Just 2 days after arriving in Texas, we had our first tornado warning. Back in 1979, much of Wichita Falls was wiped out by a tornado that reached a mile wide...tornados are nothing to gamble with here. I had not yet unpacked the cats carrier, it was in my car, and the hail was pounding down...I didn't have time to go to my car, put it together and then catch the kitties. I brought the dogs with me to the cellar, but I had to leave the kitties behind, because I couldn't even find them, and if I did, I had no way to transport them to the cellar (neighbors cellar, as we don't have our own). So instead of risking my own life, I left the kitties behind. They were in hiding anyway, because they had never experienced the sound of hail slamming into a house before, and they were freaked out.

I have since made up an emergency pack with a bottle of water, a flashlight, and the cat carrier, and next tornado warning I'll do everything in my power to get the kitties packed into their carrier so I can take them as well as the dogs next time.

As much as I adore my pets, if they don't come to me, and they run and hide and make catching them a difficult, time consuming task, then sometimes you just have to say a prayer that they'll be OK, and get to shelter. In a tornado warning, there's little time to waste. I left the cats, there simply wasn't time to get them. I have made it easier to get them in the future, but if they run and hide when I pull the carrier out, or if they're off in hiding from the tornado sirens going off, and every minute counts, yes I'll unfortunately have to leave them behind...but if it was an evacuation that I had time to prepare for, you bet I'd take them all, even the cats with me, even if we had to stay in the car because we wern't allowed in any shelter/hotel situation.