COVID-19 Prepare and Plan for Your Pet

Ensuring that you have a Pet Preparedness Plan in place will be crucial if you or your loved ones get sick, need to self-isolate or go to hospital. Download the Pet Preparedness Checklist.

Make sure that you have at least two weeks’ worth of food for your pet. If they are on any medications or a prescription veterinary diet have at least a month’s stock of both. For cats, ensure you have enough cat litter and if your dog does have to stay inside with you for a few weeks consider having enough poo bags, pee pads or a grass potty.  To keep your pet healthy, have at least a month of parasite prevention. Call your vet before visiting to ensure they have the food or medicine ready for you to help with social distancing.

Contact and designate someone to look after you pet if you need to go to hospital. Make sure they have a way to access your house and know your pets and their requirements. Have all food clearly marked with feeding instructions. If your pet is on medications have instructions on what and when, and to make it easier have at least two weeks of medications pre dispensed into labeled pill organizers. Write up a day planner of your pets’ normal routine and quirks so that whoever is looking after them can keep their routine as stable as possible. Have a call list which includes your veterinarian, alternate nearby veterinarian and available boarding facilities.

Gather up all the essential documents relating to your pet and have them easily accessible. This includes registration, microchip details, vaccinations, medical history, a photo of you and your pet for identification and a pre filled out boarding admission form. Make sure your microchip registration details are up to date and consider a secondary form of identification for your pet such as a collar and tag. Have a full list of emergency contacts including yours and family and friends phone numbers and email addresses.

Research and contact local boarding or pet minding facilities near you in the event that your pet requires emergency accommodation. Ask them to email you their boarding paperwork so this can be pre filled out and also send them any vaccination or registration paperwork in advance so that even a stranger could get them to safe accommodation. Have appropriate transport crates or leashes for each pet and place these within easy access. Most boarding facilities will require up to date vaccinations, so check your pet’s vaccination status and call your vet if you require a booster.

If you and your pet do need to self-isolate make sure you keep their mind and body active. For cats, this includes at least 30 minutes of one on one playtime or interaction; new toys that can be brought out for stimulation and indoor cat grass for nibbling on. For dogs that are usually walked you will have to find alternate ways to keep them active: Lots of one on one games, rotate dog toys and have a stock of new ones, play hide and seek, teach them new tricks, give them treat balls that make them work for the reward, make an indoor obstacle course and spread out meal times. If you have a garden spend active time exercising with them and play a game of find the pre-hidden treats. Get pet enrichment ideas from our blog or check out our animal training factsheets.