Diary of a Cat Mom
Diary of a Cat Mom is a reflective cat podcast created and hosted by Dagmar Gatell about understanding cats more deeply — and creating a calmer, more connected life for both you and your cats.
Based on real experiences caring for over 50 cats throughout her life, each episode shares quiet observations, emotional moments, caregiving reflections, and gentle insights from everyday life with cats. From routines, behavior, and emotional wellbeing to grief, gratitude, overstimulation, trust, and the small meaningful moments many people overlook — this is not a traditional “how-to” podcast, but a space for understanding, awareness, and lived experience.
Beyond cat care itself, Diary of a Cat Mom also explores our connection to nature, emotional presence, personal growth, and the way our inner state can influence the animals who share our lives. Because living with cats is never only about feeding and routines — it’s also about energy, safety, trust, patience, and how we show up emotionally in the spaces we create together.
Created for cat lovers who see their cats as family, this podcast offers companionship, reassurance, perspective, and emotional support during seasons of caregiving, uncertainty, healing, change, and letting go.
Diary of a Cat Mom is a personal storytelling podcast and does not replace professional veterinary advice. Every cat is unique, and medical or behavioral concerns should always be discussed with a trusted veterinarian or qualified professional.
You’re not alone on this journey.
We’re learning, loving, and growing together — one paw print at a time.
Diary of a Cat Mom
Ep. 75 - What If You Only Had 10 Minutes to Save Your Cats? 💔🐾
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What would happen if you had to leave your home with your cat in just a few minutes?
In this Diary of a Cat Mom entry, I share why I've been thinking about emergency preparedness for my cats and what I've learned about creating a simple emergency kit that could help keep them safe during hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, floods, power outages, or other unexpected situations.
The goal isn't to live in fear. It's to create peace of mind and reduce panic if an emergency ever happens.
What You'll Learn in this Cat Podcast Episode
- Why every cat parent should have an emergency plan
- The essential items to include in a cat emergency kit
- Why carriers can become a source of stress during evacuations
- How microchips, photos, and records can help reunite lost pets
- Why identifying pet-friendly shelters and hotels ahead of time matters
- How preparation can reduce anxiety for both cats and humans
Timestamps & Chapters
00:00 Introduction
00:25 Why I Started Thinking About Emergency Preparedness
01:05 What Belongs in a Cat Emergency Kit
02:00 Why Preparation Reduces Stress
02:40 The Importance of Carrier Training
03:10 Planning Pet-Friendly Evacuation Options
03:45 Peace of Mind for Cat Parents
04:15 Closing Thoughts
This is where I’ve gathered everything that supports me and my cats:
https://diaryofacatmom.com/cat-care-resources/
About the Diary of a Cat Mom Podcast
Diary of a Cat Mom is a quiet, personal cat podcast created by Dagmar Gatell, sharing real moments, emotions, and experiences from life with cats.
This space is meant for connection, comfort, and companionship. Everything shared comes from lived experience as a cat mom and is not intended as professional veterinary advice. Every cat is unique, and for health concerns, it’s always best to consult your trusted veterinarian.
Most of all, please remember:
You’re not alone on this journey. We’re learning, loving, and growing together — one paw print at a time.
Diary of a catmom Day's Diary Entry Emergency Preparedness Kit for My Cat. You're listening to Diary of a Cat Mom. Have you ever wondered what would happen if you suddenly had to leave your home with your cat? Whether it's a hurricane, tornado, wildfire, flood, power outage, or any other emergency. Most of us spend a lot of time preparing for ourselves, but I think not always for our cats. And when an emergency happens, there is usually isn't the time to think. Lately I've been asking myself a simple question. If I had to leave my house in 10 minutes, would I be ready to keep my cats safe? Started thinking about this because disasters seem to happen more often these days. And as a cat mom, I always worry about my cats first, not my furniture and not my clothes. So my first thought is always, how do I get everybody out safely? So I started researching what belongs in an emergency preparedness kit for cats. So at first I thought would be simple, right? So a cat carrier, some cat food, and blanket. But the more I learned, the more I realized how much easier it is for a stressful situation when you are prepared for it. Like things like vaccination records, knowing where pet-friendly shelters and hotels are located, kibu, extra medication available, making sure microchip information is current, like can save lives during an emergency, especially when people are stressed. Cats get stressed too. And a frightening cat can hide, refuse to enter a carrier or try to escape, which totally stressful. So what changed for me was realizing that an emergency preparedness isn't really about disasters, it's about reducing panic and pain. And so far I found the most important items out to cure cat carrier, food and water for several days, preferred two weeks, medications the kitties need, litter and litter supplies, vet records, information, microchip details, and a current photo of you and your kitty so you can prove ownership and then comfort things like bedding, blanky, toys. Many cats only see their carrier when they are going to the beds. So if you wait until hurricane warning or an evacuation order arrives, then the carrier itself is just another source of stress for key. So now I understand why experts recommend occasionally letting the cats spend time around their cat carriers before an emergency ever happens. And I think another lesson really the big one was for me to identify pet-friendly hotels and shelters, friends and family members. So you don't have to start searching for a place that accepts cats when the disaster is there. So hopefully none of us will ever need an emergency preparer's kit for our cats. But having one ready can be a really a peace of mind. Just when we prepare things for ourselves, including for our cats a small box with food and the records, medication, litter and supplies and the carrier doesn't seem much today, but in case of an emergency, it just makes the difference. And perhaps the greatest gift we can give our cats today is knowing that no matter what happens around us, have done our best to keep them safe. Because after all, they're our family. Thank you for being here with me. This is a story of a cat mom. Don't miss the next entry. There's always another little moment, another lesson, another story waiting to be shared. I will talk to you in the next entry. Bye, we are the cat mom.