The concepts are similar to prepping for people, but there’s a few key differences (obviously…)

Food Storage For Pets

The basics here are pretty similar to figuring out what to store for yourself. Figure out how much food your pet eats, figure out how much you want to store. Do a little math. And buy!

For some animals you can grow food, which is fantastic. In that case, store seeds or plant appropriately ahead of time.

For others, you can augment with kitchen scraps, small animals (squirrels, etc), or even by letting them roam.

Bottom line, know what they eat, and how you can store more of it, and how you can augment that stored food.

Water Storage For Pets

Simply take your regular calculations and add plenty of drinking water for your pets as well. The actual amount will vary, but take what they normally drink in a day and add some extra as a buffer … pets drink out of strange places sometimes, which can throw your numbers off.

Restraints

Something unique to pets (well, unless your kids behave like mine sometimes do…) is needing restraints. Maybe a crate, probably a leash or chain or something to make sure you don’t lose your animal.

You probably have that stuff lying around anyways, but just in case, you may want to pick up some extras. Leashes break. Crates break.

Medications

You can get vet medications over the counter or on the internet in some cases, or you might be able to get your vet to set you up.

In any case, make sure you have any regular medications covered and add in extra antibiotics and whatnot. I’m definitely not an expert on animal meds, but I’ll see if I can find someone that can add a bit more information here.

Sanitation

Some animals (like indoor cats) have specific sanitation needs. Without going into gory detail here, make sure you have those covered too. The good news here is that this stuff can be cheap … don’t spring for the super cool and super expensive kitty litter for emergency storage. The basic generic stuff will do just fine.

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  John Malone, billionaire chairman of Liberty Media, announced that he had bought a retreat on the Quebec border as an insurance policy to “have a place to go if things blow up here,” adding that he was concerned about the survival of the dollar and whether or not “America (was) going to make it” through the economic crisis.
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Here are a few ideas to get you started.

Gardening

The obvious one. But one we can always improve. If you don’t have a garden this year, start one.

If you have one, expand it, or try new things. Maybe you have never started seeds before, or maybe you want to try to grow something that maybe shouldn’t grow in your neck of the woods.

In any case, try something new here!

Beekeeping

I’m clearly a bit biased here, but I think beekeeping is a pretty cool hobby, and I think it’s one with a number of preparedness benefits overall.

First, you get good pollination. You can get this from other pollinators too, like Mason Bees, but there are other benefits as well.

Hive products, such as honey and wax, are a huge benefit in every day life, let alone in any sort of situation where you’d need to leverage your preps. Some hive products you may have never heard of, such as Propolis, have massive benefits as well.

Basic Construction

This may sound funny, but I think most people should have a basic grasp of general construction concepts. I don’t mean the ability to build a big building or a shed, but being able to knock together some basic (albeit rickety) structures can come in handy.

Food Preservation

Need I say more? Knowing how to can, smoke, dehydrate, ferment, or otherwise preserve food is something everyone should know how to do. If you don’t, put this on your list!

Basic Medical Skills

Maybe an advanced CPR or first aid class, maybe something a little bit more comprehensive. Up to you.

If you already have the basics covered, maybe find a tactical medical course, or something a little more aggressive.

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  Yet another reason to produce more of what you eat…
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I’ve been utterly swamped at work for the last couple weeks and I’m burned out and just need to crash out.

So, unfortunately for you, my dear reader, this means no post or podcast tonight.

Sorry, but I need some recovery time! In the mean time, be sure to check out today’s news post for some good articles.

Regardless of your political affiliations, I urge you to consider that no matter what happens, you must avoid getting distracted by the show. And show is what it is. Akin to the Roman bread and circuses.

The bottom line is that nobody out there is serious about the fundamental issues that face us today. And in many cases they are actively making things worse. Our fundamental freedoms are being eroded and our economic train continues to head for the cliff.

There will be all kinds of drama intended to distract us from things that are important. Don’t get distracted.

Keep focused on what is important for YOU and for your family. Keep focused on your preparedness goals. Make little steps every day.

Focus on your local community and improving things. MAke an effort to educate people in your neighborhood or in your town. Teach them. Don’t preach, just teach.

We’re in a culture war today, and the best way to win it is to take it one person at a time. You can’t change Washington DC. But you can change your neighborhood.

And if the SHTF, who is going to impact you most? Your neighbors will. Not DC.

So put your efforts and energy where it counts. And ignore the circus.

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• Latest Congressional Budget Outlook For 2012-2022 Released, Says Real Unemployment Rate Is 10% | ZeroHedge

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The interactive tool is pretty awesome. You can put in your zip code and then find your exact location. A simple click will tell you exactly what your zone and temperature range is. No guessing based on a low resolution map that’s hard to read…

The biggest change is that they’ve added two new zones at the warm end of the scale, zones 12 and 13.

We can argue about the ramifications of this map until we’re blue in the face, but the bottom line is that most areas went up a zone or two, and this means you can grow things you couldn’t before. Not a bad thing.

On the flip side, it means new pests and whatnot that will affect what we grow more and more.

We went to an 8a where we live, and our property jumped up to a 6a.  Definitely a change I’m going to have to think about.

For me, the most interesting part is the property.  I can now look at longer term perennials and trees or shrubs that wouldn’t really thrive in a zone 5 but can do fine in a 6.

What are your thoughts on the new map?

• Interactive Map | USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map
  Check it out, it’s pretty cool.
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  This is huge…it’s about time!
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  I’ll bet the underlying reason for this is Obamacare, which is going to force the government to decide who gets what level of care.  Sarah Palin famously talked about death panels that will decide who gets treatment and who dies.  Under the Whole Lives system (link to pdf), which was developed by another group of bioethicists, the chances of you getting treatment for something are poor for babies and old people, peaking, instead, for young adults in the first half of their careers. 
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  They’re dead on when they say that for the most part massive wind and solar installations aren’t particularly useful.

  But they’re perfect for personal energy generation. Think on it…

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