Anyone else have a CAT/HURRICANE tale to tell? I Do!!!!!!!!!

Living in East Central Florida and being told Friday around noon that the hurricane had shifted east and would likely come within 10 miles of me with up to 100 mph winds(it did indeed strike my area with wind gusts near or just above 100), obviously I freaked out and only had a couple hours to prepare. Initially we were only expecting maybe 75 mph gusts so I had planned to ride it out...Anyway, I called up some family 40 miles southeast of me further away from the path of the storm and asked if I could bring myself and the cats over. I just didn't feel safe staying at the house(BTW it survived well but lots of yard damage), even though it is built to withstand 110mph winds supposedly but have never put it to the test til now. Now having 9 indoor cats that's a difficult task to accomplish, let alone asking such a favor, family or not..My crazy plan was to keep them in my car in their garage with the windows rolled down just a tad, a litter box and food and water bowls at their disposal. They reluctantly said OK..so I gathered them up one by one and tossed them into the car. I have a 2 door Honda Prelude which the backseat folds down and allows you to enter into the trunk from there. So I put some valuables clothes papers etc in the far back and they were able to roam around the rest of the car. However, I had to make a painstaking decision. After putting 7 cats in the car, I thought GEEZ theres no way to fit 2 more without them going crazy with stress of crowding. So I decided to leave behind 2 of the most recent rescues, one I took in in FEB(Buck) and the other in JUNE(Spunky, Punkin's semi-replacement after she passed in MAY). I figured if anything happened, say a window broke or a wall collapsed they had been in the wild for over a year so they could possibly escape and survive. It was a tough call but I had to make it. Was kind of like the tale of when someone asks you if your spouse and 10 yr old child fell overboard from a boat in a raging storm and you only had one lifesaver ring, who would you toss it to? Who do you leave behind? How do you make that decision? But I had to think FAST..so I left out tons of food, water ,and a box for them in the hallway and shut all the doors to the other rooms including "their" room......I think they probably hid out under the couch..they were fine when I returned home SAT morning, to no power of course.
The other 7 did fairly well on the trip over. My 11 year old cat GRADY was acting obnoxious the whole time, hissing, growling, swatting, and hiding out in the litter box. I'm sure the cats needed to use it but he would not let them in. So unfortunately, somewhere in the car one or more of them peed on the carpet or back seat area I cant tell, and one of them went poo(luckily in a kennel), since I kept 2 of the cats who don't handle travel to well(to the vet) in a med size kennel in the front pax side seat for the 1st 6 hours or so. I opened up the cage door to let them roam if they wanted to. I would go into their garage and peek in on them at least once or twice an hour so they knew they weren't abandoned LOL!...So out of the 7 cats, one was mean as heck, one pooped, one or more peed in the car and the odor killer is hopefully working as we speak, but the rest were great! They were basically in that car from 4pm Friday til 7 am Sat. and needless to say they (and I) were glad to get home!!!!!
WHATTA STORY EH???????

 

I'm glad you and the kitties are ok. Phew, what a relief! I was really worried about all our auspet friends who have to deal with the hurricanes year after year.

 

Oh I forgot to mention the 4 outdoor cats I sorta take care of, 2 that feed at the front and 2 that hang out in the back, including on my screen porch. I was very concerned for them and Iam guessing they hid out in the thick woods behind me or somewhere else relatively wind and rain sheltered. I didn't know if they'd even be around when I returned, thinking they would be scared half to death of 80-100 mph winds and run away..to ALASKA or somewhere calmer..LOL! Luckily the worst only lasted maybe 90 minutes, so I was told.
Sure enough, when I got back, the 2 backyard cats were actually on the porch waiting to eat(I kept the screen door open and braced with a cinder block so they could come in and go out). They also had an old coffee table with a comforter thrown over it to the ground which maybe they hid under as well as one of those igloo shaped hard plastic dog houses that I have back there which they rarely use. The 2 front yard ones usually come around only in the evening and sure enough they both showed up SAT night..to pig out...I was relieved for them big time!

 

Where does everyone live? Outer Mongolia? A zillion views and no other stories/comments to share? Bummer.......I could have been doing yard cleanup..... :?

 

Aren't a lot of people without power? I would assume it'll be a while before anyone posts. A couple of other survivors had separate posts disneeworld. Your reply was pretty funny. :0023:
By the way, I forgot about your strays too. Hopefully the other 2 or more will show up for chow.

 

I scanned the board for hurricane topics and there were none so I started a fresh one, but now I see someone else started their own topic just a few hours after mine.

The 4 outside cats are all accounted for as per my earlier post a couple scrolls up.

 

What a scare. I'm so glad to hear that you and your cats are safe and sound.

 

That was quite an adventure! I'm also glad you and all of your kitties were okay. Have you ever thought about moving? Hurricane Andrew was in 1992 and now this one! Well, actually, it's not so great here in California, either. I have to go through fires, floods and earthquakes. :shock

 

hello i went thought the hurricane to....i know what u mean w/ the whole not much time to prepare it was the same thing here i sat up till 5 am watching it on the waether chanel thursday night thinking ok it wont be that bad after i seen that it turned away from us then friday hearing that it was commin straight 4 us... i live in fort myers 30 min away from fort myers beach and sanibel / captiva island.... well they told us 1 hour b4 the storm was to hit land my neighboorhood was to get out cause we were in a 8 to 9 foot elevation zone and anyone under a 10 needs to leave so i was mainly concerend about flooding since i live along the river and it was supposed to come straight up that.. sooo i called my brother and asked if me my son and mom and 4 cats 1 dog 4 parakeets and 1 lovebird and 1 cockateil could come take cover at his house in lehigh he didnt mind and my dad was refusing to leave sooo i threw 3 cats into a dog crate and chyanne in a cat carried cause shes hurt and lovebird and cockateil in one cage and the dog on the leash well i have to take 2 cars mines a honda civic 2 door soo i could only get a bird cage and my child in the car w/ me and my mom has a taures and she took the dog crate w/ the 3 cats and the cat carrier and the dog in her car and the back filled w/ pictures and inportant stuff well my brother didnt board up his windows or anything so he was at his wifes work which is animal services (imagine that) so he told us to come up there... well thats like 5 min away from fort myers beach so that means a 30 min drive 4 me and the storms supposed to make landfall in an hour sooo we took I-75 driving 50mph w/ winds at 40 mph that was a rough ride we made it to the shelter 15 min b4 the storm hit land.... i had to keep all my babies in their cages in a room by themselfs... my lovebird let herself outta her cage and was flying around one room soo i had to chase her around 4 20 min and then my dog would not shut up crying looking 4 my cat simba that he is in love w/ so i had to put simba in a cage w/ him then poor simba was upset cause he had to be w/ the dog it was crazy the only animal that stayed sane was chyanne she just sat in her cage and did nothing but sleep... i had to leave my 4 parakeets behind cause we didnt have any room but i went home that night when it was over driving home w/ traffic lights down etc.. that was even scarier then driving in 40mph winds and rain i made it home to a house that was in the same shape that we left it other then no power and tree damage and pool damage but no damage to the house but we got power back sunday and i think all my animals were very relieved to be back in the a.c....lol i dont really remember andrew cause i was young then but i tell u now that we get a thunder storm i get freaked out.... i drove to punta gorda yesterday and its really bad there and sanibel and captiva and fort myers beach look horrible i took pix of it all and i will neevr 4 get the way it looks and to think if the storm hadnt have turned to the north thats what my place would look like... im going down to punta gorda again tomarrow and am gonna volenteer at the animal services there to help try and look 4 the animals that r missing....my sister in law works at aniaml services heer in fort myers and they have had an overload of aniamls that they have found all ready soo i can just imagine how bad it is there....and i know my poor babies were scared to death i feel sooo bad 4 the ones that had to really go though it.... :cry: