After 9/11, my brother -- who lives in a rural area of northern Arkansas, far, far from anywhere a terrorist would have the slightest interest in -- kindly invited us to come and stay with him and my s-i-l any time we were endangered. At first I was relieved -- it felt good to think there was a safe place to go in the event of a chemical or radiological attack on DC. Then I realized: He and his wife are highly allergic to cats, and there's no way they could allow one into their apartment (which would cause them endless problems, as there's almost no way to eliminate the allergen once it gets into a place). I immediately wrote it off completely as a haven.

Later I thought about it and realized I could bring the cats with me and figure out what to do with them when I got there. If necessary, they could be left outside. Although they're declawed, and would be in danger of being attacked, it would be far less risky than if the circumstances were such that I wanted to evacuate. Or perhaps my brother knows someone who likes cats who would take them in temporarily.

However, I do not consider just leaving them alone to fend for themselves in a disaster situation an option.

I'm sorry, Ceej -- I know I'm preaching to the choir here. I just had to vent that.