Tips to help prepare clients and the veterinary team for a disaster situation

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Keeping pets and livestock safe during a wildfire is critical for any animal owner. As wildfires continue to burn in California and Arizona, emergency experts and care specialists are providing advice to other veterinary professionals, which can be communicated to pet owners to help ensure the safety and survival of patients and other animals. They also share insights about patients affected by wildfires.

Preparing for a disaster

Have a plan

An evacuation should be planned in advance. According to Schwarzman Animal Medical Center (AMC) in New York, New York, veterinary teams and clients should already know the nearest pet-friendly shelters, hotels, and boarding facilities when a disaster unfolds. A clear evacuation route should also be created and shared with the entire household.¹

Keep pets identifiable

Pet collars should be checked for proper identification (ID) and microchip information kept updated. A current address, phone number or other contact information should be attainable be a rescuer in the event a pet is separated from the owner during a disaster like a wildfire.

In a dvm360 interview, Karen Roach, RVT, VTS (ECC), a team trainer at Mount Laurel Animal Hospital in New Jersey, said microchipping is not limited to companion animals. “I know we don't often like to microchip our horses and goats, but that might not be a bad idea to have some kind of ID on our pets [and] livestock,” she added.

De-stress for safety

Pet owners should know where to look for their animals, as they may retreat to a familiar hiding place if stressed. Additionally, carriers and leashes must be readily available for a quick evacuation. The AMC team and Roach were aligned in the recommendation that pets should be practiced in getting into carriers to reduce stress and transport time during an emergency.

“Have your pet used to being able to be scooped up and shoved in the car really fast,” Roach said. “For cats, especially, that can be hard to do.”

Roach suggested having the pet’s crate or carrier frequently in view so that the animal gets familiar with it. “Put bedding in there, put treats in there. So they know it's kind of a safe space, [and] if you have to put them in there, it's not going to be a big shock,” she added.

Emergency kit

Assembling an emergency kit that can be grabbed quickly in the event of an evacuation is recommended by Roach, as well as the veterinary team at AMC. Roach noted that lists of what to include in a pet emergency kit vary and examples can be found online. As one example, she and the AMC team collectively suggested including the following items in an emergency kit1:

• Nonperishable food
• Water
• Pet first aid kit for treating minor injuries
• Medications
• Comfort items such as a blanket or toy
• Important documents including vaccination history and a recent photo in a waterproof bag

Image courtesy of Schwarzman Animal Medical Center

During a disaster

Evacuate quickly

“What's going on in California right now, there's high winds, so that fire is going so fast, and that's terrifying,” Roach noted. “So being prepared ahead of time and being able to get your animals scooped into the car [is critical].”

However, in some instances, Roach said owners may need to simply provide opportunity for animals to run from danger themselves, by eliminating barriers such as gates. “Sometimes that's what you have to do, especially if you have animals that you can't just throw in your car. You might need to just let them loose, let them get out of the way on their own, and find them later,” Roach said.

Emergency care

Mary Ann Evans, BS, CVT, VTS (ECC), an intensive care unit nursing supervisor at Mount Laurel Animal Hospital, said smoke inhalation often occurs with house fires and wildfires, in an interview with dvm360. With this type of respiratory distress, she said, “you see them physically having struggles with breathing.” Supplying oxygen and allowing time to heal are key to treating smoke inhalation.

“Respiratory cases are some of the tougher cases for us to see, because that is something that we can outwardly see our patients struggle with. Oxygen support is the main and most important part of that treatment,” Evans said.

In the event of a local disaster event, a large influx of affected animals may arrive at a veterinary care facility, Roach advised. Improvisation may be needed to manage the caseload. As an example, Roach shared was an experience she had working at an emergency hospital in Nova Scotia, Canada, where she was part of a team that treated felines coming from an apartment fire.

“We only had very limited oxygen cages, and the firemen just kept bringing us cats all day long, because they kept going back in the building and finding more. At one point, we had cat carriers on the counter with clear plastic garbage bags around them and an oxygen tube running in, because we had to ‘MacGyver’ up some oxygen cages. These animals needed it,” Roach said.

In the field, Deb Zoran, DVM, PhD, MS, director of the Veterinary Emergency Team at Texas A&M University, has seen her share of wildfire-related injuries in animals. In 2024, she led a team of veterinary volunteers to the Smokehouse Creek wildfire in Texas, and treated patients there that mostly required care for burns.

“Animals that escaped the fire were found in canyons or were found running loose. We had horses, we had donkeys, we had a lot of cattle… We had some burned horses that managed to escape enough of the fire that they just needed a little bit of burn care,” Zoran recounted in a dvm360 interview. “We had some fire cats that escaped. Ranchers would go back to their burned-out barns and would find the cats…Fire cats are amazing. They're very resilient survivors. If you can give them some burn care, they do really, really well.”

Conclusion

Veterinary teams can help keep patients safe by educating clients on disaster preparedness and evacuation recommendations. These professionals can also prepare the clinic with supplies and resources to treat animals affected by wildfire for cases that include smoke inhalation and burns.

Reference

Pet emergency tips from the Schwarzman Animal Medical Center. Schwarzman Animal Medical Center. January 10, 2025.