Are 5 days of medication really enough?

During one of those random moments when Adele was preparing to order more medications for me a question was posed. She started talking with Markus about whether five days of medication in the disaster bags was a enough. After all, how soon after a disaster would pharmacies start dispensing medications for pets? 

And a few tricks in the 5-Day bags...

So they worked hard on creating my 5-Day bags that night, and a little more now and then, here and there, when they thought about it. In the process they did a couple of things I didn't expect. Now being a Chihuahua I'm not quite sure what I expected. They came up with a way to store nitrile gloves so they wouldn't get damaged. And they came up with a simple container for a first aid kit for me.


Here's how they stored the gloves. They rolled four gloves individually and put them in a plastic Q-Tip travel case. It's easy enough to get a pair of gloves out and keeps them from getting damaged.













 They also took one of those $1 first aid kits and replaced the contents with more useful stuff. It has tweezers, gauze pads, roller gauze, disinfectant wipes, butterfly closures, some antibiotic ointment, and some adhesive bandages. It fits just right too.

DZ
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Finally, organized kits!

So Markus & Adele were grating on each other about how to organize my disaster kits. They couldn't agree on how much food, water, medications, or practically anything to put in the kits.  They practiced now and then, bringing their bags into the house and talking through a disaster. It just wasn't clicking and I was afraid they might just give up. Then one day...

They used to say 3 days of supplies, but now....

A long time ago someone told folks to have three days of emergency supplies. In the western states where earthquakes were common this seemed like a good idea to some. Then around the 2005 Hurricane Katrina catastrophe in New Orleans the recommended amount of supplies increased. So how many days should everyone have? The numbers seem to be a little different from one source to the next. Needless to say, being better prepared is being better prepared. Have a plan and have supplies necessary for your plan. BUT, don't forget that your pets need to be in that plan too. It's just not ok to have 10 days of food and water for yourself and 2 days for your pets. How much do you think Markus and Adele put aside for me? What is their plan?

GHB! What the heck is a GHB for a dog?

What's a GHB? It's a Get Home Bag. For the human-folk they like to fill these with the stuff they might need to get home in a disaster. It has less than they would need to survive the disaster but enough to make sure they can get to their disaster supplies. Since I'm not able to carry my own bag of stuff, Markus and Adele have made my Walk Bag my GHB. It's the bare minimum that I always have when I'm away from home. And don't forget, each of their cars carries one of my disaster bags. Does your pet need a their own GHB? Do you even have one?

Taking a ride in the sling

I know I mentioned my carry sling. I really like it. If I get too worn out to continue walking, or if I have a seizure and just need to rest, I get to ride in the sling. It is not really fancy, but it fits just right. Here's me in the sling. I don't get to ride in it too often, though. It is nice to be able to relax and watch the world from a higher vantage point sometimes.

If I get really tired I can nuzzle down into the sling and go to sleep. Not a bad deal.

DZ
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You never know where you'll be...

You never know where you might be when you need your meds, and something to eat. Just the other day we had to go visit a relative and keep an eye on the kids. It was certainly fun with lots of room to run around. There were other dogs to keep it interesting. The evening ran into the night and then the night went a little long. Before I knew it I had missed dinner and was starving. Well at least I was super hungry. I also needed my meds. I get this feeling of being a little off when I don't get my meds and I felt it coming on. I did the bark-dance and gave Adele my stern look. Then Markus grabbed my meds from the walk bag. Then came the Cesar. What a treat. I normally eat the California Natural grain free dry food. The moist Cesar is fun to eat and it comes in its own bowl. Very convenient when we're not at home. Markus says everything is easier with the walk bag, and there's less to be concerned about. I just hope they don't buy a backpack and make me carry all this stuff. I might be a tough little Chihuahua. I'm still a Chihuahua not some sort of draft horse!

Here's my walk bag

I've been busy adding cool pins to my Pinterest boards. I've added images of my walk bag and disaster bag. Now some folks like to call the disaster bag a "five-day bag" or a "GHB" for Get Home Bag. I'll save that for later. For now let me show you a little more about my walk bag...