Planning for a Possible Hurricane
We are in the busiest portion of our Hurricane Season now. Currently, there is a storm developing in the Caribbean that may affect us in the middle of next week. We must emphasize that we don’t know for certain at this point if we will encounter the storm at all, and hopefully, it will veer away from land altogether.
As always, we recommend being prepared in the event foul weather does come our way. It’s very important to be sure you have plenty of food, water, and medications for your animal family members.
Please contact us as soon as possible for chronic medications, storm-phobia medications, and prescription diets so that we have time to get supplies ready for your critter kids. Keep in mind, there will be many patients needing things so we must ask for your cooperation and patience as we work to help everyone get what they need. If you are ordering online, please do so right away so there is time for us to review/approve prescriptions and for the companies to ship them to you.
Additionally, we ask that you be certain that your pets’ identifications are up to date – dogs and cats should have an identification tag with a current phone number on their collars. Microchip information needs to be up-to-date with your current contact information and ideally an alternate contact in case you’re unable to reach In an emergency. If your pet is not microchipped, we can provide this service for pets current on their rabies vaccinations. Please call to schedule a nurse appointment.
If you are in an evacuation zone (know your zone: https://discover.pbcgov.org/publicsafety/dem/pages/know-your-zone.aspx) our first recommendation will always be that you keep your pet(s) with you. However, this cannot always happen. If you plan on boarding at Harmony Animal Hospital this is what you need to know.
Hurricane Strength
At Harmony, we will only accept boarders if local meteorologists predict a Category 3 storm or lower. You also must live in an evacuation zone.
You must make other plans for Category 4 or 5 storms because there will be no staff available here to care for your pet. Other Pet Hurricane Shelters may have different requirements.
Keep medical records on hand
Be sure your pet is up to date on all vaccinations and has proof available. We will not accept unvaccinated animals. Call us for specific requirements.
Stock plenty of your pet’s supplies
Keep on hand those medications that your pet needs to take on a routine basis including thunderstorm anxiety medications. Please be sure you bring them in their original containers. You will also need to bring your pet’s food and enough bottled water to last your pet for at least three days (one gallon per day per pet). If the power goes out water may not be available.
Other things worth noting
You must call ahead and cannot just show up. This is usually a very stressful time and we need to stay calm and organized.
You must provide us with an emergency contact if the storm becomes a Category 4 or 5
Boarders must be here within eight hours of when the hurricane is due to hit. After that, all of Harmony’s employees will be home caring for their own.
