Managing Animals in Flooding Disasters, A Focus on Two Common Presentations in a Cat and Two Horses
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The Texas A&M Veterinary Emergency Team (VET) responded to the flooding disaster created by Tropical Depression Imelda affecting the southeastern Texas coastline from 9/19/19 to 9/24/19. Their mission was to triage and care for a wide variety of animals impacted by this widespread flooding event that affected both urban and rural areas. Over several days, the team addressed a variety of flood-related injuries. The main findings included respiratory distress, edema in distal extremities and sloughing of the dermis – a condition often referred to as submersion injury, which is most common in horses and livestock that are trapped in flood waters. On 9/16/19, the team responded to two specific cases. The first was a cat found trapped in a flooded house, and the second was a pair of horses that had a history of being hit by a car. This type of problem is not uncommon in flooding disasters as animals often escape their flooded pastures or paddocks and end up on roadways. There are many different problems that may be encountered in a flood situation, but for this paper, the specific problems encountered in the cat and two horses: aspiration pneumonia, corneal abrasions, dermatitis, and cellulitis, will be discussed. This case report discusses the approach to triage of mass animal causalities in a natural disaster situation, will review specific disease processes associated with animals in flood conditions, and provides a key reminder of the importance of active veterinary medical involvement in disaster response.