I love my cat. He's like my child. I would make the efforts to evacuate him with my husband and some of my irreplaceable belongings (photos, my wedding dress, heirlooms, etc).

However, if I had to choose between saving myself and my cat, I'm sorry but I'd have to choose to save myself. I'm not willing to die for my cat. I love him and make plenty of financial sacrifices for him as it is, but I cannot die for him. If I had to choose between holding on to a flotation device and holding onto my cat because of strong currents, I'd choose the flotation device and hope that my cat's survival instincts would kick in. Sure, it would be heart breaking. But for people to endanger their lives and to stay for their pets is not the wisest course. Besides, how can you take care of your pets if you perish in a collapsed or flooded home? Almost all of us have lost pets one way or another, and as tragic as it would be, it would be something that I know I would have to get over and be grateful that I still have my life. Sure the same animal can't be replaced in your heart, but you can get another animal to take up some more space in another part of your heart and you can cherish the memories you had with your previous pet.

People that were being interviewed that had decided to ride out hurricanes were saying things like "How do you walk away from your entire life that you've built here?" My answer is "One step at a time, and with your actual life, and not necessarily your belongings." People put too much focus on material things these days.

Desperate times call for desperate measures.