since I'm familiar with the area. Some shelters were listed as pet friendly and some were not. My guess says the pet friendly ones filled up fast.

I'd leave my cats in their carriers in the car outside a shelter before I'd leave them behind. I'd just make sure I had plenty of Nature's Miracle for the cleanup.

It isn't even a question.
Leaving the cats outside a shelter overnight wouldn't be a choice for me either though -- I'd stay with the animal(s) in the car. They're going to be scared in a situation like that.

Leave them? No way. Not stay with them? No way.

Cats are durable little buggers and would likely sleep through the whole thing. I've had cats sleep through the most remarkable things, including the power to the house shorting out and all the surge protectors going up in smoke.

We put him in a very nice, quiet kennel during a move.

He would eat and drink nothing, so we had to find a pet-friendly hotel - not that easy back in the 90s.

I think we attract neurotic pets.

Cats are much more attached to territory than they are to people. Take them out of the familiar part of the jungle, they freeze up and act very weird. They're all neurotic when you move them.

We thought he was unique...!

(Well, he was, but not, apparently, in that way.)

I have had cats before. Once in an earthquake one of the young ones hid behind the stove and wouldn't come out. The others started going back there to try to reassure it I guess. It stayed hidden behind the stove for hours. (Typically earthquakes last a few minutes at most.) So some cats are more timid than others. The females tend to be more timid than the males usually. I suppose having two cats together makes them more comfortable about being left. I wouldn't do it though.
. . . Another reason: I have heard of animals being stolen out of parked automobiles. It's rare, but it would keep me awake. I'd stick with the cats.

Barn cats are a different matter. Outdoor animals are pretty good at finding shelter in storms. If an outdoor animal disappeared into hiding shortly before a storm, I might leave it. If it was a donkey I'd definitely leave it. They find sheltered high ground you'll never find and they stay there until it's over.

But almost any house pet, accustomed to human company and care, is not going to do well on its own -- even leaving it alone in a new home is problematic for the first few days. They get scared. But of course individuals differ, age and history of the animal make a difference, and so on; You'd know your own animal(s) best.

While we were preparing for the storm, the cat bolted out of the house and hid somewhere. We couldn't find him, and we never saw him again. I like to think he survived and just couldn't find his way home, or another family took him in and he stayed with them, but that's probably not what happened.

I can't imagine leaving my dogs! I would have gotten in my car and driven until I just couldn't. But I know there are people who don't have cars and resources to do that.

Unless you have large animals like horses, why couldn't people just load the animals and themselves in a car and drive inland and stay in their cars if worse came to worse. Find a park, or campground and just go there if you can't find a shelter that accepts animals.

I think I'd do whatever I could to keep us all safe by trying to find a way to evacuate.

some "people" left dogs tied up in their yards.

Couldn't even untie them and give them a small chance. People like that deserve to be tied to a telephone pole and left there.

Drive inland and park at a rest area outside of the strong winds. You can sleep, walk the dogs, use the bathrooms. Unless the town is decimated, you should be back in 24 hours with most hurricanes. This one seems slower.

When Hermine hit here, there were parts of the area that didn't get power back for over a week - it took five days for me to get my power back on. Hermine was only category one and this county is not on the coast so we ddin't have the storm surge or the most powerful winds. If I had evacuated, I would not have returned until I had power. But there were no motel rooms within a hundred and fifty miles - there were shelters locally and there were pet friendly shelters.

One of the major problems with Matthew is that with the entire Southeast coast evacuating, safe places to stay are at a premium. If it were hitting the coast more directly there would be a limited area to be affected and a lot fewer people looking for places to stay. One estimate I heard is that almost 12 million people will be evacuated.

By around 2 today there were no hotel rooms left in the Atlanta area. Orlando is in the hurricane warning zone so I don't know if any of the hotels there will be accepting guests. A lot of the other parts of the state would have filled up fast and with the shape of Florida, that means many people would have to drive hundreds of miles to find someplace safe to stay.

Full of volunteers and safe cages. We have learned and progressed.

And if Melbourne didn't do anything like this...

especially kids. My grandson could have died due to severe pet allergies, had weekly shots all through his young & teen years. Now just takes meds for it, no more shots, but he is still not able to be around dogs & cats without getting a bad reaction.

Allergies foremost obviously. Some people can't be around cats, at all.

And a person can be allergic to almost anything, it's a very personalized thing.

Similar problem with smoking and non-smoking. You would not want to sleep in a shelter where people were smoking tobacco -- or at least I wouldn't do it.

Sleeping in the car is sounding better and better. It's okay for a night or two, I've done it. You don't sleep for long, but it can be done in a pinch. Think sudden snowstorm at night -- you pull over and wait for it to stop. If your dog or cat is with you, then they stay with you.

set up for pets and no pets.

When people die because they won't leave their pets, and I wouldn't, every shelter needs to have a set up for this.

And the car would be better. Drive inland, find a rest area or campground, and just hang out.

Her hubby stayed at the house with the 2 dogs. It took a day and a half to talk her into leaving him and the dogs to go to the shelter to keep baby safer.

When you hear he's ok. Hugs.

the street, but the rest of the neighborhood is powerless.

My daughter, new to Fla, said that "hurricanes last too long." It's still pretty ugly weather there.

Thank you for prayers!

(Covering all my bases in thanksgiving.)

before she found one that took her with her very small dog. She has to sleep on the floor (does not have a sleeping bag). She thinks the storm surge will wipe her house out.

Her little dog is a real trooper. She got him right after my dad died, and he has been wonderful for her.

I hope she's wrong about what will happen to her house. And I'm glad she has her companion with her to comfort her.

When will we learn?

and all require shot records.

I'm in Florida too. We have small dogs. We have a couple crates, and would usually use our covered pick up when we leave. If we can't get to a pet shelter or pet friendly hotel, we can leave them in the truck. So far we've never had to leave them outside.

I hope you guys are safe.

hope they made it through the night.

http://forecast.weather.gov/showsigwx.php?warnzone=FLZ047&warncounty=FLC009&firewxzone=FLZ047&local_place1=Melbourne%20FL&product1=Hurricane+Local+Statement&lat=28.084&lon=-80.609#.V_d7xxRlmfU

Whether pets can stay in shelters often depends on local health regulations. For instance, if the shelter is big enough that the animals can be a good distance from the food (and if they have volunteers to staff an ad hoc animal shelter), then pets might be allowed. Sometimes the Humane Society or local shelters and vet clinics will volunteer to shelter animals (as in the case of a local Holiday Inn that told Houston evacuees that their pets would be accepted--and changed their mind when the people arrived).

Because of the uncertainty, my personal disaster plan is to be among the first to evacuate and make a reservation at the first Red Roof Inn or La Quinta outside the danger zone. Both those chains have good pet policies (though no hotel wants housekeeping to have to cope with pets--bring a crate or plan on walks during housekeeping). I moved my pets across country by driving to Red Roof Inns 8 hours from each other. Other hotels do allow pets without charging a fortune; some have designated Pet Rooms (carpets pre-stained and furniture pre-chewed for your convenience). But you'll want to know which ones will accept your pets before you have to know.

Do NOT leave your pet at home. Police used to tell people to do so, and sometimes people go to the store for last-minute supplies and aren't allowed back in their homes. Then the Humane Society has to wade through flood waters to rescue the few pets that don't die.

Wishing safety to all coastal DUers and their pets!

Hopefully, it can help someone.

I hope it makes life (and keeping people & pets together) easier.