emergency back-up when there's no partner or partner won't help

[Poison Ivy]

I think about this topic occasionally and it came up again last night, when I suddenly (i.e., in about 5 seconds) developed an extremely painful headache.  Fortunately, the headache is almost gone now, 24 hours later, but while it was most intense, I was fretting about what to do if I thought I needed to go to an emergency room.  It was night, it was very cold, I have a dog, and I live alone. 

So, now I'm wondering:  Do other people have plans for emergencies? Who would you call to stay with your children or your dog?  Who have you listed to be contacted by a hospital or physician? 

Thanks in advance. 

[Andeza]

While I don't find myself in this position, I've been mulling it over since you posted and decided to just toss out the things that came to mind. You may consider actually printing up and laminating a card for your wallet, placed next to your driver's license perhaps, with a local kennel's info and instructions to send your dog there in case of emergency? Otherwise, you might list a neighbor that's relatively trustworthy, after asking of course, with the understanding that all they need to do is contact a care facility for your dog if the neighbor gets a call from the hospital.

If I lived alone, with my four cats, I would find a neighbor that wouldn't mind popping by once a day to feed them, maybe clean the litter box twice a week, and offer to pay them well for the inconvenience of course. But a dog needs walking. If there are any neighbors around you that have early teens, and you're already on speaking terms with the parents, you could offer to pay the kids to walk and feed your dog should there be an emergency and then list the parent as your contact. Just brainstorming really, I'm sure somebody else will pipe up with a better idea.

If Dh and I were both in the hospital or whatnot, his parents would look after DS and the cats, but they're good people.

[NumbLotus]

Another option for a dog is rover.com, where you can find local people who will come to your home to walk, feed, play, clean litter box, give meds, whatever for pets. They charge per visit. Some will also take your dog to their house to stay, if you like. Cheaper than a kennel IME.

For this to be a viable backup plan, you'd want to have already worked with one or more of the people. And have a plan to get a key to them in case of emergency (leave key with neighbor, in potted plant, whatever). And someone will need to order their services in the event of an emergency.

[GettingOOTF]

I use a service to look after my animals when I’m away. When I had surgery I had them come in every day to do the litter as I couldn’t bend down.

My neighbor is my emergency fallback. She has animals herself so we offered to help each other out. I have spare keys in a lockbox so I would give her the code. This way there’s always a way for someone to get in.

It’s hard when you live alone. I don’t really have any backup here and it’s def something you have to plan for. 

I list a close friend at my emergency contact. She lives out of state so not sure what she could do but it’s nice to have someone to write in that space.

[sevenyears]

These are good questions and its important to do. I live in a foreign country, so I don't have parents or family I can count on (and I realize that not every can when family lives nearby). When I still lived with Uocpd xh, I had a nice network of other families that I could count on in an emergency. The moment I moved out, I lost all that. For the first nine months, I lived pretty isolated with my kids. Then I moved into a nice flat near their school and Kindergarden, about nine months ago. I've been working on rebuilding a new network of parent/friends that I can count on. It's still small and fragile, but growing slowly. With some planning, I can find short term childcare and cat care. I'd still be hard put in an emergency. I guess they would have to stay with Uocpd xh, which is worrisome. He breaks apart in stressful situations. His aunt is listed as the emergency contact for the children. She's not capable of really taking care of the kids, but at least she is somewhat kind. So, I'm still building that network... 

[Spygirl]

A pet sitter who knows your animals is good.

I am in the same position you are recently, and made sure i found a home where i had met friendly neighbors , and will develop a helpful relationship with them so i have emergency back up. I will of course do the same for them. I keep in touch with old friends too. They are far away, but we all check in on each other. Skype is great.

Community involvement on a small scale is also good to make some connections.