diff --git a/app/controllers/pets_controller.rb b/app/controllers/pets_controller.rb
index 9eefd381..bf65dc62 100644
--- a/app/controllers/pets_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/pets_controller.rb
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 class PetsController < ApplicationController
   rescue_from Pet::PetNotFound, :with => :pet_not_found
+  rescue_from PetType::DownloadError, SwfAsset::DownloadError, :with => :download_error
   
   cache_sweeper :user_sweeper
   
@@ -40,15 +41,30 @@ class PetsController < ApplicationController
   protected
   
   def pet_not_found
+    pet_load_error :long_message => 'Could not find any pet by that name. Did you spell it correctly?',
+      :short_message => 'Pet not found',
+      :status => :not_found
+  end
+  
+  def download_error(e)
+    Rails.logger.warn e.message
+    pet_load_error :long_message => "We found the pet all right, but the " +
+      "Neopets image server didn't respond to our download request. Maybe it's " +
+      "down, or maybe it's just having trouble. Try again later, maybe. Sorry!",
+      :short_message => 'Neopets seems down. Try again?',
+      :status => :gateway_timeout
+  end
+  
+  def pet_load_error(options)
     respond_to do |format|
       format.html do
         path = params[:origin] || root_path
         path += "?name=#{params[:name]}"
-        redirect_to path, :alert => 'Could not find any pet by that name. Did you spell it correctly?'
+        redirect_to path, :alert => options[:long_message]
       end
       
       format.json do
-        render :text => 'Pet not found', :status => :not_found
+        render :text => options[:short_message], :status => options[:status]
       end
     end
   end
diff --git a/app/models/pet_type.rb b/app/models/pet_type.rb
index fea6a55b..c449c21e 100644
--- a/app/models/pet_type.rb
+++ b/app/models/pet_type.rb
@@ -114,9 +114,9 @@ class PetType < ActiveRecord::Base
         begin
           res.error!
         rescue Exception => e
-          raise "Error loading CPN image at #{cpn_uri}: #{e.message}"
+          raise DownloadError, "Error loading CPN image at #{cpn_uri}: #{e.message}"
         else
-          raise "Error loading CPN image at #{cpn_uri}. Response: #{res.inspect}"
+          raise DownloadError, "Error loading CPN image at #{cpn_uri}. Response: #{res.inspect}"
         end
       end
       new_url = res['location']
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ class PetType < ActiveRecord::Base
       if match
         self.image_hash = match[1]
       else
-        raise "CPN image pointed to #{new_url}, which does not match CP image format"
+        raise DownloadError, "CPN image pointed to #{new_url}, which does not match CP image format"
       end
     end
   end
@@ -148,4 +148,6 @@ class PetType < ActiveRecord::Base
       end
     end
   end
+  
+  class DownloadError < Exception;end
 end
diff --git a/app/models/swf_asset.rb b/app/models/swf_asset.rb
index 985d8685..5bbdef79 100644
--- a/app/models/swf_asset.rb
+++ b/app/models/swf_asset.rb
@@ -95,9 +95,9 @@ class SwfAsset < ActiveRecord::Base
       begin
         response.error!
       rescue Exception => e
-        raise "Error loading SWF at #{url}: #{e.message}"
+        raise DownloadError, "Error loading SWF at #{url}: #{e.message}"
       else
-        raise "Error loading SWF at #{url}. Response: #{response.inspect}"
+        raise DownloadError, "Error loading SWF at #{url}. Response: #{response.inspect}"
       end
     end
   end
@@ -108,6 +108,8 @@ class SwfAsset < ActiveRecord::Base
     self.body_id = 0 if !self.body_specific? || (!self.new_record? && self.body_id_changed?)
   end
   
+  class DownloadError < Exception;end
+  
   private
   
   def local_path_within_outfit_swfs