I know some of you must have them, What are yous preps for them if something happens.

New cats.

sorry, didn't notice that this was not a GD thread.

In in all seriousness, I want my cats to do well, but if it's a survival situation I'd probably have to let them fend for themselves when the human members of my family have to bug out. If we're sheltering down then they can stay too.

All I have is one barn cat and he should be fine.

ETA all of my pets will be eating scraps if SHTF.

It depends on the type of SHTF. For us, since we live in a hurricane zone, we have made preps to bug out if we have to. So, we've got cages for all the kitties and disposable litter boxes if we have to go stay in a hotel somewhere. We've got a month's worth of cat food and cat litter stocked all the time anyway and we just use the oldest first. We also have little travel bags for each one that has a small pouch for food, small bottle for water, shot records, and tags that aren't normally on their collars (which have their name and our address and phone number).

If it's gonna be a long-term SHTF and we can't re-supply, I have no doubt they can catch however many birds and/or squirrels required to not starve.

I already feed the cat freeze-dried food. It's pricey, but it's very good food.

I made a deal with a local pet food store and buy it in bulk, so I'm good for 2-3 months and just rotate it.

Also, as it turns out the cat loves MREs.

This.

Beyond that it's well....... time to make some hard decisions.

Cats are pretty durable, unless you have one of those fluffy pampered over-weight lap ones.

If spoiled on high-end food they'll start eating cheaper stuff when they get hungry enough, plus they'll look for small critters. Plus like dogs they'll eat most what you will.

One thing cats need are regular access to water.

In a long-term SHTF situation its good to have them around to keep rodents down. Europe missed that lesson during the Black Plague = rats + fleas on rats = bubonic plague.  Some places in CA are having typhus issues right now due to rat-carried fleas infecting a surprising number of people.

A carrier staged for each in case you have to bug out in a vehicle.  For bug in we try to keep an extra bag of food or so on hand.  Litter to.  My wife is a vet tech at a local animal hospital so it comes with the territory.  If things aren't looking good we can easily get some extra supplies from her office, but we have enough on hand for most realistic situations.

Like others said...  The non realistic scenarios would require some tough decisions, and in my situation I don't even want to think about how we would do that.  Not to mention our pets are like our kids, since we don't have kids.

ETA/ I should also mention that we a good amount of animal medial supplies on hand, and in most cases, they can be used on us two legged critters when push comes to shove.

Depends on the issue but in general:

Short term (few days), they will get a shitload of food on the floor and a bunch of water.  
Medium term temporary bug out (few weeks & local/ regional), they'll come with.  We have kitty carriers and enough room in a vehicle for them and basic preps.
Long term/ relocation it'll really depend.  If there's time to take them and what we need we will, otherwise they probably get left behind. That'd really suck, by them's the breaks.

If it's the fabled zombie apocalypse/ bug in for a long period, we have enough food for them for probably 6-8 months, then they either become food or get to strike out on their own.

We have 8-10 outdoor cats. They would be fine in summer, have to work harder in winter,c get scraps as we generate them.

As mentioned, they are valuable s rodent control that keeps disease down.

If it gets bad enough you cannot afford to feed your cats, people will be eating cats. They have in most conflict zones. Venezuela most recently.

Floods and natural disasters most people evacuate with their pets or stay at home with them. Some will evacuate but leave animals with provisions for a few days, expecting to return.

Those being evacuated during crisises have had pets refused evacuation and shot to encourage the people to allow themselves to be rescued.

Any plan is better than no plan, but may not survive first contact. Best bet is to evacuate with your pet.

I keep three big 35lb bags of dry food and rotate. The outside cat can take care of herself if necessary. The one inside can last a long time on 100lb of food.

Emotional reunion as cat lost during Camp Fire is returned to owners

After 103 days of being lost due to the Camp Fire, a cat named Dexter was reunited with his family.

The Ritchie family had come to expect the worst for Dexter, who had disappeared during the chaos of evacuating from the encroaching fire. They had found three of their pet cats during their scramble to leave, but Dexter couldn't be found in time before the Ritchies had to flee.

"I myself had horrible thoughts about him burning up in the fire," Paul Ritchie, Dexter's owner, told CBS13 in an interview.

A volunteer with the Field Haven Feline Rescue Center who was working in the burn areas of Paradise found Dexter. A microchip lead the group to the Paul and Sandra Ritchie.

"How he got out, I don't know," Ritchie told them. "How he managed to not get burned, I don't know, because when we left our property was totally in flames."

Friends of Camp Fire Cats

Request Trapping Services
We have found that even cats that were trapped inside houses were able to escape unscathed. Do not assume your cat has perished. Request to have a feeding station and trail cameras set up at your property. If we spot your cat we can set up a trap.

Request Feeding Station and Cat Box
We offer free feeding stations and cat boxes for you to place on your property. They give your cat a location to eat and sleep in a warm dry place until they are rescued.

Removed~Waldo. Read the forum rules before posting here again.

https://www.ar15.com/content/page.html?id=664

The rodent population in the neighborhood can always use some thinning.

Removed~Waldo. Read the forum rules before posting here again.

https://www.ar15.com/content/page.html?id=664

For person above, this is not general discussion.

I have one of those fold up metal crates for each of my pets.  Not perfect, but workable if bugging out due to whatever.

Any good cardboard box and some cat litter is a portable litter box.  Add a plastic bag to make it easier to deal with if you like.

My indoor only cat earns its keep by catching mice and stuff that come inside.  During hard times, it would be even more valuable.

I concur that if its stored up food runs out, it will get by on scraps just fine.

My cat was probably from a litter someone did not want to deal with and they drove down the road dropping cats off as they went.  My cat will kill mice and whatever but does not know they have tasty gooey insides.

In bad times, the cat will learn.

The wild blue food or whatever is in nice mylar bags already, so you can look around and figure out what you want to store or not.

Both of mine are indoor only cats and dumb as hell.  They are going to have until their food runs out to learn how the outdoors works.  I do keep a pretty huge pile of food on hand for them, and they are both younger and healthy (not fat).  With some slow weening off of and stretching out the chow, they should be OK.

I'd rather not have to find out.

Removed~Waldo.  Last time I'm posting this. Read the forum rules, this isn't GD.

https://www.ar15.com/content/page.html?id=664

I have 11 cats.  Well, probably 9 now since two are currently MIA.  One can KMA while the other will be very much missed if she remains MIA.  

In any event of all the animals you could have on a homestead, cats and feeding them are the least of your worries.

First, cats can kill and eat most anything that's their size or a little smaller. And if they get hungry, they'll eat anything.  I have a crap load of .22LR, plenty of squirrels and crows here that I can shoot and/or trap, same with possums.

One thing I won't ever have a problem with is rats and mice and the snakes that come along with them.

I have one cat that keeps the house pest free, and bug free. She has atleaset 3 months of food on hand. She will end up eating what ever I eat. She already tries to steal food off my plate now If I set something down. Sneaky little shit... she will be fine. If I have to leave I am taking her with.

Extra bag of food, but they generally catch as much as the terriers...