How to Make a Pet Emergency Plan Before You Travel

The phone call you hope never comes

You are at a family wedding across the country, your phone is in your bag, and your sitter in Brookland notices your dog has been vomiting and will not settle. What happens next depends on what you wrote down before you left: whether the sitter may take your dog to a vet, which vet, and how much you are willing to spend before someone reaches you.

Tufts University's Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine suggests talking through exactly this with anyone who watches your pet: what you would want if you could not answer your phone, whether there is a limit to the cost of care you allow without your direct approval, and whether you would want CPR performed if needed. These are hard questions, and they are much easier to answer at your kitchen table than in an emergency room.

Put permission and a spending limit in writing

The FDA advises that a temporary caretaker's instructions include a signed authorization for veterinary care and financial limits for that care. Pick a figure you are comfortable with and write it down, along with what the sitter should do if a vet recommends something above it. It also helps to call your vet's office before a trip to say who will be caring for your pet and to ask how the office handles a caretaker's authorization.

At Danny's Pet Care, every new client books a meet-and-greet through our client forms, where you can download our Client Contract and Petsitting Form. As our pet sitting FAQs explain, the Petsitting Form asks for your pet's medical condition, your veterinarian's name and contact details, and your consent for us to take your pet to your vet in an emergency. Add your spending limit and CPR wishes in writing alongside it.

Numbers and records to leave out

Our post on what to put in your pet sitter's instructions covers feeding, behavior and daily routine. This is the emergency layer to add on one sheet, by the door or on the refrigerator:

• Your regular vet: name, phone number, address and hours.
• The nearest emergency animal hospital: Tufts notes that not all hospitals offer the same services, so learn which ones near you handle emergencies and overnight stays, and call ahead before you go.
• ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center: (888) 426-4435. The ASPCA says a consultation fee may apply.
• DC Animal Care and Control: (202) 888-PETS (7387), which DC Health lists for animal emergencies in the District.
• People to call: your cell phone, a second contact, and a nearby friend who can step in.
• Medical records: Tufts suggests printed records including the rabies and vaccine certificates, and a list of current medicines with the name, amount, how often and what times, as your vet prescribed.
• A recent photo of your pet, plus its microchip number and an ID tag with current details.

Signs that mean go to a vet now

The University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine lists these symptoms as possibly life-threatening and needing emergency care: trouble breathing, seizures, eating poisons or intoxicants, collapse or significant lethargy, trauma, straining to urinate or being unable to pass urine, retching without bringing anything up or repeated vomiting, eye injuries and difficult labor. It advises calling the hospital on the way, and bringing any packaging from a suspected poison and your pet's current medicines.

Tufts warns that even a gentle pet may bite when it is scared or in pain, and that no one should try first aid if it is unsafe. Wrapping a pet in a blanket or towel can help get it to the hospital. For specific risks, see our guides to foods and plants toxic to dogs and cats, summer heat and winter cold.

A basic pet first aid kit

Tufts suggests a home kit with disposable gloves, clean gauze pads, bandage materials (non-stick pads, padding, rolled gauze and a self-adhering wrap), a saline flush for wounds, an eye-safe flush, styptic powder for a bleeding nail, blankets and towels, a basket muzzle for dogs and an extra leash. Tufts also lists some medicines; ask your vet before adding any, and ready.gov likewise says to talk with your vet about what suits your pet.

Tufts is clear that a kit never replaces a vet visit: it helps on the way to care. If you want to learn the basics yourself, the American Red Cross offers an online Cat and Dog First Aid course and a Pet First Aid app. Keep the kit where your sitter can find it and mention it at the meet-and-greet.

Storms, outages and evacuations

Ready.gov says pets belong in your household emergency plan: if local officials ask you to evacuate, your pet should evacuate too, and many public shelters and hotels do not allow pets. It suggests a buddy system with neighbors, friends or relatives, a microchip with current contact details, and a pet kit with food, water, medicine, documents, a carrier, sanitation supplies and a photo of you with your pet.

DC Health says never to leave pets behind in an evacuation, to keep collars and ID tags current, and, if you truly cannot bring your pet, to report its location to DC Animal Care and Control at (202) 888-PETS (7387). The Red Cross notes the ASPCA's recommendation of a rescue alert sticker on your door listing the pets inside. Sign up for AlertDC, the District's official emergency alerts, and write on your sheet who takes your pet if your sitter cannot stay.

When in-home care is not the right plan

If your pet needs medical monitoring around the clock, such as after surgery or with a condition that can change fast, ask your vet whether boarding at a veterinary hospital is a safer choice; our guide to vet boarding vs in-home care for pets with medical needs walks through it. For a healthy pet, in-home pet sitting keeps the routine at home with daily updates to you. Our first-week checklist covers the trial visits that come before a longer trip, and our guide to booking pet care for holidays and travel covers timing and what to leave out.