Evacuation with cats

The appearance of all of these wildfires has got me twitchy.

We had a house fire last fall, and that was my first taste of just how black a house can get without electricity at night.
Even though we can have bug out bags and all of our supplies set in the car, we still have one problem.
Has anyone got a trick for corralling your cats at night, if there's no electricity?
I've got to admit, I'm stumped.

Cat haters with smart-aleck responses need not reply. Our kids happen to be the four-legged kind.

Depending on the cat it can be easy or hard and it sounds like with yours it will be hard. Now if the cats are in the house and it sounds like they have there claws then you know where they are going to go. Leather gloves,flashlight cage and the attitude of "Yes I know your scared and pissed but this is for your own good"

I love my cats and dogs to death and in my case this would not be a problem but I do understand many are.

Crack a can of tuna, they will come a runnin'

You'd be surprised, cstone- they're not real fans of tuna!

jerrymrc, they are indoor-only, with complete sets of claws, teeth, and although they love us both they will shred us to death in cases like that.

What I'm worried about is the time constraint more than the bleeding factor. I will fall on that grenade; I'm plenty scarred and can deal with missing chunks. It's actually the time factor in finding them.

The cats prefer to be naked, but I'm wondering if I can fit them with some sort of a glow-in-the-dark collar. Do they make such things for felines?

Train them to come to a specific call with the result being food of some sort. The more you do it, the better they will come to the call.

I can jiggle my bitches little bag of treats and she comes running. Toss a few into her crate and off to the vet we go


Sent by a free-range electronic weasel, with no sense of personal space.

I'll try it with Greenies.

Thanks!

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Originally Posted by TheGrey

You'd be surprised, cstone- they're not real fans of tuna!

jerrymrc, they are indoor-only, with complete sets of claws, teeth, and although they love us both they will shred us to death in cases like that.

What I'm worried about is the time constraint more than the bleeding factor. I will fall on that grenade; I'm plenty scarred and can deal with missing chunks. It's actually the time factor in finding them.

The cats prefer to be naked, but I'm wondering if I can fit them with some sort of a glow-in-the-dark collar. Do they make such things for felines?

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Unless you have an older house or your cats are very smart they will be under the bed or furniture. Welders gloves are ideal but they are going to want to stay when you grab them. That means you have 2-3 seconds between the time you grab them, rip them from whatever they are holding on to and throw them in the cage.

Always grab the back of the neck and just pull. I know that if your wife is reading this she may freak out but unless you are just pulling on the tail or hind feet it is kind of hard to hurt them compared to what they will go through if they stay.

Having dealt with my cats and feral ones over the years yours will be a piece of cake.Of course smart cats do not go under the furniture or bed. They learn to open cabinets and stuff all over the house and hide there.[Flower] Collar with a bell if they are indoor.

Dont feed them anything for a couple days aside from water... then open a can of friskie/tuna etc. Repeat few times, They are trained to come to you when you make that tuna can 'snap'

My experience is basically what Jerry said. Don't be afraid to scruff your cat, it doesn't bother them. If your cats flee when guests are over, start paying attention to where they are hiding so you can be prepared.

And all that said I own cat's that are like dogs. Old style Balinese. Like many most cats do not impress me. I am on version 4.0. They all come when called and make great watch cats as well. Just ask the guy when he tried to come through the kitchen window....

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Originally Posted by jerrymrc

Unless you have an older house or your cats are very smart they will be under the bed or furniture. Welders gloves are ideal but they are going to want to stay when you grab them. That means you have 2-3 seconds between the time you grab them, rip them from whatever they are holding on to and throw them in the cage.

Always grab the back of the neck and just pull. I know that if your wife is reading this she may freak out but unless you are just pulling on the tail or hind feet it is kind of hard to hurt them compared to what they will go through if they stay.

Having dealt with my cats and feral ones over the years yours will be a piece of cake.Of course smart cats do not go under the furniture or bed. They learn to open cabinets and stuff all over the house and hide there.[Flower] Collar with a bell if they are indoor.

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Thanks, jerrymrc. I'm the wife and beastiewrangler. ;)

The cats are VERY smart- when we had a fire last fall, one cat pried open the basement bathroom cabinet and crawled inside, while the other one scaled the bookshelves and slid into the dropped ceiling so he could make his way to the top of some boxes in a storage area.

You're right. I'll get a few pair of welder's gloves and keep them in handy areas. I've already got their crates set up (open) in strategic places in the house; they use them as kitty caves.

ChunkyMonkey, I can't starve them like a dog for a couple of days to train them- their metabolisms are different. But I will work on training them to come to the sound of a Greenies bag being shaken.

Besides, I can't bear thinking of anything going hungry in my house. I have that feed-people/critters gene.

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Originally Posted by jerrymrc

And all that said I own cat's that are like dogs. Old style Balinese. Like many most cats do not impress me. I am on version 4.0. They all come when called and make great watch cats as well. Just ask the guy when he tried to come through the kitchen window....

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LMAO! I have a Mau that is our puppycat. He growls and snorts when strangers approach the house.
I also have a slightly-neurotic Bengal mix. He is the one that runs for help when faced with a distressing situation. The Mau often comes when I call him, but the Bengal won't.

One of ours got stuck in a vehicle which I only drive in the summer for 3 weeks. She survived, but is always few pounds lighter than her sister. She is always in survival mode now.. always starving.. and runs to us whenever she hear 'canned food' noises. So we trained the other 2 cats that way. If you are afraid to starve them, simply give them least favorite dry food... and in few days, open their favorite.. Works the same, but more repetitious before they get it! :)

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Originally Posted by TheGrey

Thanks, jerrymrc. I'm the wife and beastiewrangler. ;)

The cats are VERY smart- when we had a fire last fall, one cat pried open the basement bathroom cabinet and crawled inside, while the other one scaled the bookshelves and slid into the dropped ceiling so he could make his way to the top of some boxes in a storage area.

You're right. I'll get a few pair of welder's gloves and keep them in handy areas. I've already got their crates set up (open) in strategic places in the house; they use them as kitty caves.

ChunkyMonkey, I can't starve them like a dog for a couple of days to train them- their metabolisms are different. But I will work on training them to come to the sound of a Greenies bag being shaken.

Besides, I can't bear thinking of anything going hungry in my house. I have that feed-people/critters gene.

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Ok, make me feel like a heel. My wife was a dog person and had never dealt with cats. Many always want to try and pussy-foot around the issue.The good thing is you now know that they are not like 95% of the cats and know where to look.

The comment I made about cabinets is because when I was stationed in KS I got an up close and personal look at a tornado. Balinese # 3 was with the pots and pans in the kitchen. He also loved to sleep in the bathroom cabinet.

I looked for him but he came out when I called.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TheGrey

LMAO! I have a Mau that is our puppycat. He growls and snorts when strangers approach the house.
I also have a slightly-neurotic Bengal mix. He is the one that runs for help when faced with a distressing situation. The Mau often comes when I call him, but the Bengal won't.

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The man got about 1/4 way through the window before his face was tore up. I still remember the police asking after he was in the back of the car how he got tore up. The cat was still licking the blood from the paws when I showed them.[Flower]

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Originally Posted by jerrymrc

Ok, make me feel like a heel. My wife was a dog person and had never dealt with cats. Many always want to try and pussy-foot around the issue.The good thing is you now know that they are not like 95% of the cats and know where to look.

The comment I made about cabinets is because when I was stationed in KS I got an up close and personal look at a tornado. Balinese # 3 was with the pots and pans in the kitchen. He also loved to sleep in the bathroom cabinet.

I looked for him but he came out when I called.

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Aw, no. I didn't mean to make you feel like a heel! My husband never had pets growing up, wheras I've had the privilege of being bitten, scratched, and/or peed on by just about every pet available. It's not a matter of gender, but of experience. :)

Kitchen cabinets are not a place they've been found yet, but they have indicated interest in them. Hmm. Time to nip that in the bud and put those baby-stoppers on the cabinet doors.
Preventative maintenance!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jerrymrc

The man got about 1/4 way through the window before his face was tore up. I still remember the police asking after he was in the back of the car how he got tore up. The cat was still licking the blood from the paws when I showed them.[Flower]

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Oh, that's wonderful. We had a huge British cobby/american shorthair that topped 20 lbs and would go on a slashing, shredding frenzy when confronted with a vet, or when protecting his little buddy. I bet the cop loves to share the story of the burglar-who-wasn't story at barbecues. I know I would.

Here's another side of saving the "kids"
As an avid pet lover, it comes down to 1 of 2 things. When seconds count grab and go. Playing nice with your family member can get both you and the cats, or dogs, killed. The harsh reality is either you're alive or them, in some cases you may not have that option.
Happened here with the tornado, the couple next door grabbed their kids and sought shelter, while it was hard to not grab the dogs, it saved their lives.
My response may rub some of you the wrong way, however what's more important, you or your pet? Unfortunately we cannot always have both.

Make sure to get a few of these, if you haven't already.

http://ts4.mm.bing.net/th?id=H.46969...11399&pid=15.1
http://ts4.mm.bing.net/th?id=H.46666...55799&pid=15.1

Good points, jim! I'll be looking for some of those stickers at the pet supply store this weekend.

I was asked Version 4.0 http://i884.photobucket.com/albums/a...re080Small.jpg http://i884.photobucket.com/albums/a...e168Medium.jpg

Version 3.0 http://i884.photobucket.com/albums/a...up128Small.jpg

2.0 looks identical to 3 and I would have to find and scan a pic of 1.0 That said people that come to the house over the years did not realize when 3.0 passed away after 16 years and we replaced him 6 months later with 4.0.

I would love to get another but they are just about impossible to find anymore.

I evac'd for the BF fire with 2 cats. We keep a collar with a bell on each. So we had the kids find them and tossed them in the carrier. Carrier went in the camper along with the dogs. 3 minutes tops to get them loaded. Horses and goats took more time.

Here you go TheGrey: http://www.survivalcentral.com/Guard...p/gsg-skcg.htm

http://a248.e.akamai.net/origin-cdn....jpg?1364975963

An audible trigger every time you feed them like shaking their food. Eventually, they come whenever they hear it.

Speaking of cats, guess who apparently got bitten in the face the last time he was outside?

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-j...o/IMAG1445.jpg
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-_...o/IMAG1447.jpg

Doesn't seem to be infected yet. You can see the other tooth mark lower in his fur in the second picture. This hole is perfectly round, and at least a centimeter deep. I thought it might have been from a pellet rifle for a minute. He doesn't seem to be too bothered about it, as my wife noticed it on accident. Our cat is the most loving cat ever, but he sure gets his ass kicked when he goes outside. This is the third time he's lost a fight to another animal. Last time was a bite to the back foot that swelled up and got infected. In the bottom picture you can see a chunk out of his right ear. That was from a squirrel like 7 years ago. [facepalm]
So what do you think? Another cat, raccoon, or fox? We've got all three to choose from.

Peroxide for cleaning & maintaining the area. Drawing salve / boilease applied to wound 2 - 3 x day. The salve assist with bacteria elimination peroxide is mild decontaminate to keep surface and subcutaneously clean.

Thank you. We did the peroxide and tried to get some neosporin in there. Last time we just took him to the vet once we saw the infection. If we can prevent The infection and keep him out of the vet altogether, we'll be pretty happy.
Now, where do I get the salve/boilese, and how should we apply the peroxide? I just swabbed the puncture with a peroxide soaked cotton ball.

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Originally Posted by Irving

Thank you. We did the peroxide and tried to get some neosporin in there. Last time we just took him to the vet once we saw the infection. If we can prevent The infection and keep him out of the vet altogether, we'll be pretty happy.
Now, where do I get the salve/boilese, and how should we apply the peroxide? I just swabbed the puncture with a peroxide soaked cotton ball.

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Swab peroxide as you have been doing. If you don't have any on hand get some s/steel surgical blades. Great item to have. You can lance a boil or other growth on a pet to allow drainage. We needed to do it to one pup years ago. Then follow correct sanitary procedures for wound clean & maintaining. A growth / tumor at the vet gets lanced and drained. No reason why you cannot do it at home, to save a few $ $ $ $
Hopefully you wil not need on any family members, still nice to have. You might be surprised, once on hand how many times you access them.

http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&keyw...cal%20scalpels

Boil Ease is a name of product. Any pharmacy carries drawing salve.
http://www.walgreens.com/store/c/smi...067870-product

http://www.walmart.com/search/search...h_constraint=0

Thanks for the tips Jim.

Fox and your cat would be dead. Raccoon would have taken a chunk. Cat was teaching yours a lesson