Emergency escape plan for pets

[chemgirl]

Do any of the pet lovers here have escape plans for their pets in case of emergency?

I was up thinking about it last night because my best friend's apartment building burned down yesterday. Luckily he was working late and he doesn't have any pets! He hasn't heard the details yet, but he thinks everyone made it out safely. He's sort of laughing it off right now, but I'm expecting some struggles in the near future.

I don't know what I'd do in a similar situation. FI and I just moved to a new condo with our three cats. In the case of a bad house fire (when I lived in a detached home) my plan was to grab whichever kitties I came across on my way out and make sure to leave an escape route open for the rest. Now we're in a highrise and I know that they realistically can't make it out without help. I also know that it would be impossible to handle three cats in the stairwell. I know in the grand scheme of things they're just our pets and we have to make sure to get ourselves out, but it would be very difficult to just leave them (I really can't picture FI leaving without them, and that scares me).

I currently have their carriers next to the door just in case (I'm a worrier) and the current plan is to try and get them in if I wasn't in obvious danger (ie alarm goes off at an odd time, but no sign of fire). I'm also thinking of getting them leashes so I can clip them on quickly if needed. They are wearing quick release collars right now, but I could switch them to harnesses and then clip them in a matter of seconds.

I know this sounds totally paranoid, I'm just shocked about my friend's place, and terrified that it could happen to us.

 

[dragonfly411]

Chem - I think that the cat crate idea is probably a good one. If we had to deal with a fire fortunately we are in a fenced yard that is large enough that if we let the dogs out front, they'd be able to get away. If we need to evacuate our entire home, it's going to be an interesting thing, and I have yet to convince my family of this. All in all we have seven dogs. We also have four horses.... but my grandparents sold our horse trailer. I plan on saving up to get at least a two horse, but probably another four horse so that if we have to get out of state, we'll be able to.

 

[davi_el_mejor]

Luckily the fire house is less than a 1/4 mile from our apt, and our dogs are loud and our neighbors know they're there. This is my number two fear for my pets when I leave the house. The first, someone breaks in, steals/kills the dogs and smashes the fish tanks.

If I had thirty seconds to get three cats out of an apt, I would skip the carriers and go straight for a reusable shopping bag. Grab the cats toss 'em in the bag, hold it closed and run.

 

[chemgirl]

Luckily the fire house is less than a 1/4 mile from our apt, and our dogs are loud and our neighbors know they're there. This is my number two fear for my pets when I leave the house. The first, someone breaks in, steals/kills the dogs and smashes the fish tanks.

If I had thirty seconds to get three cats out of an apt, I would skip the carriers and go straight for a reusable shopping bag. Grab the cats toss 'em in the bag, hold it closed and run.

Thanks, that's a fantastic idea! I keep those bags in the closet next to the front door. New plan is to toss them in the bag(s) and run. Then we could transfer them to the car (outdoor parking lot across the street from the building) and wait for help.

 

[Selkie]

I worry about this too, especially now that we have three cats. I really don't think I'd be able to round them all up, so I'd try to leave windows and doors open in as many rooms as possible (we live in a single story house, thankfully). There are also stickers you can buy for your front door that say something like "In case of fire, we have x cats and x dogs inside" that is meant for the firemen, in the scenario that you aren't home and there's a fire. My parents have the sticker, but they also live in a small town where fires are infrequent and the rescue squad may actually be willing to risk themselves looking for pets. I live in a large city, and am less confident in that happening, but I still plan to put one on the door. http://www.amazon.com/Pet-Safety-Alert-Window-Decal/dp/B00079YTTC

 

[elrohwen]

We currently just have the two rabbits. At night and while we're gone they stay in a large enclosed area - included in that area is a standard 4'x2' petstore type cage (plastic bottom, wire sides, etc). It would be fairly easy to stuff them in the small cage, shut the door, and get them out of the house quickly, especially because they are right next to the sliding glass door which goes out on our porch (the porch doesn't lead directly to the yard, but it's only 1-2' off the ground, so easy enough to hop off). If we were home it would be easy to get them out. Some people do allow their rabbits free roam of the house, but during an emergency they would be so hard to find - the last thing I would want is a rabbit hiding under the bed during a fire.

If we weren't home, I really don't know. Even with those pet stickers on the front door, I highly doubt the average fireman is going to risk his safety to run into a burning building to save someone's pets - dealing with the fire and any people inside is far more important. Especially if they see that the animals are rabbits, I doubt heroic measures would be taken.

I'm glad we live in a 4 unit townhouse, so the chances of a huge fire are much less than in a multi-unit apartment building.

 

[davi_el_mejor]

We currently just have the two rabbits. At night and while we're gone they stay in a large enclosed area - included in that area is a standard 4'x2' petstore type cage (plastic bottom, wire sides, etc). It would be fairly easy to stuff them in the small cage, shut the door, and get them out of the house quickly, especially because they are right next to the sliding glass door which goes out on our porch (the porch doesn't lead directly to the yard, but it's only 1-2' off the ground, so easy enough to jump). If we were home it would be easy to get them out. Some people do allow their rabbits free roam of the house, but during an emergency they would be so hard to find - the last thing I would want is a rabbit hiding under the bed during a fire.

If we weren't home, I really don't know. Even with those pet stickers on the front door, I highly doubt the average fireman is going to risk his safety to run into a burning building to save someone's pets - dealing with the fire and any people inside is far more important. Especially if they see that the animals are rabbits, I doubt heroic measures would be taken.

I'm glad we live in a 4 unit townhouse, so the chances of a huge fire are much less than in a multi-unit apartment building.

You'd be surprised at how much emergency responders value all life. Plus, it's incredibly heart warming to see a sooty firemen cradle a cat or dog or even a rabbit.

 

[elrohwen]

If we weren't home, I really don't know. Even with those pet stickers on the front door, I highly doubt the average fireman is going to risk his safety to run into a burning building to save someone's pets - dealing with the fire and any people inside is far more important. Especially if they see that the animals are rabbits, I doubt heroic measures would be taken.

You'd be surprised at how much emergency responders value all life. Plus, it's incredibly heart warming to see a sooty firemen cradle a cat or dog or even a rabbit.

As much as I adore my rabbits, and would risk my life to safe them, I really wouldn't expect a fireman to do the same. If it wasn't a bad fire and they had plenty of time, sure, or in this case where they might see the rabbits easily through the back door, but in most cases I don't think a fireman would risk his life for people's pets. And honestly, I wouldn't expect them to. I think the stickers can be very helpful in the cases where responders do have time to go in and look around, but in the case of a real raging fire, I think they're wishful thinking, unfortunately.

eta: I think the stickers could be more useful in cases of other natural disasters, like flooding, earthquakes, tornadoes, etc, though we don't really have any of those things where I live.

 

[Laila619]

I worry about this too. I would try to throw our two kitties into a big pet crate and run. I pray nothing will ever happen though.

 

[Selkie]

As much as I adore my rabbits, and would risk my life to safe them, I really wouldn't expect a fireman to do the same. If it wasn't a bad fire and they had plenty of time, sure, or in this case where they might see the rabbits easily through the back door, but in most cases I don't think a fireman would risk his life for people's pets. And honestly, I wouldn't expect them to. I think the stickers can be very helpful in the cases where responders do have time to go in and look around, but in the case of a real raging fire, I think they're wishful thinking, unfortunately.

eta: I think the stickers could be more useful in cases of other natural disasters, like flooding, earthquakes, tornadoes, etc, though we don't really have any of those things where I live.

I agree that of course it's going to be up to the discretion of the firemen whether they take the risk, but it can't hurt to have one and I wasn't sure the OP knew about those stickers. They certainly don't obligate anyone to rescue the pets, but it might add a little peace of mind to have one.

 

[ChloeTheGreat]

I've never really thought about this, but I guess I should! I do have one of those stickers on the window to let emergency response know my pets are inside, but it's already faded in the sun and who knows if they'd even see it.

My dog is always near me anyway, so I'm confident she would follow me out the door. (Not that I would just leave and expect her to follow, I just mean she would be right behind me no matter what.)
The issue would be my 2 cats. They are hiders! Sometimes I can't even find them when I come home from work, not to mention when they are stressed in a scary situation. My mischievous boy's newest hiding place is up inside my boxspring mattress! I would never be able to get him out of there.

Another concern (for those of us on the Gulf Coast) is evacuating with pets! I have evacuated twice with my two cats, but never with my dog. I know during the first evacuation (for Hurricane Rita) many dogs died because the owners weren't prepared for the long drive and didn't pack enough water. Luckily, I think hurricane season is looking uneventful this year, so I'll have time to think about what to pack.

 

[waterlilly]

for 3 cats you could grab any sort of bag/sheet/tablecloth etc. and just wrap 'em up or toss them in a duffle bag, etc. If you have a slightly larger crate you can keep in a closet near the front door - you could just squish all 3 of them in there and get the heck out too.

 

[monarch64]

Yes. Daisy's crate (where she hangs out for the most part of the day) is right under a first floor, front porch window. We have a plan that involves our neighbors across the street. They know exactly where the spare key is, and they also know that if they ever see the house on fire when we aren't home that they should (if able) come over and either use a spare key or break the window and get her out. For good measure, I only latch the top latch of her crate (it's a double latch) which just gives me peace of mind sort of that she would be able to break out. It's probably really unlikely that she would be able to get out even with one latch latched instead of two, but honestly it makes me feel better. She's a Houdini anyway...gah. The thought of this just makes me sick but I think about it every time we leave the house. I'm going to the fire department tomorrow to get some of those stickers that say that we have a pet inside.

 

[Jennifer W]

It would very much depend on the situation we were escaping. We have a single storey house, and all the rooms have emergency escape fittings on the sash and case windows, so the people could get out ok. The dog, on the other hand I would struggle to evacuate if we had to go out through a window. She's big and pretty much too heavy for me to lift to get her out of a window. None of the windows come down terribly low, so she would need to be lifted. Since I'd likely have a toddler to lift out too, I don't think the dog is going to fare well. What a horrible thought. She's a sweet doggy. If DH was home, he'd maybe have a fighting chance of hefting her out of a window. I shall cling to that notion and just hope we never find out if I'm right.

 

[Irishgrrrl]

This is one of those things that I worry about all the time. I feel confident that we could get all three dogs out relatively easily if we were home at the time. What worries me is the thought of what might happen if the house catches fire while we're NOT home (God forbid). We do have one of those stickers on our front door, but it doesn't say WHERE in the house the dogs can be found. Our two larger dogs are always shut in the kitchen and our little guy is in his crate in our bedroom. Of course, the firefighters would have no way of knowing where to look. Not that our house is that big, but still . . . it worries me.

 

[Callisto]

My cat is a hider too so if I were home I'd probably be able to find her and just grab her and hopefully throw her in a neighbors house before she squirmed out of my arms. Honestly if I wasn't home and the house burned down, she probably wouldn't make it. I highly doubt a fireman would be able to find her in that chaos and she has zero survival instincts so I doubt she'd run out to safety. Sad but the truth...

 

[that_someone_special]

The thought of this makes me feel sick. I have 4 cats.. 2 of which are big babies and would run and hide, the other 2 being curious about EVERYTHING would be out in the open.

I am scared that there will be a fire and I will only be able to grab one or two, or at the very least not be able to carry 4 and have to pick which ones to grab.

My other worry is that our house will be broken in to and they will leave a door or window open and the kitties will get out. I live in a very high traffic area and I am scared they will get lost, hurt, or killed.

Honestly? This has affected my life. I worry so much that I triple check everything if I do leave the house, and lately I've been staying home more... Just last week, we had a window open about 9 inches (way off the ground) and I was so panicked about my fat kitty who was sitting in the window breaking the screen and falling or hurting himself that I made FI turn back around to go home so we could close the window.

Same thing for tornado warnings and watches. I am worried a window will break and they will get cut from glass or escape. I usually lock two up in the bathroom (safest place) and two in the back bedroom (prevent fighting).

 

[chemgirl]

The thought of this makes me feel sick. I have 4 cats.. 2 of which are big babies and would run and hide, the other 2 being curious about EVERYTHING would be out in the open.

I am scared that there will be a fire and I will only be able to grab one or two, or at the very least not be able to carry 4 and have to pick which ones to grab.

My other worry is that our house will be broken in to and they will leave a door or window open and the kitties will get out. I live in a very high traffic area and I am scared they will get lost, hurt, or killed.
Honestly? This has affected my life. I worry so much that I triple check everything if I do leave the house, and lately I've been staying home more... Just last week, we had a window open about 9 inches (way off the ground) and I was so panicked about my fat kitty who was sitting in the window breaking the screen and falling or hurting himself that I made FI turn back around to go home so we could close the window.

Same thing for tornado warnings and watches. I am worried a window will break and they will get cut from glass or escape. I usually lock two up in the bathroom (safest place) and two in the back bedroom (prevent fighting).

I was so worried about a robber leaving the door open and them getting out that I had them microchipped and they now wear tags. They were all rescues and are not declawed so I think they could manage outside for a few days. Hopefully we'd be able to find them before anything happened.

Nothing wrong with worrying and being carefull.

 

[chemgirl]

Thanks everyone for your great ideas!

I feel a bit better about it now that I have a plan. I'll also be getting one of those stickers and putting it on my door. Hopefully they still apply in multi-unit buildings.

My friend's building isn't as bad as he originally thought and it looks like his unit escaped without much damage. He is going to a depot tomorrow to pick up his stuff. There is some smoke damage to his clothes and furniture, but the rental agency says most of his stuff is fine. He will have to move, but he is actually happy to be out of his lease. He had a break-in earlier this year and to him the fire is the "last straw." He's looking at finding a better neighbourhood where he hopefully won't have to deal with these issues again!

 

[zoebartlett]

I actually haven't really given it much thought. We live on the first floor of a small 2 floor condo building. If we had to escape, we'd probably go with Kenny's idea and put our 2 cats in reusable shopping bags and not deal with the carriers. In our previous condo, our neighbor had a sticker on her door that said something like: "Emergency Departments: Please note that there are 3 cats living here that need to be rescued in case of an emergency." I thought that was useful (although I'm not a fan of putting a sticker on our door).

 

[LGK]

FYI for all, cats can fall out screened windows- now I always push on the screens to see if a cat can pop one out. Years ago Rat fell 20 feet out a window and landed in a greenbelt, where he hid for hours under a blackberry bush til we got home (first time he ever saw the out of doors). He wasn't hurt, but he was traumatized and flipped out and we nearly lost him in the enormous greenbelt, it was sheer chance he ran *at* me rather than away. I always, always check screens now.

God I hope the building never burns. That scares the holy crap out of me. I figure if I ever need to extract the cats quickly, I'm rolling them in blankets or towels if I don't have time for their carriers (well, Rat at least because he would decide to fight me) and hucking them out the door ASAP, probably into the car if possible.

O.P. would be easy to deal with and isn't a hider; he was an outdoor kitty when we got him and is always trying to escape anyway, but Rat would hide for sure, and then go ballistic outside w/o a carrier for good measure, and you'd be trying to clutch a terrified fur tornado with five pointy ends intent on bleeding you out. Sonar is super fat, slow moving and placid, and would probably be easy to find and carry out.

If anyone else has a cat that flips out utterly outside too, I have had some success with a football style carry with Rat when he has needed retrieving from the terrifying great out of doors- hide his head and especially eyes under your arm, clutch him tightly, and he's a bit calmer and less buzz-saw like when he can't see what's going on. (The Mom Clamp on the scruff doesn't help in his case- he just figures you want to murder him slowly and retaliates.)

 

[Haven]

I think about this a lot.

We have three cats and a dog. I would grab the nearest bags and put the kitties in them. We have one leash and collar for one kitty by the front door, but I like the idea of buying two more to grab on our way out so I could put them on the boys once we're out of harm's way to keep them with us. The dog's leash is right by the door so I'd grab that on my way out and put it on her once we're far away.

When I was a little girl I had a persistent fear of house fires. I think it's because my mom had a teddy bear from college that survived her sorority's house fire, and his half melted button eyes used to make me weepy just to look at them. ANYWAY, for years and years I would crawl into bed, spread out my baby blanket, place all of my stuffed animals in the middle, and then grab the four corners of the blanket in one fist so I could easily escape with all my stuffed babies and my blankie in case of a fire.

We have those "In case of emergency please rescue us!" stickers on our front and back doors. They have pictures of a dog and cat on them, and we wrote in the number of each. I hope none of us ever find ourselves in this situation.

 

[TooPatient]

The aprtment building caught fire as we were packing to move into our house. I was at the apartment alone with our 3 cats and FI (then bf) was at the house getting some repairs done. Someone pounded on the door and yelled for me to "get out! The building's on fire!"....

(I'd been smelling something for 1/2 hour+ but figured it was maintenance guys doing something )

I grabbed the 1st cat (elderly cat sleeping on our bed) and dropped her into a soft-sided suitcase. Managed to grab the 2nd one and drop her into an empty moving box along with my cell phone. The problem was with the 3rd cat. She ran and would not come to me. She kept hiding under stuff and as soon as I almost reached her, she'd run to another place. I finally managed to grab her and almost had her in the box when she got loose and the guy came back by yelling that I have to get out NOW.
He took the box with one cat and I clung to the suitcase with the other while tears streamed down my face and blood covered my arms (3rd cat put up a fight).

There were people talking about the possibility that the fire was in the walls and others busting down doors. It was AWFUL. I couldn't quit crying. A few of the maintenance guys went back in to find my 3rd kitty but had to leave when the fire department showed up.


Luckily it was a pretty minor fire (it started in the apartment right above us) and we only had some smoke damage. I was able to go back in after some time and found the kitty.


We've got a monitored alarm in the house so that will go off if we aren't home (or if we are) but I really don't know how we'd get the animals out of the house. Millie (our new little puppy) stays in a kennel at night (for now) but the 2 cats and the other dog run around the house. All of them would scatter and hide if scared
I've had nightmares about this and really haven't found a good solution yet.

 

[monarch64]

I'm so surprised more people haven't responded to this thread. I guess it's a good thing that more people have not lost pets due to fires.

I think that the stickers on windows letting firefighters know that there are pets inside are huge.

Another really important thing is to know your escape route and plan it and PRACTICE IT with your family members as well as your pets!

Always, always be thinking about escape routes (just like when you are driving!), and keep pets in mind. Pets contained in an area that they probably can't get out of during the day will likely not be able to get out of in case of fire. Please, please keep that in mind when adding pets to a family. If you have to separate pets to keep the peace, please keep in mind that if you're confining a pet, what will happen in case of fire???


We humans are very selfish. We love to have companions. We love to know that we have a pet to come home to to love and cuddle us. What I think we DON'T think about is the absolute and total welfare of those beings (above and beyond when we feed, water, shelter, and helpthem with bodily functions).

There HAS to be an escape plan for every living being within a household. Yes, animals act instinctually, but if we keep them in quarters that don't allow for quick escapes, then we need to make sure that our own escape plan in case of disaster definitely includes them.

 

[zoebartlett]

Haven, I also had a persistent fear of house fires when I was little (although, unlike you, I didn't have a real reason). When my parents were tucking me in at night, I used to ask them to "make a lot of noise" so I would know that they wouldn't be "eaten" by a fire.

 

[waterlilly]

Haven, I also had a persistent fear of house fires when I was little (although, unlike you, I didn't have a real reason). When my parents were tucking me in at night, I used to ask them to "make a lot of noise" so I would know that they wouldn't be "eaten" by a fire.

I used to have a big fear of fires as a child too...I think it developed as soon as I was able to understand the seriousness of when our family would practice a fire drill. I know they were important, but they caused me to be paranoid about a real fire happening!

I am fortunate in that our home setting has allowed us to build kennels in our basement that lead to a large fenced area outside. Our dogs don't need to be kenneled while we aren't home, but due to my fear of fires, I put them in there so they would have an escape outside if something were to happen.

Because of my fear of fires during the winter - we also have a shelter for them in the fenced area...because what if it were 10 degrees outside and a fire happened? They'd freeze to death escaping the fire . I'm totally paranoid, I think of every possible thing that could go wrong and try to come up with a fix! And this is just for my dogs! Imagine what a wreck I'd be if I had kids?!

 

[Irishgrrrl]

I am fortunate in that our home setting has allowed us to build kennels in our basement that lead to a large fenced area outside. Our dogs don't need to be kenneled while we aren't home, but due to my fear of fires, I put them in there so they would have an escape outside if something were to happen.

Because of my fear of fires during the winter - we also have a shelter for them in the fenced area...because what if it were 10 degrees outside and a fire happened? They'd freeze to death escaping the fire . I'm totally paranoid, I think of every possible thing that could go wrong and try to come up with a fix! And this is just for my dogs! Imagine what a wreck I'd be if I had kids?!

Waterlilly, I like your set-up! I don't really know if we can do something like this with our current house, but I plan to talk to DH about it and see if it would work. (We do already have a fenced back yard, so that's a good thing.) And I definitely would like to do something similar when we build our new house in a couple years. This sounds like the perfect solution!

 

[dragonfly411]

What really scares me is barn fires. I'd hope that if ours caught we'd catch it early enough to get to the stall gates to let the horses out. Ours is a shed row and has gates on both ends of each stall. Barns with indoor stall openings, but no outdoor openings scare me. I will always have gates on both sides of stalls for this reason. So many horses get lost in fires

I now have to make sure I have a bag near the turtle tank in case I have to throw them into something and get out. One of them (formerly Spike, now named Waylon) bites.

 

[TooPatient]

What a tricky subject.

I've been thinking more about this and it really seems to be a tough one.

If we keep our animals in a closed area while we are home sleeping (like in a kennel or bedroom with a door closed), they are easier to grab and get out in a hurry. But if we leave them there while we are gone they could die in a fire. Even with all of the work-from-home people in our neighborhood, there are times when the cul-de-sac is empty so we can't even trust that a neighbor would be able to get them out if they had to.
Also, if we leave windows or doors open while we are at work they could potentially get out in case of a fire BUT there would also be the chance that one of them would fall out the window (one of our cats can pull the screen material from the frame and climb out ) and get lost/hurt. Open windows are also an invitation to criminals. So we keep all of our windows closed to keep our animals safe


One of those challenges that faces all of us with animals who still have to work to pay the bills.

We do the best we can and think about how to best protect them and plan for all of the what ifs.


I think a combination of microchipping, collar/tags, semi-confined (so their locations are known), and talking/practicing with neighbors is what will work best for us. All of our neighbors have dogs so I'm sure an organized neighborhood plan in case anyone's house burns would be appreciated by everyone.