Traveling with Pets: Airline Recommendations

[Math Is Hard]

Has anyone here had any experience with pets and air travel? Any particular airline that you'd recommend (or not recommend)?

 

[Evo]

It's been a long time since I've flown pets. I had to fly my dogs a few times. I've heard horror stories, I'd do some research.

The only thing to remember is to tranquilize them before the flight (your vet will give you a sedative, and you should also give one to your pet). Get a sky kennel, and line it with something comfy, also put anything your pet might feel familiar with like a toy or something that has your scent on it.

 

[Math Is Hard]

(your vet will give you a sedative, and you should also give one to your pet).

Thanks, Evo.

I'd like to move back to Texas one of these days, but 24 hours of driving with a screaming cat is really unappealing. I thought I would look into flying.

 

[Moonbear]

(your vet will give you a sedative, and you should also give one to your pet).

I'm glad I wasn't drinking anything when I read that!

I'd be terrified of flying with a pet. I've heard so many bad stories of lost or maltreated pets that I think I'd prefer 24 hours of yowling in a car.

 

[DaveC426913]

Bah. Fooled again.

All set for a discussion about bats, birds and flying squirrels.

 

[lisab]

Bah. Fooled again.

All set for a discussion about bats, birds and flying squirrels.

Me too...moths, bees, fish... .

 

[rootX]

I was thinking about

a flying dog when looked at the thread title.

 

[Moonbear]

I was thinking about

a flying dog when looked at the thread title.

I'll admit that birds hadn't crossed my mind when I saw the thread title, and your post is more along the lines of what I was expecting.

 

[zoobyshoe]

This could work!

I have seen the future, and it is: Flying Dog Competitions!

 

[Andre]

Somehow I had an association with crows.

I don't have a good feeling by driving 24 hrs. A sedated cat won't drink and could easily be dehydrated in the harsh hot climate. Also we flew a dog from Edmonton Alberta to Amsterdam without any problems. Service was excellent. But this was over a quarter of a century ago.

 

[physics girl phd]

My cat was flown in the cabin to Colorado (from OH, in 2001?). At ~10 pounds, however, she barely fit in the airline travel crate that is permitted. They also permit only one pet in the cabin (okay for us since I only had one), so We had to reserve the spot... and there was small charge ($50). She meowed constantly during the first flight, but was quiet by the second. I don't remember the airline, but suspect United, since Denver is a major hub for that airline.

I drove with her from CO to Tennessee (20 hrs, nonstop except for two short naps.) Pretty grueling on both of us.

I don't however, think I'd ever put her in the cargo area. If I was moving abroad, I'd find someone I know to take her in.

 

[DaveC426913]

If I was moving abroad, I'd find someone I know to take her in.

How sexist. If you're moving a broad, you should buy her a seat on the plane.

Ba-zing!

 

[BobG]

I drove across the country with two cats, once.

I just let them roam the car's interior, which has some drawbacks (it's easier for them to crawl down by the pedals than for a dog, but I also had cruise control on the interstate, so I could just encourage them out of the way; it's a good idea to put them on a leash before you open the door which can be a pain with the car seats in the way).

All in all, they didn't seem to mind the trip aside from being hungry by the end of it (I don't like to encourage the chance of car sickness, but it probably wouldn't have mattered since they preferred sitting in the back window).

 

[Moonbear]

When you drive long distances with a cat, how do you handle their need to use the little kitty litter room? That's the part I'd be worried about, timing stops so the cat could use the litter box, and would she? But it only seems worse on an airplane.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I'd like to move back to Texas one of these days,

Had you only moved to LA for school?

Do you just want to be close to your family again, or don't you like LA?

 

[DaveC426913]

I drove across the country with two cats, once.

I just let them roam the car's interior...

I would call this flirting with the lives of everyone on the same highway as you that day. You might as well have downed a bottle of whiskey.

 

[physics girl phd]

When you drive long distances with a cat, how do you handle their need to use the little kitty litter room? That's the part I'd be worried about, timing stops so the cat could use the litter box, and would she? But it only seems worse on an airplane.

Sad to say, but Cha-Cha -- not being used to car trips -- emptied her system in the half-hour between Boulder and Denver. I threw out the old kitchen towels that I used to line her kitty-carrier, and put in fresh. I think part of the reason deciding to drive straight through to Tennessee in the 20-21 hour marathon was to just avoid this happening again. I had packed a water and food dish, and a small littler box with just enough litter for an overnight at a hotel if need be. I was more worried about dehydration possibilities, but her scared panting stopped pretty quick after Denver too...

Like Bob G... I did decided to risk letting her "roam" the car (once we got to Missouri)... but she was actually just so darn scared that she settled down right next to me on the seat as close as she could get (since I didn't let her on the lap).

 

[hypatia]

I made toss away litter pans from foil baking pans. A few weeks before moving, I replaced the real litter pan with the toss a way ones I made, and they got use to them. I screened off the back of my car, put the pan on the floor, gave them ittty bitty sleeping pills, then drove for 18 hours. When they woke up, about 8 hours into the trip, they were calm. They ate and then slept some more, and used the pan once.

 

[DaveC426913]

I screened off the back of my car...

This is an awesome solution. Kudos.

 

[Loren Booda]

My old American Shorthair mix Benjamin was standing next to a garbage pail whose lid was up, but unexpectedly came down with a crash. I have never seen a cat before or since jump a foot straight up using all four legs at once!

 

[GeorginaS]

When you drive long distances with a cat, how do you handle their need to use the little kitty litter room? That's the part I'd be worried about, timing stops so the cat could use the litter box, and would she? But it only seems worse on an airplane.

Bean and I drove fourteen hours a couple of times. I have a small SUV so I put the back seats flat and put her carry case on that with the door facing between the front seats so she could see where we were going. As long as I left the door of her case open, she didn't yowl, and she stayed in the case and mostly napped. Without drugs.

I put her litter box on the front seat passenger's side floor. When she needed to use it, she got out of her case and climbed into the front passenger seat. I saw her and slowed the car down and pulled over onto the side of the road. She climbed down into her litter box, did her thing, and climbed back up to her carry case. I scooped what I needed to out of the box and into a plastic sealable bag I had on hand and got rid of the bag on regular stops.

Oh. I anticipated birds, airborne bugs, and reptiles with wings to be the subject matter too. The flying dog hadn't sprung to mind.

I fed her at her regular times in the very back of the vehicle. Bean's a pretty good long distance traveller. I'll give her that.

I wouldn't ever, ever want to put her in cargo on a plane.

 

[Moonbear]

I put her litter box on the front seat passenger's side floor. When she needed to use it, she got out of her case and climbed into the front passenger seat. I saw her and slowed the car down and pulled over onto the side of the road. She climbed down into her litter box, did her thing, and climbed back up to her carry case. I scooped what I needed to out of the box and into a plastic sealable bag I had on hand and got rid of the bag on regular stops.

That sounds like a good idea. I kept wondering about putting a litter box on the floor, but was thinking back seat, and was thinking of how difficult it is to use the bathroom on a plane when it hits turbulence, and thought that would be the end of the floor of my car (there would still be the matter of having a cat who wants to push litter around for 10 min and still never manages to effectively bury anything).

On short trips, Ember does okay with her carrier on the front seat (I seatbelt it in) so she can see me. But, if I ever had trouble finding a cat sitter and needed to drive somewhere, I was wondering how I'd manage.

 

[physics girl phd]

there would still be the matter of having a cat who wants to push litter around for 10 min and still never manages to effectively bury anything.

That's just like Cha-Cha -- she always scratches the wall next to the box... instead of scratching the litter around. Augh!

It was nice when I had a teeny front porch and let her out to go underneath a big pine tree nearby... there was no wall to scratch, so it always got covered up. The added benefit was that my neighbor's cat, who was diabetic and tended towards constipation, was also therefore more likely to use the tree-spot and avoid that complication.

 

[Math Is Hard]

Had you only moved to LA for school?

No, actually I had no idea I'd ever be going to school when I came out here.

Do you just want to be close to your family again, or don't you like LA?

It's some of both. I miss my family and my grandmother constantly hints at how nice it would be to have me closer. The cost of living has skyrocketed in the last 10 years, and people like me on an average income are getting priced out of living here.

Here's a graph comparing the monthly rents in one apartment complex I looked at(blue) to those in the area (yellow) between 2000 and 2009:
http://www.apartmentratings.com/rate/CA-Marina-Del-Rey-Marina-Pointe-Pricing.html http://www.aptimg.com/servlet/img?xMin=2000&xMax=2009&xSize=570&ySize=250&yMax=2030&yMin=762&data1=2003,1700|2004,1667|2005,1697|2006,1738|2007,1719|2008,1776|&data2=2000,812|2001,1482|2002,1469|2003,1484|2004,1489|2005,1650|2006,1699|2007,1878|2008,1917|2009,1930|

These are averages for 1 bed/1 bath units.

 

[Evo]

Those prices are outrageous, and I am sure those aren't luxury apartments.

 

[Moonbear]

That's insane! My three-bedroom townhouse is substantially less than that! And my mortgage on the new house will also be substantially less than that.

 

[lisab]

Whoa! My mortage is a fraction of that.

Move to Seattle, we'd love to have you here !