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One item to mention, make sure you and the cat have practiced getting in and out of the carrier like you will need to do at the security checkpoint. According to TSA, most pet issues occur because the person was not prepared in removing the animal from its carrier, placing the carrier on the belt for x-ray, carrying the cat through the metal detector, and putting it all back on the other side. This is going to be done in a hectic area under fast paced conditions. Have a plan and practice doing it.
As for sedatives, if bringing the cat in the cabin with you, they appropriateness is between you and your vet. It’s only an issue when you are not traveling with the pet because in the event something isn’t right because of the sedative, nobody is present to fix it. That’s why many airlines won’t accept animals for unaccompanied travel if sedated.
I appreciate you covering this about the TSA. I was wondering what to expect in regard to the security screening!
I've flown overseas and back several times with up to three cats (between 14 and 17 hour trips), typically with one layover. I usually have them draw straws to see which one of the lucky three gets to sit with "Mom" on the airplane - once it was the oldest, and once it was one with a heart murmur. I have multiple copies of their health certificates, and if any go in the hold, one copy is taped to the carrier in an envelope with the contact information on the outside of the envelope. Knock on wood, we have always made it fine, and these were my rules/experiences:
1. Never sedate an unaccompanied pet in a carrier in the hold. As stated earlier, you don't know if the pet could have an adverse reaction and no one would be around to help him/her. Also, although it can be frightening, vets recommend they just hunker down - once it's dark and there are no people and things moving all over the place, they should just settle in and tough it out. They can deal with things better if they are alert and aware of their surroundings.
2. I've used a mild sedative with the one in the cabin once, but I found that it was really disorienting for her and she didn't travel as well as I expected. Plus, once on the far end, she didn't have her faculties to orient to her surroundings. My two in cargo dealt much better.
3. For the one in the cabin, I travel with a leather sherpa bag, which has sides and a top which can roll up to give them more air or visibility or else stay down for a bit of privacy. These can open either via the zip open top or one end to take the pet in and out. At least one end is all mesh for ventilation. I try for a window seat, and if she gets anxious and no one is nosy, I sometimes just put the sherpa bag on my lap and quietly unzip the top just enough to slip my hand in... she settles down... and doesn't try to escape at all. You can also just drape one of the airline blankets over the carrier a bit to make it darker and quieter to help them settle in. Watch the treats en route... their tummies will tend to be a bit "delicate". (Note: if your kitty barfs in the carrier, security guys don't tend to linger, but travel with a spare pet pad or two.) you may also want to have a harness on the in-flight kitty for the security check... easier to catch the litter sucker if he/she makes a break for it. Baby-changing rooms or the handicapped bathrooms are convenient for you to make any "quick clean-ups" if necessary - just leave things neat and tidy when you're done and no one will be the wiser.
3. For those in the hold, make sure you label the carrier with the pet name, your name, flight and contact information ALL OVER THE PLACE. I also put a baggie with some dry food taped to the outside of the carrier just in case there is some kind of delay or we get separated en route. I do put one of the plastic clip-on water containers in the carrier and typically freeze the water... not full. Dunno how that works en route, but they seem to make it ok and they're dry when they show up.
4. Do stop feeding them several hours before the trip, and put one of the pet pads on the bottom of the cage to try and soak up any "accidents".
5. If you do have a layover, the cabin crew should confirm your pet(s) are on board in the hold for an connecting flights. The loading personnel are supposed to confirm with the crew this is done. (They used to actually have a "claim check" to show you that they are boarded, but not anymore.) I insist that the stewardess get confirmation before I will sit down and buckle up. That is not an unreasonable request. The pilot should have all the paperwork and it will show that any pets have been loaded in cargo for you, if the stewardesses can't get anything from the loading crew. MOST cabin crew personnel are sympathetic to your nerves, as long as you are polite about it.
6. Lastly, depending on the airlines, several times the crew have allowed me to board with "families with small children or those needing extra time to get settled". It is to their benefit to let you get in and settled with the pet so you're not holding things up while everyone else tries to board - again a window seat means no one will be climbing over "kitty" when everyone else boards. A polite request often helps with this at the gate before boarding even starts.
Good luck with the trip! Cats are amazingly resilient and should do just fine. I can guarantee you will be more of a wreck during the trip than they will!
Lots of wonderful advice here! Greatly appreciated!
I flew with my cat between Atlanta and Boston when I moved. He gets carsick and was coming out both ends before we even got to the airport. I was able to take him into the bathroom before security to try to clean him off, and he was so dejected and miserable by the time we got to security that he didn't fight or try to run - he just wanted to be close to his mom. Poor munchkin. Luckily the plane was half empty, because he did yowl the entire time (under the seat in front of me) and we both were pretty stinky by the end of the trip.
My vet recommended against sedatives, for the record.
Definitely try out the sedative BEFORE you fly. Or drive. Cats, and people, can have a paradoxical reaction to a drug.
Meaning what sedates 99% of the time, can set the cat on hyperdrive. A handful of claws and teeth is no fun for anyone.
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Originally Posted by Macrina
^^ Good plan, except that most airlines won't let you have any kind of water in the crate.
Also, visit your vet sooner; e.g. to give time for a trial run on the sedative issue, if you're going in that direction.
And your cat won't hate you! They live very much in 'the now' and after the trip is done, she'll be fine.
Glad I came across this thread. We're going to be flying with our cat for the first time in a couple of weeks and all this info is most useful.
We moved from FL to CA, and I was dreading the trip with our two cats. My husband convinced me that 1 day of flying was better than a few days of driving and strange hotel rooms.
Definitely try a sedative before you fly, so you see how your cat reacts.
For the TSA - I got a wonderful tip from someone (maybe from here?). I heard all about how you have to take your cat out of its carrier while they run the carrier through the xray/scanner machine. I was having nightmares about Luna & Hobbes squirming out of our hands and never to be found again. My advice - demand a private screening room. They took me and the cats (while my husband was going through the regular way) to a closed room, and one at a time, they had me take the cat out and they examined the bag. (I don't even think they left the room to scan it, if I recall.) And while they were at it, they did the pat down for me, since I refuse to go through those xray machines. It was a HUGE relief, knowing the cats couldn't go far if they squirmed out of our grasp.
The rest of the trip, they were miraculously fine! A friend told me that the noise of the airplane creates sort of like a "white noise" effect, and it calms them. We made sure to get a window & middle seat, even though my husband normally takes the aisle, since we didn't want all the passing people/feet to freak them out. Not a peep.
Getting out of the elevator at the car rental at the airport, another couple commented on how well behaved our cats were, and that they had to do the same shortly. Wouldn't you know, right after we get off the elevator, the meowing and carrying on started up.
Well, I've been getting my cat used to the Southwest pet carrier I purchased. She likes lying in it which I hope is a good sign. I carried her around my apartment in it for a little while just so she can get used to it.
I thought everybody might be interested in hearing how it went. We got an FAA-approved pet carrier (Sherpa) a few days ahead of time and left it open on the floor. He took an immediate liking to it and would go in there to sleep and hang out a lot. A couple of days before, my daughter put his carrier in the passenger seat of her car and took him for a ride. He started to yowl and had a loss of bladder control. I was glad to get this heads-up, as I went down to the pet store and bought some puppy training pads to line his carrier with. We washed his carrier's liner and replaced it for the trip. The day of the trip, we put a liner in his carrier, and I gave my daughter about half a dozen more to put in her carry-on bag. When we were going to get in the car, my daughter started to put his carrier in the back seat. I said, "Don't you think he'd be happier riding in your lap in the carrier?" She thought for a second and realized yes, he would likely be happier. She unzipped the top so she could stroke his head. He was calm and quiet for the entire ride, and he didn't wet his pad. I helped my daughter to the ticket counter, but of course I had to stop short at security. I watched her take the cat out of the carrier so they could scan his carrier, and they let her walk through the old metal detector-looking thing rather than making her walk through the naked body scanner. When I could no longer see her, I returned to my car and drove to a local Starbucks until she texted me that she had made it on the plane safely and all was well. After she got to California, she told me that he was quiet for the entire plane ride to Denver, and then the next leg from Denver to San Diego. I was amazed that he didn't even yowl on takeoff or landing due to the pressure changes that I worried could hurt his ears. So all in all, a great experience, and I over-worried about it. Of course, I know all cats are different, but hopefully this will allay some fears out there.
We moved from FL to CA, and I was dreading the trip with our two cats. My husband convinced me that 1 day of flying was better than a few days of driving and strange hotel rooms.
Definitely try a sedative before you fly, so you see how your cat reacts.
For the TSA - I got a wonderful tip from someone (maybe from here?). I heard all about how you have to take your cat out of its carrier while they run the carrier through the xray/scanner machine. I was having nightmares about Luna & Hobbes squirming out of our hands and never to be found again. My advice - demand a private screening room. They took me and the cats (while my husband was going through the regular way) to a closed room, and one at a time, they had me take the cat out and they examined the bag. (I don't even think they left the room to scan it, if I recall.) And while they were at it, they did the pat down for me, since I refuse to go through those xray machines. It was a HUGE relief, knowing the cats couldn't go far if they squirmed out of our grasp.
The rest of the trip, they were miraculously fine! A friend told me that the noise of the airplane creates sort of like a "white noise" effect, and it calms them. We made sure to get a window & middle seat, even though my husband normally takes the aisle, since we didn't want all the passing people/feet to freak them out. Not a peep.
!
I had a similar experience 6 years ago when I flew from NY to TX. I worried for MONTHS about this very thing -- having to take my 2 cats out of their carriers at security. I also did not want one in cargo so
I paid for a friend of mine to fly with me (she's a flight attendant but I bought her a seat to be sure we'd be on same flight) so we could each have a cat. (Only one per passenger allowed.) That said, the hard carriers did not fit under the seats
and we were very lucky it was not a full flight and we went to the very last row which was empty, and each sat on the aisle and put the carriers in front of the empty seats in our rows. If the plane had been full I don't know what would have happened! This was JetBlue.
My cats were sedated...I was afraid they would go ape**** with the stress of the move and all the unfamiliarity. They also had to stay at the vet's for 3 days before I left (long story) so I knew they were freaked out to begin with. As for security -- it was all over in a few minutes. I had bought a harness and leash for each of them JUST for this scenario -- made sure the vet put it on them before I picked them up and we went directly to airport. Anyway... they did not make a peep. The agent allowed me to go thru security with the one cat, leave the carrier on the table, then go back thru and come back again with the other (as opposed to my friend doing it.) It was over very quickly and I had fretted forever about it. If I were ever to do it again I would ask for the room as you mention, just to help cut down on the overall commotion. On the flight itself I think that "white noise" factor was true; they did not say one meow.
I believe that moving is Hell to begin with...and moving with pets just adds to the fire...but we all survived!
This was before 911, so I don't know if cats have to go thru the scanners these days.
I didn't need a health certificate. I was told I'd pay $50.00 to keep her on my lap.
I sedated her. I had a special cat carrier, she was out the whole way, and did not appear any worse for it.
The airline never asked me for the $50.00 so she flew for free.
I would never put a cat or any animal in cargo, I've heard of too many that have died there.
Ask your airline if your cat needs a health certificate.
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Originally Posted by poodlestix
My daughter is planning to move out of state and will be taking her cat with her. He's never been on an airplane before. I've read online that they need to be in a carrier. I can just picture him yowling all the way there! Would it be wise to sedate him somehow? If so, with what? I also see conflicting opinions of people online whether a health certificate is or is not needed.
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Thanks!
Poor munchkin. Luckily the plane was half empty, because he did yowl the entire time (under the seat in front of me) and we both were pretty stinky by the end of the trip.
...but we all survived!
