Will my cat know to go to the basement in a tornado? (Lansing: house, camper)

[Meemur]

Here's a dumb question: my cat is young but hasn't grown up in a heavy tornado area. If I'm not home and a tornado is bearing down, will she know to go to the basement?

When I was in Lansing, all of the animals and I went to the basement whenever the sirens sounded (and I gave them all a little treat). One day I wasn't home when the tornado siren sounded, and I came home to find them all in the basement, so they had learned the drill.

Do any of you worry about things like this?

[ElleTea]

No.

My cats have lived in Iowa all of their lives and they are oblivious to the weather outside. Theey just sleep through it.

Once during a severe storm I tried to get my cats in the basement to no avail. it was like...well herding cats!

[Meemur]

I'm probably worrying over nothing, but I was looking at the live stream earlier of the tornado that hit OK. There was a whole block of homes reduced to nothing but foundations. Cats are good at hiding but but their chances for survival would've been better in a basement.

[fezzador]

Originally Posted by ElleTea

No.

My cats have lived in Iowa all of their lives and they are oblivious to the weather outside. Theey just sleep through it.

Once during a severe storm I tried to get my cats in the basement to no avail. it was like...well herding cats!

Cats and dogs are sensitive to atmospheric pressure changes so they know when weather is getting nasty. The thing is, some are fazed by it (shaking, whining, etc) and some aren't. I have two dogs and a cat, and one of the dogs gets pretty squirrelly when the weather turns for the worse.

That said, pets have no concept of safety/evacuation plans. You will have to carry or lead them to the designated place of shelter.

[Meemur]

I haven't bought my home in Iowa, yet, but when I do, I'm going to try to teach my new kitty to go to basement when the sirens sound, assuming we can hear them. I've been working hard on "call and response," which is getting her to meow when trapped when I give a special call. She does it 80% of the time, now. I teach that in case she gets out and gets trapped in a shed or garage.

I hope I can make that work. I have a NFC instead of a Siamese this time around. Siamese cats are much easier to train, but I needed a little quiet. (:

[ElleTea]

Originally Posted by fezzador

Cats and dogs are sensitive to atmospheric pressure changes so they know when weather is getting nasty. The thing is, some are fazed by it (shaking, whining, etc) and some aren't. I have two dogs and a cat, and one of the dogs gets pretty squirrelly when the weather turns for the worse.

That said, pets have no concept of safety/evacuation plans. You will have to carry or lead them to the designated place of shelter.

I've never had an animal (cat or dog) that was afraid or anxious during a storm, all just seem to sleep right through it. But, I know that some animals are affected, and that is what the Thundershirt was invented for!

Good luck teaching a cat to go to the basement when a tornado siren sounds. Even if you live fairly close to it, it's not THAT loud that a animal would be able to pick it up at a sound to respond to. They were going off here a couple of nights ago, and I can hear them, but they aren't jarringly loud or anything.

Also, they are tested the first Saturday of everey month at noon, so don't be alarmed if you hear them then

[Meemur]

If I can hear it, she can hear it. I train with treats, bits of real chicken in my cat's case. She almost stands on her head for it. But whether I can get her to associate the sound with going to the basement to receive her treats during the weekly testing might be another matter.

Anyway, thanks! I'll keep this project in the back of my mind.

[Stavemaster]

Keep at it. All the cats I've ever had were completely oblivious to the sounds of weather, tornado sirens, or whatever else outside, but as soon as they heard something like food in the basement, they'd come running.

[capitalcityguy]

I think this is kind of an interesting exercise in training your cat, but do not "worry" about it (OP's words from opening comment) as that seems a waste of energy IMO.

The odds of any pet dying due to a tornado hitting one's house is very very low...and I would have to assume way down the list on top causes of death for indoor house cats. They are much more likely to die in a house fire. Are you planning on training the cat to open locked doors in the event he/she needs to flee a fire?

Bottomline: have fun with this but don't expend an ounce of resources worrying about it. If things start flying around the house, the cat will scamper under a table or in a closet to hide and thus seek cover.

[Meemur]

Originally Posted by capitalcityguy

Are you planning on training the cat to open locked doors in the event he/she needs to flee a fire?

That's why I started teaching "call and response." I needed a way to get a cat to come to me immediately or meow if she couldn't. I used to live in firetraps, really awful student housing. I had to use it in other emergencies. A bright Siamese can learn it quickly with the right treats. It's not a regular call. It's a special tongue click that's used only for that. It means "come get your special treat" to the cat, and they rarely ignore it.

I presently live in a brick house and stay on top of fire safety.

Yeah, I won't worry about it anymore.