If There Was Fire/Tornado/Something Terrible Would You.....

Would you spend precious minutes of your time and your life finding your kitties before saving yourself??


I was just thinking about this the other day when our fire alarm went off (its super sensitive). If there was a raging fire or a tornado in my front yard I would search for every last one of my three cats before saving myself. My boyfriend is the same way. I know some people think I'm crazy because I would risk my own life for my kitties. Is anyone else this "crazy"?

We had a nasty fire 2 weeks ago on our street. Two of their cats went missing. So we discussed that DH would unlock the car and we grab as many kitties as we can. There are two that hid and I am afraid we would have to leave them. If DH & Mom were at work.....I don't know what I would do

I would whether it was safe or not. Chances are if something happened the first thing I would think is the cats rather then myself.

So no, you aren't crazy- you're just a cat person.

Yep! One time when I was married we had a tornado warning. At the time my husband and I had of our own 4 dogs, 3 cats, 2 turtles, a pig, 2 rabbits and 1 guinea pig. We also had 2 foster dogs and 6 foster cats! So we were running around trying to get all of the animals downstairs got all but one of our cats and we couldnt find her anywhere! So he made me go down into the basement and I could hear him calling her. She came strolling out from behind the washing machine and tried to run upstairs to him. So I yelled at him that Tigger was downstairs and he came down looking annoyed saying that the tornado warning had been cancelled. LOL So we dragged all the animals and cages down there for nothing.

But I would do it again in a heart beat.

I would and did in our last fire alarm last night.

I always keep one of the girls' carriers put togehter and accessible. Both like to sit in them anyway. I deffinately would be looking for my girls. I know their hiding spots and the only ones where it's hard to get to them is when they go under the couches and stuff. What I need to get together is their paperwork in a safe place.

Absolutely. We were just having a discussion the other day about how we'd save the babies if there were a fire or something because at the very least Bagheera is impossible to pick up. I said, well, if worse came to worse, I'd open the door, let her run out, and, we'd have to find her later. Better to be safe and lost to be hopefully found later, than burned. The rest I'd have to round up. We are currently working on teaching them to come when called, and getting them to get in their carriers.

I'd totally put my life at risk to save them, though.

Absolutely. We keep our carriers in the bedroom. We've had to gather the cats because of bad storms and possible tornadoes before.

Yes.

When we were evacuated from our home a month ago because we were being flooded, the first and only thing I did was grab the boys' carrier that was in the hall closet by the door, put it on the counter, out of sight of any water coming in & put them in it, grabbed a bag and put their food in it, and left. We had 5 minutes to get our things and GO.

It was instinct. I couldnt think of anything else at that moment other than getting them in there. I thank GOD everyday that they were by me when I answered the door that morning when the National Guard & our landlord was there telling us to get out- and knew where they were, if not, we wouldn't have had enough time to get them out with us. They would have been there alone, and heaven forbid I even think about what would have happened then

I keep soft sided carried under our couch and an emergency evacuation kit for the kitties close by. I would definatly not be leaving with out my kitties and neither would my husband. The only way I'd consider leaving them is if our searching for them would certainly result in our death/s. For us the bigger question is where can we go with cats in tow if we have to leave our home in an emergency.

We have the carriers handy for emergency. In our other house, when the tornado sirans went off, we threw the cats in the carriers (only had 2 in the house) and took them to the basement and kept them in the carriers till clear.

The dog we had to remain calm cause she panics easily and still had to take her collar and force her down the steps to the basement. She was put in a down/stay and couldn't go back up.

Keno would be the worse in a fire as she would hide instead of following us. If need be, I'd just grab the nearest pillowcase or towel, grab the cats and go. You can always drop a cat in the pillowcase and throw them over your shoulders.

The MOST important thing to remember is YOU CANNOT PANIC NO MATTER WHAT. The animals will pick up on that and make it worse by hiding or fighting you.

I keep 4 carriers ready to go in the garage and have an entire shelf made up with food/blankets/etc that i can grab very fast in an emergency for my kities. The dogs leashes are kept near there too so we can grab them quickly.

Also be sure those who are planning ahead that you keep copies of all important documents with your evacuation kits in a water safe bag (wedding lisence, drivers lis., ss card, proof of vaccinations for your pets, military id, anything like that you might need.)

I forgot to say all the younger foster kittens are crated unless I'm awake/at home watching them. So I always know where they are. Skye, Calamity, Sundance and KoKo are only allowed in the livin room and kitchen area and theres no place for them to hide. So I can always find them.

Originally Posted by StarryEyedTiGeR

Also be sure those who are planning ahead that you keep copies of all important documents with your evacuation kits in a water safe bag (wedding lisence, drivers lis., ss card, proof of vaccinations for your pets, military id, anything like that you might need.)

Click to expand...

Great tip! Thanks.

I cannot imagine leaving my home without the kids!

this actually really worries me, I've recently found out how a mess this building is that we live in, thank God we are on the first floor. I need to get more carriers. 2 of the cats hide when there are loud noises or new people and the rabbit goes and runs under the bed. Yes I would find them all though, lots of windows around here to thankfully.

well, I would be in a tough spot if there were to be an emergency at my place. It's only me and I have 12 cats a dog and a rat Vino (the Dog) will go with me wherever and most of the cats do not hide, but Demeter is a different story. I would rather die trying to save my cats than live with the guilt of not trying

of course. 7 years ago there was a earthquake (6.5 on the Richter, we lived on the 7th floor) i was a kid then, we didnt have any cats, but i had a parrot, first thing that i took was a cage with my bird

I would do everything in my power to save my kitties. I would be crushed/devistated/dead inside if I lost them to such a disaster. I may even die with them if I couldnt gather all three... OMG im ready to cry just thinking about it

Definately. I couldn't live with myself if I didn't at least try to get all my babies. I have thought about it... and the first thing I would do is put my macaw in his carrier, then try to get all the tiels while my mom was getting the cats. If they weren't all there after getting the birds I would help her. The birds would have to be first since they are in cages and have no way to get to safety. The only problem is...what would we do after getting all of them if it was a tornado? We don't have a basement so we would probably have to load everyone up in the bathroom.

Have even thought of how the heck I would get all the tiels and luckily someone on a parrot forum gave me a great idea of using pillow cases to put them in just to get them all to safety.