Posted by ClearSkies on January 21, 2007, at 22:37:13
In reply to Anyone ever traveled with pets on a plane?, posted by Wildflower on January 21, 2007, at 22:01:23
> I really hope someone can help me with this. I'm losing sleep over the thought of a possible move and not being able to take my two cats with me. The airline websites don't make animal travel sound comfortable for pets and I'm looking at about a 5 hour flight.
>
> Has anyone done this and traveled with the pet on the plane? Some airlines recommend shipping them as cargo. Please share any stories you may have to help me calm my nerves. The thought of spending a week in a car moving the kitties (in lieu of a plane) doesn't sound pet-friendly either.I brought my 2 cats with me when I moved to England. They flew in the cargo hold of the British Air flight we took. The were issued with official-looking kitty-passports, LOL. I had to bring a health certificate from their vet stating that they were fit for travel. When dropped then off for their "check-in", the staff immediately started to fuss over them and treat them like the first class passengers they were :-)
They were each in a small crate, which was rated for airline travel. (Just ask at a pet store for one.) They were not tagged like luggage, which relieved me somehow; but handed from person to person.
They were not medicated for the flight, as advised by our vet. He said it would be too difficult to gauge the correct dosage for a cat unaccustomed to being sedated.
There were no ill after-effects of the flight. We were forgiven within 20 minutes of getting home.
OH - and 7 years later, they came back to the states with us. We had to fly into a different airport, and so had to drive 6 hours after having flown for 7 hours. (None of us were in good shape after that trip!! Not humans, nor animals! The cats recovered much more quickly than I did.)
CS
poster:ClearSkies
thread:725011
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20070112/msgs/725023.html