IMPORTANT!! Please Read.

[tanlover14]

Sorry if I scared anyone into coming into this thread post – but I wanted EVERYONE to read.

 

UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANCE OF AN EVACUATION PLAN THAT CONSISTS OF YOU AND YOUR FURBABIES!   I can’t stress this enough.  I personally had an incident this month where an explosion erupted through my condo complex.  Although we had an emergency plan in place for getting the bunnies out – something unexpected happened – my BF was not here and that wiped our evacuation plan right out and I had no way to get all the bunnies out.  I had to leave them to get help.  And it was the worst feeling in the world.  Not knowing if coming back for them would even be possible by the time I got help.  Thankfully, all my bunnies were okay.  

Another incdent happened that made the importance of this even greater for me.  Kathy, a member on BB, was affected by the Fertilizer Plant Explosion in West, Texas.  Thanks to my post she rearranged her bunny houses and knew which carriers were able to fit into her car in what order only a few days before.  If she wouldn’t have had this plan in place that night – her buns may not have been successfully evacuated in the small amount of time she had.

 

It may seem like these things will never happen to you but if they do – you will never forgive yourself if you don’t have a plan.  HAVE A PLAN prepared because in the moment you may lose all sense of direction and be too confused to really put the situation together and get everyone (including yourself) out in time.  HAVE A PLAN.  

 

[jerseygirl]

*thumbs up*
Great reminder TL !

You know, I’ve always thought I’d be able to move my guys ok. But over the last 12 months, I’ve had lots of extra bunny heads at various times. Getting mine own plus them out in a hurry is something I had NOT thought about.

[tanlover14]

I know exactly what you mean – that’s ultimately what happened to me. We had just added Nora. The other bunnies all go in one carrier which is all set to go.

Nora was also sick at the time so putting her in the other carrier was even worse plus none of the others had met her before. AND to make matters worse her carrier is a hard one that needs to be re-put together when you pull it out. (Now it’s always assembled) I had never thought about that before either. I was so confused about what to do – not to mention lugging five bunnies down the stairs and myself. I can’t wait until she’s bonded and we have one big carrier to throw them all into again! But now that hers is always assembled it makes it so much easier. I was fumbling as I was trying to put it together and the whole place was filling with smoke. Made me really realize how un-prepared we were even though we thought we were!

[MoveDiagonally]

Thank you for posting this! I was thinking about this the other day and realized I don’t have enough carriers for all my small pets if they needed to be packed up at the same time.

[mocha200]

This made me think, thanks! At our old house I had the bunnies carrier right next the bunnies cage with the door unlatched ( I have a top loader and the door is harder to get undone) so I could throw it open in a moment. Now I am not as prepared. One thing I am nervous about is that we only have one carrier for our cats and I don’t think all three of them would fit. What I really want is a pet emergency bag that I could grab along with the carrier. I might make a thread about that and see if anyone has ideas on it or what to put in it.

[Caroline22]

I really like the idea of an emergency bag. I’m really not worried about getting Lucy out and into her carrier in time, but I’m always worried about food and hay and other stuff that she’ll need afterwards.

[LBJ10]

Heh, my in-laws “borrowed” our carrier and have yet to give it back.

[Roberta]

LBJ – I’d be phoning them and saying you need it for a vet appointment this week and have them return it ASAP.

[Bam]

Great advice!

I have Bam’s carrier standing by, but when I bring Yohio home, I should have a separate carrier for him until he’s properly bonded with Bam. If I get them bonded, hoping for help from you guys with that…It’s still in the future though.

[jerseygirl]

I was so confused about what to do – not to mention lugging five bunnies down the stairs and myself.

I was talking with a friend today about this thread.
She has a large carrier that has an extendable handle and caster wheels. That would make things a whole lot easier!! I know my larger carrier is heavy with just 2 rabbits in it.
Wheels wouldn’t help on stairs but I wonder if you could rig up something that could make it easier on stairs?

In other threads its been mentioned to put contact details on the carriers or even write a phone number inside the rabbits ear in case the owner and pet get separated.
Or microchipping is something people could do in advance.

Heh, my in-laws “borrowed” our carrier and have yet to give it back.

LBJ, I haven’t had my big carrier at home for months! I only got it back this past weekend. Again, I hadn’t thought about how that could have left me in a bind had there been an emergency.

[LittlePuffyTail]

Thanks for posting this, Tan. 

I am a huge procratinator and this has been on my “to do” list for a long time. I’m gonna get to work. The biggest threat here in the summer is hurricanes.

Some things I’m going to do this week, in addition to an evacutation outline:

- Bring the dog kennel and Stormy’s old pet store cage, which are being stored in my basement, to my Mom’s for storage. If something were to happen to my house, that’s where we would go and I would have a place to house the bunnies. Small but good enough for temporary.

– Keep the rabbit carriers in the rabbit room. If there was a fire, it would be pretty impossible to get downstairs to get the carriers and then back up to the rabbit room.

Here are some helpful sites I found:

This is one from the ASPCA:

http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/disaster-preparedness/

 

This one is from House Rabbit Network:

http://www.rabbitnetwork.org/articles/evacplan.shtml

[Sarita]

I’m more worried about when I’m not at home than when I am at home to tell you the truth.

[bunnygirl]

I agree with Sarita! Our family live full time working lives. Except me…I’m at school of course, but even that’s 9 till 3. Now we don’t live in a state where floods or bush fires (Near our houses anyway…the bush fires are fairly coming about 40 minutes away…) are that common, but I use hair straighteners, we use the iron, the stove, everything. I know house fires easily happen. What would happen if I was at school and…oh it’s too harsh to think about. Anyway, Apollo’s carrier is always prepped and ready to go anytime, and I’m currently training him to hop in on command. Though I guess he might not follow command in blind panic. I don’t know?!

[Lis]

I have a hurricane/flood evac plan in place, because we live in a coastal town and need it. But I need a “run out of the house now” plan in place and have been procrastinating.

[Amys Animals]

Great reminder! I was just thinking about this the other day when the explosion in West, Texas happened. I don’t live there but it made me think if something were to happen here what would I do? I have their carrier in my room where they are and I am planning to get a step ladder for my room so I can get out the window easily.

I think it is smart for everyone to have an evacuation plan for themselves and all their animals.

[Stickerbunny]

I only have the two buns, they both fit in my carrier. And the bird, who has his sleep/travel cage. If I had to, I could throw all three of them into the birds big cage and wheel it right out the door. I’m much more concerned with if something happens and I am not at home, because I doubt any of our neighbors would try to help my pets.

[MoveDiagonally]

I just wanted to add that they make pet carrier backpacks and messenger style carriers. I think they only come in the “soft type” of carrier which isn’t ideal for a bunny that chews but it might make it easier for one person to carry out multiple pets if they needed too.

There’s usually someone always at home. I must get my roommate on board with any animal evacuation plan! (he loves our pets so he won’t really mind) This is a good thread.

[Deleted User]

Move Diagonally Thank You! I had no idea about backpack style carriers, I would like to find one! My Yorky’s goes over my shoulder, but it only holds him and I always wondered how I’d manage multiple carriers. Thanks!

[LBJ10]

They just left town. Maybe I can sneak it back home. They were using it for that cat, but apparently they have abandoned the idea of catching it due to the recent turn of events. If I got it, I would have to wash it out since that cat had been sleeping inside it. We do have a top loading small animal carrier, but I don’t think both buns would fit inside it. It’s really small, we used it a long time ago for our lizard.

[jerseygirl]

LPT, you mean Tanlover?

I think pillow slips were mentioned around the time of Tanlovers experience and also Janet Gerens tragedy.

While not ideal, if you have a lot of rabbits and carriers are cumbersome or out of reach for some reason, this could be a quick way to get animals out of a danger zone. They even might be more subdued in a pillow slip. After, they’d obviously would need to go into a more suitable carriers.

[LittlePuffyTail]

lol, sorry Jersey and Tanlover, just corrected that. Guess I didn’t have enough coffee in me.

I think it’s a good idea to have Fire Pet Rescue Window Clings like this: 

 

 

There’s lots of places online to buy these. I’ve even seen some rabbit specific ones.

I had some but need to get new ones. The condensation of the last couple of years has made them curl and no longer stick. I bought mine from my local SPCA. I had one on each door window.  My pet number has also changed since then so time to update.

[Emmie]

I had an experience with the buns two weeks ago. The fire alarm in the apartment went off and we needed to grab the buns and run. They were in seperate rooms then, but it didn’t take us long to grab them. The only issue we had was with Thane. He was freaking out and was difficult to get him into the carrier. Any tips on how to deal with this?

[Caroline22]

I found this free one online, but it’s only available for a certain number of states. I like it though, because it has a picture of a dog, cat, and rabbit on it.

 

http://www.asgsecurity.com/free-window-decal.html

 

[jerseygirl]

Emmie, probably throwing a towel or blanket over him first then scoop him into the carrier. That’s the only thing I can think of that might help.

[tanlover14]

I have to agree with Emmie. Getting a hold of Simba (who is the BEST handling bun EVER) was so hard to get a hold of and they’re all in x-pens!

[RabbitPam]

I’ve had the experience of a fire alarm going off in my apartment building (ear burstingly loud) and grabbed a towel to throw over my bunny for a quick scooping up.
I also have had an evacuation bag packed every summer during hurricane season here. Whether it’s in case of fire, hurricane, or any sudden need to leave home (even an emergency family illness) it’s a good idea to either have a bag packed and ready or a carrier and a list you can grab to toss things into a bag on short notice.
But do remember that if you get your bun in a carrier and your vital papers like cc cards & checkbook with you, you won’t have to go far before you can buy greens and a bowl for water until you reach a safe place. It’s just helpful to have that packed bag with hay, pellets, dishes and a litter pan handy.

[tanlover14]

You guys are so right – I’m going to create an evacuation bag also. Even though we were able to grab the essentials when I went up to grab the bunnies with the firefighter, they all had to be tossed as they smelled like smoke. This is so smart. I’m going to create an evacuation bag tonight. Specifically for this purpose.

[mocha200]

So I was just about to make a evacuation bag when my Mom pointed out, you will never need it….. We live up north where there is not hurricanes and the only thing that could happen is a tornado or a fire. She said in case of a house fire, you wouldn’t need any food as it is so easy to get (my rabbits don’t eat pellets and we have 3 or more bales of hay in my grandparents shed.) We can also stay at my grandparents house in case of a fire. Do you think I would ever need one?

[tanlover14]

Hmmm, most likely not then Mocha. My problem was trying to get to the store before they closed as well as trying to figure everything else out after not being able to go home and not being sure where we were going to stay. We needed hay, food, and litter. The essentials. But I decided to throw a few toys in because we had to buy ALL new toys for them since everything was smoke damaged. They were bored out of their minds until we got to the store to get them some. I added some hay cubes also.

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