Pet emergency plan: who looks after your pet if you can't?

Keep a card behind your bank card that says you have pets at home: how many, the address, and the name and number of someone who can get in and look after them. If you're taken ill or injured, the people helping you look for ID and emergency contacts, and a card like this puts your pets on their list.

Add the same note to your phone's emergency information, which can be read from the lock screen. On an iPhone that's Medical ID in the Health app, with Show When Locked turned on; on Android it's in the Safety app under Your info, with Emergency info access set to Show when locked. Both have room for medical notes and emergency contacts, so put your pet carer in as one of them.

Pick someone nearby who has a key, or can get one quickly, and ask them properly: a neighbour, a friend or family close by. Agree what they'd do in the first day, and name a second person in case the first is away.

Give them your pet's routine, and tell your vet who they are, so they can act without delay if your pet needs treatment while you can't be reached.

Food and how much, medication and when, the vet's details, insurance, the microchip number and the quirks that matter (hides from strangers, escapes through the back gate). Our free pet sitter sheet puts all of it on one printable page. Keep a copy by the door or on the fridge, and send one to your emergency carer.

Emergencies are exactly when pets get out: a door left open by paramedics, a gate by a helpful neighbour. If your pet is found while you're in hospital, the finder needs to reach someone who can help.

Keep your pet's microchip details up to date, and add a second contact where you can. With a PetTag, you can add your emergency carer as the emergency contact on your pet's profile, so whoever scans the tag can reach them, and change it whenever you need to.

In UK law pets are treated as property, so you can leave your pet to a named person in your will, ideally someone who has agreed, along with money for their care.

Two free schemes take the worry away if there's no one. Dogs Trust's Canine Care Card means that if you die, move into a care home or can no longer look after your dog because of a serious illness, Dogs Trust will care for it at one of its rehoming centres or in a foster home until it finds a new home, and it never puts a healthy dog to sleep. It can't take banned breeds. Cats Protection's Cat Guardians does the same for cats if you die, and it doesn't put healthy cats to sleep. Both take a few minutes to register.