Flood Advice for UK Pet Owners
19th February 2020
With the continuing adverse weather conditions, we thought our readers would appreciate some advice on the precautions you may want to take when dealing with potential flooding.
The preparation for flooding comes first. If you are worried about potential flooding at your address you may want to visit the Environment Agencies website to check if the area you’re currently living in is at risk of flooding. Knowing this you can plan ahead and schedule your pet care to suit the conditions. On top of this you may also want to sign up for flood warnings via the Gov.UK website:
https://flood-warning-information.service.gov.uk/warnings
Preparing your pets and their needs is crucial to ensure everything is contained and managed when dealing with severe weather. The PDSA have advised some very important procedures in dealing with this, a summary can be found below or for more in depth advice, please click on the PDSA link:
- Making sure any pets you have are microchipped and your contact details are up to date.
- Keeping a supply of food and water ready, in case of a flood.
- Having carriers for cats and small pets on hand in case you have to leave your home quickly. Remember never leave pets unattended inside a carrier if in a flooding situation.
- If you live in an area that’s at a high risk of being flooded or that often floods, think about getting life jackets for you and your pets.
- Check home insurance policies to see if they cover boarding costs for pets, in case of damage to the home that means you’re unable to stay there.
- Don’t take your dog for a walk until the area is safe again.
- Keep cats indoors with access to a litter tray so they can’t get stranded by rising flood water.
- Close doors to keep pets shut away from the floodwater, if it has come into your home.
- Move small pets inside. If you can make space for them upstairs in your house, that will help keep them safe if your home does flood.
- Remember, floodwater is often contaminated and could harm your pet if swallowed, so keep pets well away from the water. Dog vaccinations are important and should include a vaccination against Leptospirosis, a harmful bug that can be found in and around water (including floodwater).
- Remember to keep your pet’s insurance up-to-date. Flooding can be a stressful time for our pets and they run the risk of hurting themselves.
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