Planning For Your Pet's Future Without You
Pets are family. In exchange for their unconditional love, they completely depend upon us to care for their needs.
Sadly, in these uncertain pandemic days of Covid-19, there are pet owners who become seriously ill leaving friends, neighbors, and shelters to care for their pets.
But put Covid-19 aside. When I was teaching, one of my favorite administrators required every teacher to create several emergency substitute teacher lesson plans at the beginning of every school year. In her words, “you never know when you’re going to get hit by a truck.”
If you never came home again, who would care for your pets? Do you have a plan in place to provide for your pets whether you’re hospitalized, incapacitated, or dead?
If you don’t or your plan is piecemeal, then I’m breaking down what Matthew and I have done to ensure that Bernie and Lizzie are cared for no matter what might happen to us.
Since this process is understandably uncomfortable and potentially gut-wrenching, I’m breaking it into smaller steps. You may decide to complete a step per day or a step per week. You may skip some steps altogether. Do whatever works for you.
Setting up your basic emergency pet care plan
Step 1: Decide who will be emergency contact people for your pets
Identify at least one if not two different people outside your immediate family or household who could act as emergency and/or temporary caregivers.
Ideally, these people have met your pets and established some rapport. They’re responsible people who have some flexibility with their life. They can adjust their schedule in order to care for your pets, even if just temporarily.
Be sure to talk to these people and ask them if they would be willing to act as a temporary caregiver for your pets. Be up front with how much time and effort this process will entail for your pets.
If your pet will likely hide from anyone besides you entering your home, give these folks a tour of your home pointing out your pet’s favorite hidey holes.
Step 2: Create a system for others to find your emergency contact information
If you’re unconscious, first responders will look for emergency contact information. Make it easy for them to find it by creating a system with redundancies.
Kick it old school with an emergency contact card that you keep in your wallet behind your driver’s license. Since your space is limited, list your emergency contact people with phone numbers.
On the back of the emergency contact card, list each pet separately with breed, so all of them may be accounted for if possible. If you’re involved in an accident, hospital staff will see that you have pets at home who need care.
Create emergency contacts in your smart phone. With an iPhone you can create a Medical ID that includes emergency contacts. Within each contact card, you can add any notes you like.
You can also create contact cards in your smart phone for your pets that include microchip numbers in case your pets escape while emergency services may be tending to you. Doors are open. Animals get scared and may run away.
Make a list of your emergency contacts, including pet caregivers, and post it prominently on your refrigerator.
If you can afford a medical identification bracelet or necklace, then that’s really the gold standard. It’s on your body all the time. No looking around needed. Even if your plan allows only limited emergency contacts to be listed, you can coordinate with those top tier people who else may need to be notified if something happens to you.
To get your research on medical alert jewelry going, read BodyNutrition’s post Ranking the best medical alert bracelets of 2020 for their overview of ten different medical alert bracelets.
Step 3: Establish communication among your emergency contact people
Make sure all of your people have each other’s contact information so they can help each other while you’re in the hospital or away from your pets.
Add notes to specific contact cards on your smart phone to help give context to who this person is, like “Irene’s teacher friend in Tucson who will care for Bernie and Lizzie in an emergency.”
If you share all of your detailed emergency contact cards with all of your people, then everyone is in the loop with full context of who is who.
Make sure your family, landlord, or building superintendent knows who these emergency pet caregivers are and have a way to be in touch as well.
Step 4: Be sure those emergency contact people can access your home
Do they have a key to your home?
Do you live in a gated community? Does each person have the code?
Do you use an alarm system? Have you created a guest code for your emergency contact people?
Do you rent? You’ll want to provide written permission to your landlord, or property/building management stating that your people may enter your rental in the event of your hospitalization or death.
Are there any other barriers to entry to your home? Identify them before an emergency.
Determining your permanent pet care plan
Step 5: Identify who will be your pets’ permanent caregiver if you die
Determine whether or not your pets will stay together or if you will separate them.
If you have several pets, this first decision may affect who is willing to adopt your pets.
While a permanent caregiver may be the same person as your emergency caregiver person, it could be someone else who lives in another city, or a few people in different areas.
If you have travel requests like no air travel for your pets, please make that clear to any caregivers who live farther away.
Make sure your permanent person knows your emergency caregivers and vice versa. Be sure to share all of that contact information.
You’ll want to choose someone who will provide your pets with a loving home and can give your pets the care they’ve grown accustomed to.
Keep in mind that this person will ultimately have the responsibility for making health care decisions for your pet, including the appropriate time for euthanasia.
Have alternate caregivers named just in case something happens to your first choice(s). Life happens. Circumstances change. Try to have at least one back up person named.
Step 6: If you have absolutely no one you can identify as a permanent caregiver…
Check your pet adoption papers from your breeder or rescue organization.
A reputable breeder will require dogs be returned to them rather than surrendered to a shelter. Be sure to document who your breeder is as part of your emergency pet care plan.
Rescue organizations may have a clause that requires your pet be returned to them if anything happens to you. Be sure to read through your adoption paperwork and include it as part of your emergency pet care plan.
You could ask your emergency pet caregivers if they would be willing to find a permanent home for your pets. If these people are willing, then you could discuss what kind of a home you’d prefer your pets enter.
More posts in the most organized pet parent series:
Creating helpful documents for your pet care plan
Step 7: Make a list of your pet professionals
At a minimum, be sure to include names, addresses, and phone numbers for the professional services you use.
If you’re incapacitated for weeks or months, your emergency network of caregivers may need to take your pet to any variety of services.
If your pets have been permanently adopted, you never know when someone may want to contact these previous providers, even months after adopting your pets.
veterinarian
emergency veterinarian/hospital
pet sitter
groomer
dog trainer
dog walker
dog daycare
Step 8: Create a well-documented feeding and care plan
Every pet owner I know has favorite products for all aspects of pet care. In your feeding and care plan, you want to outline the most important information about your pets.
Decide how you want to organize your information. Do you want to create a template that you use for each pet? Or would it be easier to create a chart with a few columns, one for each pet?
Include your pets’ vaccination certificate in your feeding and care plan.
If your pets have any medical conditions where certain documentation would be helpful, keep copies of that documentation in your plan.
Questions to consider as you write your feeding and care plan:
How many times per day do you feed your pets? At what time do you feed them?
What do you feed your pets? If you have more complicated feeding instructions, including supplements, consider making a step-by-step chart for easier reading.
Do you make any supplements for your pets, like golden paste? What’s your recipe?
Do your pets have any medical conditions? Give an overview of symptoms for any caregiver to be on the look out for.
Do your pets take any prescription medications? Be sure to leave instructions regarding dosing and administration.
Do you give monthly Heartgard medication? Where is it located?
Do you use specific flea and tick medications or preventatives?
Do your pets have any favorite toys, games, or activities? Include pictures of the favorite toys so people can find them. Include some description of the favorite games and activities so a stranger could follow your instructions.
Creating advance directives regarding the care of your pets
Step 9: Create a will and/or trust that includes your pets
If it is within your means, I highly recommend engaging the services of a reputable attorney who specializes in estate planning and/or family law to help you include your pets in your will and/or trust.
In your will or trust, you can outline your wishes for the long-term care of your pets, including who will care for them.
If you have an alternate long-term caregiver identified, include that person as a back up just in case your first choice cannot or will not take on the responsibility.
You can also set aside money to contribute to your pets’ care after your death.
Whoever the executor of your will or trust is should know who your emergency and permanent pet caregivers are.
The executor should also know if you’ve authorized any money to be given to these caregivers for your pets’ care. While your estate is being settled, which may take months, the executor can make sure to distribute some interim funds to these caregivers.
If you want to learn more about including your pets in your will and/or trust, check with local dog groups, animal rescues, and even your public library. These organizations may hold free seminars with a local attorney presenting on how to plan for your pets’ care after you’re gone. Getting information from local attorneys is important since laws change state-by-state.
Step 10: Write your letter of wishes for your pets
A letter of wishes outlines how you would like to see your beloved pets cared for after you are gone. Whether or not this letter is legally enforceable will depend on what state you’re in and what kind of advanced directive you’ve created. Be sure to ask your attorney for their perspective.
At the very least, a letter of wishes gives you the chance to express how deeply you care for your pets. The information you include may be incredibly helpful to anyone adopting your pets.
Ideas for information to include in your letter:
Give some history about your pet, including any favorite places to visit, or anecdotal stories that may help someone understand your pet better
Describe how your pet gets along with other pets and children
Make a list of commands and tricks your pet knows
Include your canine enrichment plan, if you’ve written one
Add a few photos of your pets that show off their personality or celebrate positive events, trips, and moments they’ve experienced
Planning for your pets’ future without you is no fun. The process takes some serious time and effort. But when you know that you’ve done everything you can to make sure your pets will be cared for no matter what might happen to you, you sleep easier.