factor there is we don't have basements or crawl spaces down here.
Have any of you gone through a tornado with a cat? Any tips/stories?
: )
 
Re: Going through bad weather/tornadoes with a cat?

No specific experience here but I might suggest putting your cat in the bathroom or another interior room you think is safe until the warnings are over. Someplace small and contained would be best.

You might consider putting her carrier in there - along with litter box, food, water, etc. In the event you need to hunker-down too - you can put her in the carrier and put a towel over it to calm her down.

Be safe!

Pam and Layla
 
Re: Going through bad weather/tornadoes with a cat?

Closet, bathroom without windows, shower stall, hallway but really need somewhere that you can close up. Not only put the things in there that Pam said but also your purse, any papers you need to reclaim anything lost, medicines, flashlights, batteries. Paper towels, roll of tp....

Wichita Falls, F5...1979 only 2 dogs
Oklahoma F2....2011 ALL the crew of about 15 at that time...
 
Re: Going through bad weather/tornadoes with a cat?

Wow! Thanks so much for this info!
I mis-typed on my original post--we're actually under tornado WATCH, not warning. I always get those confused! Sorry about that.

I just cleaned out a hall closet for our "hunker down" space, and pulled the seats off the couch for cover if need be. The kitties are in "explore mode" checking the closet and everything out. So when do we actually need to "hunker down" in our closet? When a watch turns into a warning? When the siren goes off? How long do we have to stay in there?
 
Re: Going through bad weather/tornadoes with a cat?

Well, personally, I'd put the cats in their carriers and put them in the closet now. I have a friend who lives in one of the areas that were hit by the tornadoes this spring. They were under a watch when they went to bed, and since they'd never had a tornado hit anywhere near where they live before, they weren't too concerned. When the sirens went off, they had just enough time to get to the safe zone with their dog (who had been sleeping on their bed). They weren't able to get the rest of their pets in time, and most did not survive. There new plan is to put all the animals into the safe zone when a warning is issued until it's over, just to be safe.
 
Re: Going through bad weather/tornadoes with a cat?

A tornado watch just means conditions are favorable for tornadic activity. Be prepared to get into your 'safe spot' but you don't need to go there until your watch turns into a warning (tornado spotted) or the sirens go off. We were in an F4 in 2003 here in Kansas City... I got home minutes before it hit so I just ran around finding cats and chucking them down the stairs to the basement. ohmygod_smile

We have 3 cats & 3 dogs - if a watch is in effect I usually stick the cats in one of our dog crates in the basement until it expires. They tend to hide in bad weather - and in the tornado that we were in I never did find one cat in time. He had been sleeping in the hall closet the entire time and was fine...but had the tornado taken our roof like it did the homes 2 blocks over he probably wouldn't have made it.
 
NO POWER / Going through bad weather/tornadoes with a cat?

Thanks again for these responses! We've been under tornado watch for pretty much the past 24 hours, so it doesn't really make sense for us to hide in our safe spot the whole time.

I actually just lost power and I'm worried about Sushi's insulin. How long is it okay in the fridge? Should I go ahead and put it on ice?
 
Re: Going through bad weather/tornadoes with a cat?

Your safe room ideally should have no outside walls.
It's been a long time since I lived in tornado country but I did have to evacuate due to wildfire this summer. When I knew there was a fire close I put Korbel & Calypso into a room with no beds or anything that it would be hard to get them out of. They didn't need to be in carriers at that time, but I didn't want to spend time trying to find/catch them if we had to get out in a hurry. So, while you don't need to be in your saferoom yet, you might want to confine them to a smaller area so you don't need to find them.
 
Re: NO POWER & Going through bad weather/tornadoes with a ca

Yeah! Jennifer, I did exactly that! Glad to know I was on the right track.
I signed up for Weather.com's text alerts, so I would (hopefully) get a text if/when a watch was upgraded to a warning. And I locked the cats in my room with me, with their carriers open and ready to go. It was a very restless night (they're used to roaming the house freely), but we made it! My power is back on and the watches have been lifted, so I feel like I can breathe again!

Thanks again!! : )
 
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