Bringing pets underground

Space

Dogs settle faster with a den of their own. A crate or kennel run, a bed and a familiar blanket give them that, and keeping it away from the kitchen and bunks keeps hair and smell out of where people eat and sleep. In a CUBE Bunker the cleanest answer is a Pets cube: drag one into your layout in the 3D Builder and it holds the crates, a wash tub, the relief area and the feed bins.

Water and food

The figures use the common veterinary rule of about 1 ounce of water per pound of body weight a day. Heat, exercise and dry food raise it. Food goes in airtight bins, enough for the whole stay plus any prescription diet. California's emergency management agency recommends keeping pet water separate from the family's, and the same goes for counting it.

Waste

Outside is not an option when the hatch is sealed. Dogs use an indoor relief station: synthetic turf over a catch basin, with solids bagged right away. Cats use sealed-lid litter boxes. Bagged waste and used litter go into a gasketed drum until they can leave the bunker. The CDC advises washing hands with soap and water after cleaning up after pets, handling their food or touching them, so put a hand-wash station beside the pet area.

Air

An animal adds heat and moisture the same way a person does, and a big dog adds more than a cat. When you send a design for a quote, list each pet and its size so the air and heat systems are sized for everyone breathing inside. The relief area should exhaust only through the exhaust side of the air system, through a check valve, so odor leaves and never comes back in.

The Pets system

CUBE Bunker offers pet care as a system in three tiers: Basic ($5,500) with crates, a wash tub, a relief station and feed storage; Standard ($7,500) adding its own carbon-filtered exhaust fan and a drain to the holding tank; and Premium ($9,500) with kennel runs, a second wash station and a second relief station for large dogs. Pick a tier in the Builder.

Questions