Moving to NYC from Sydney and have to transport 2 cats with us. (eating, dogs)

[Olliesyd]

Hi - I originally posted this in the Aussie forum which I think was the totally wrong move! Might have better luck here...

I am 99% looking at a move with my husband's work from our current home of Sydney to NYC in about three months.

I have two, 7 year old indoor cats whom I love to pieces (understatement of the century) and I'll be honest I am very anxious about putting them through the ordeal of having them stuck (most likely in terror) in the hold of a plane for 18+ hours plus all the airport times. When I moved from Melbourne to Sydney we drove with them as we were moving our car up too and it made sense. I have always felt I would never put an animal on a plane unless I had no other option. My fear has almost stopped us from accepting this role in the US but I realise you can't put your life on hold for animals no matter how much to love them, I have wanted to live in NYC for years.

I am aware the only way to transport cats or dogs from Australia overseas is in the hold. I will not leave them behind here in Sydney ~ at the fear or sounding like a crazy cat lady ~ as they are part of my family and as such, they will be coming with us. I will pay whatever it takes to get them there safely.

Has anyone on here done this before? I have read forums of people transporting animals interstate in the US but can't find so much/any info directly from people who have done this between Sydney and NYC. A lot of US interstate flights people seem to be able to carry the pets on board the plane if they fit in a carrier under the seat etc.. This is definitely not an option with animals coming in and out of Oz. Believe me I've even tried to find is we can get a boat to LA! LOL

I will be flying Qantas and have done some research/got quotes from Jet Pets (sorry I hope I am no breaking rules by mentioning company names?), but am really keen to hear from anyone on here who has been through this experience - esp. with this company or a similar one. When I spoke with the animal transporters they said it's best to have them flown all the way from Syd to NYC and not pick them up in LA and travel LA to NYC with them in the cabin (interstate in the US you can do this with most airlines), they said it's better for the animals to keep flying all the way in the hold. I would prefer to do this as I fear the worst part of flying animals will be at the airport when they are put on connecting flights, I would worry they would get badly handled and lost or something.

All I seem to read on the internet is horror stories from people on forums about crates not being tied down on the planes, the pilots not turning on the heating in the pressurised and temp controlled animal section of the plane etc etc etc.

Any advice/stories much appreciated.

[Rabrrita]

I cannot give you much advice on this, except that I had a very good friend who knew many ways to transport animals from various pacific countries to the USA. Sadly he was killed late last year so he cannot provide and information directly to you. I suggest that you search City Data for post from 'Pacificflights' concerning pet transportation as I remember seeing some post on just this subject.

[greg42]

Rabrrita that is sad to hear about PacificFlights. Not that I knew him or anything but I know the name certainly from reading on here and replied to his posts on occasion as I recall.

As far as the flight goes, I have no experience myself either and have heard the same horror stories. And yet, the stories are of course the exception. I'm going to guess, for example, that you can actually check to make sure they've turned the heating on by passing a message along via the flight attendant or whatever. (BTW, the whole plane is pressurized; it's just that only part of the hold is typically heated and if no animals on board probably not heated.) The vast majority of pets sent in the cargo hold make it just fine!

Just thinking off the top of my head with no real basis for it, I would say to avoid the connecting flight as well. I think you're on the right track there. Certainly within the US your cats can travel with you in the cabin on many airlines. Note that you do have to RESERVE THIS IN ADVANCE and pay an extra fee. There are a limited number of pets allowed in the cabin, but the good thing is a flight from LAX to JFK or whatever will be a large plane which typically allows for a few in-cabin pets. So if you book it well enough in advance you should be able to get both.

In order to do this you'll need two different types of carriers for the kitties. In the hold they'll need hard carriers. In cabin, they'll need carriers that fit under the seat, typically soft sided carriers are used. The airlines publish specifications for these on their web sites. You'd almost have to dump the hard sided carriers in LA to make this all practical, not sure what you would do with them otherwise. Also, you'd probably have to have less carry on luggage when you're carrying on the cats. Just some of the logistics to think about if you do that.

I would say if you're going to try this, rather than have a through connection via LA, spend the night there, at least one night. Not only does it break up the travel a hair, but then there is no ambiguity about what is supposed to happen with the baggage, which includes the cats. You would collect it all and then check the rest again the next day and bring the cats with you. Of course there may be an issue there that wasn't raised, which is if you disembark at LA you will be subject to California regulations on bringing in pets. Although, I think that would be true anyway, even if they are just changing planes. You're going to have US entry and customs in LA anyway, always the case at your first US stop. So that probably doesn't matter, but this means you should be aware of California (and New York) regulations as far as pets coming in. And any US national ones, not sure if there are any that are national. The only place with a quarantine is Hawaii if I remember right. Hawaii is rabies-free or something like that. So do not stop over there. Mostly the regulations involve what vaccinations they should have and checking up on that documentation might not actually happen.

The only other thing I'd say is make 100% sure that for leaving Australia the issue is across the board that you can't take a pet in the cabin and not just airline-specific. I don't know the answer to that, and I suspect you already did this, but if you haven't, check with all possible airlines particularly the US-based ones.

[greg42]

Oh, one thing I forgot about carrying on cats: harness and leash. You will need to take the cats out of their carriers when you go through the airport security procedures, so in order to not lose a frightened cat in a huge, crowded airport, this is a precaution you really must take.

[CTGirlNoMore]

I've never had to do this, but I had a friend who moved her dog from TX to Spain - like you, he was family and she didn't wanna give him up. I don't remember many details (it was 5 years ago), but I know it was very costly (cost may not matter and I understand that as I'd do the same for my cat, but just a heads up - it cost her like $5,000). If I can pick her brain, I'll post back here. She came back to the U.S. last year with the dog, but I never asked how it went - I just kow he made it back safely.

I do agree though about not using connecting flights, and to have a leash/harness handy for the airport.

[Pamina333]

Originally Posted by greg42

Rabrrita that is sad to hear about PacificFlights. Not that I knew him or anything but I know the name certainly from reading on here and replied to his posts on occasion as I recall.
.

Hope she comes back to clarify 'cause I read it as: Beings it was her personal friend with all the info who died and she can't ask him, she then recommended looking up PacificFlights on here.

Reeealy hooping that's the case!!

Originally Posted by Rabrrita

I cannot give you much advice on this, except that I had a very good friend who knew many ways to transport animals from various pacific countries to the USA. Sadly he was killed late last year so he cannot provide and information directly to you. I suggest that you search City Data for post from 'Pacificflights' concerning pet transportation as I remember seeing some post on just this subject.

[subject2change]

I didn't think she was referring to PF, either. I have wondered where he's been though. It's always odd when frequent posters just disappear.

[=^..^=]

I once flew next to a woman (Nashville TN to NYC) with a cat in a small carrier UNDER her seat. She told me she would never consider her cat traveling in the plane's hold. Too many horror stories and this was a few years back.

It seems the doors on carriers are made cheaply these days and have popped open allowing the cat (or dog) to escape, panic and come to a bad end. WIRE the door shut on your cat's carrier.

Check with the airline about keeping her in the carrier under your seat or paying for a seat next to you for your cat to ride in (in her carrier).

[greg42]

Originally Posted by subject2change

I didn't think she was referring to PF, either. I have wondered where he's been though. It's always odd when frequent posters just disappear.

//www.city-data.com/forum/27785488-post8.html

//www.city-data.com/forum/27818161-post12.html

I could see how what Rabrrita said on this thread was ambiguous but I read through the above-linked posts and associated thread before I made that remark. So, sadly, I believe the poster is referring directly to PacificFlights.

[moved]

Check with some of the posters on the Military Forum. Since a lot of them have been overseas, they may have additional advice that could prove helpful.