Locating displaced pets during Hurricane Ian

As Hurricane Ian continues to wreak havoc on Florida, pet parents have been displaying rising concerns surrounding what to do if their pet goes missing. To better prepare them or help them look for displaced pets, Lindsay Butzer, DVM, located in Boca Raton, Florida, shared advice on the topic.

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According to Butzer in an email to dvm360®, there is a good chance that someone will find your pet and bring them to a veterinary clinic or shelter nearby if they are microchipped. She advises anyone who has lost a microchipped pet to begin calling local shelters, and then all the veterinary hospitals in the area where the pet went missing.

If the pet does not have any ID tags, they still may make it home. Buzter still recommends calling shelters to see if the pet has been dropped off, if not, they might have found their way into a wooded area or different neighborhood to wait the storm out or are actively trying to get home. Being patient and waiting to see if your pet finds their way home is all you can do in this scenario.

For those who have lost a cat, Butzer explained that cats typically will stay as close to home as they can but it might take several days or months before they return home because cats can survive by eating lizards and rodents. For when they finally make their way back home or to help encourage their return, Butzer provdided the below insight.

“A tip for cat owners is to leave the garage door 5-10 inches open so their cat can sneak inside if they do find their way home. And I always recommend using the sound of rattling food in a bowl to entice your pet to come home and loudly calling for them in the distance so they can hear and recognize your voice to come home,” explained Butzer, in the email to dvm360®.

For more advice related to diaster situations with pets, check out these tips from the American Veterinary Medical Association.