Thanks for all the stories and advice. I think I am going to go with flying if I can find someone to drive my car half way across the country for me! Um… “Hey, Dad…?”
Read my disclaimer above:* (and personal opinion, as well, I notice I was vehement about certain things - at the time, there was a news story from back home where a dog had escaped and killed a cat in the luggage, and I was quite freaked out, needless to say)*
My mind has changed since. If you must, you must.
To quote David Byrne: “Cats like houses better than people”.
Since there are an abundance of cats on the planet, would it not be easier to simply leave them inthe house and pick up some new ones?
We’ve had several threads on this in the past, so I’ll just reiterate: If driving, set the cat up in its carrier so that it can see out of the window. This makes a world of difference.
We moved our cat in the car with us (in her carrier the whole time) 15 hours across the country. The first half of the trip she howled and panicked, turning circles in her carrier and panting. Once we decided to set her up so that she could see out the car window, she did not make another sound.
I drove from Tulsa, Oklahoma to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania with two kids and two cats, driving the biggest damn trucker Ryder had available, fulled to the brim with all of our worldly possession, towing a Toyota Camry. It took us three days. Both cats rode in the towed Toyota, with a kitty litter box on the floor of the back seat and lots of fresh water and food and the windows cracked open a bit to allow for fresh air. At night, we snuck them into the hotel room with us (they were both indoor cats) and checked on them each time we stopped for potty breaks or to eat. They did fine. No sedating drugs or any problems.
I just noticed this - I flew Air Canada in the story above. I’m from New Brunswick. They had no problem at all allowing me to bring my cat, sitting beside me. Three cats, I have no idea. If you paid for their seats, followed the regulations, etc. they probably wouldn’t care. Money, money, money.
Actually they probably wouldn’t allow it. You’re only allowed to have so many bags as carry-on, and IIRC, the cat carrier counted as one. I think. It’s been a while.
I moved with my cat from Connecticut to Washington State about a year ago. Here’s what happened.
I decided to fly one-way to Spokane with the cat in a carrier, my possessions arriving later in the van. I called the airline and they gave me acceptable measurements for the carrier. I went out and found one to these specs and put the cat in it for a few hours for several days before the trip to get her used to it. I also did a dry run with her prescribed sedatives (Acepromazine 5 mg.) to make sure they worked well enough.
They didn’t, at least on the dry run, even after a second dose. She yowled constantly in her new carrier. Of course, the movers were bashing around all day, so that might well have disturbed her unduly. I was worried sick about how she would fare on the plane, for her sake, my own, and that of the other passengers.
The morning before the flight I gave her a dose at the hotel. Within 15 minutes she was staggering around like a drunk, and pretty much out for the count within ½ hour. Why, I don’t know, but thank God it worked. BTW, you keep the cat’s mouth open with one hand, toss the pill in with the other, and hold the mouth shut until it looks like she’s swallowed. Cruel, but effective.
At the airport, an hour before the flight, the check-in people told me that I couldn’t bring the cat on the plane in the carrier, as it was not large enough for her to stand up in. I explained that the carrier measurements were in compliance with what the airline itself had told me. The bitch supervisor first told me that if I could find an acceptable carrier before the flight, then we could get on. Right, at 6 am.
Eventually, they got their hands off their hips and checked with a neighboring airline that had some acceptable carriers. I got one to the tune of $80. It was a soft-sided, collapsible type, ballistic material, with a genuine lambswool bottom. Finally, we were on the plane. The cat, at least, was going first class.
She didn’t make a peep for the entire trip. This included a delayed layover in Denver in which I was sitting next to a young couple of students. The cat shifted in the carrier, and the girl whispered to her boyfriend, “There’s something alive in there.” I explained, and we all had a good laugh.
Spokane International was fogged in, and they flew us to Portland, OR, and put us on a bus for 8 hours back to Spokane. Not a sound out of the cat, who had not seen a litter box in about 18 hours. Once we finally made it to the hotel, well after midnight, I put out one of those disposable, plastic litter boxes and the cat used it almost immediately. I was proud of the little bugger for holding on so long.
Also, her presence on the trip was a real sensation, especially on the seemingly interminable bus trip from Portland. One particularly fine looking blonde deemed me “hot” for being such a devoted cat lover. Never saw her again, but at 44, to be referred to as hot by a 20-something somehow made the whole ordeal worthwhile.
So, check with airline first, and then get a high-end, collapsible cat carrier. Test it, and the meds, at least once before travelling. Bring a disposable litter tray in your luggage if need be. Be prepared for your little charge to acquire lots of new admirers along the way.
Good luck!
This is all you need.
I’m trying to remember thir regulations; it was a few years ago. But, IIRC, it was the fact that we had three that threw them into a tizzy. One would not have been a problem, but three seemed to be. Here’s a brief summary of the story:
First, Air Canada (yep, that’s the one) said they could not be cabin baggage. Fair enough. They will go in the pressurized luggage hold. We had an airline-approved carrier for each cat, so no problem there.
Then Air Canada said, “About the cost…” Turned out it was going to cost us $60 per cat to fly them from Toronto to Calgary. Payable at check-in.
Then Air Canada said there was a strict limit of two pets per aircraft. Period. No way, nohow, are three travelling together on the same aircraft. And no pet can go on an aircraft unless its owner is travelling on the same aircraft. So we had to make separate reservations for my wife and I. She, with one cat, left on the 0900 flight; I with the other two, left on the 1000 flight.
But I hope you can see what I mean when I say, “we had no choice.” Well, perhaps we did–we could have driven. But in our situation, driving was a choice of last resort, for reasons unrelated to the cats. Anyway, communication with Air Canada seemed to be only one-way: AC to us. Every time we asked if it was possible to _____, they said No. (You can fill in the blank with pretty much anything; their answer would be the same.)
I will say this, though: Air Canada was very good with them, as far as we could tell. They did not disappear down the conveyor at check-in with the rest of the luggage; an airline employee put their carriers on a cart and wheeled them away. The same employee and cart later appeared by the side of the aircraft with “my” two, and loaded them in. (I saw this through the coffee shop window while having coffee before my flight left.) Upon arrival in Calgary, another employee brought them out and handed them to us.
This is why I say that if anybody is going to fly with a cat (or three), it is wise to check with the vet first about the animal’s health, then with the airline for their regulations regarding flying animals. Nobody wants an unpleasant surprise at the last minute. (“Whaddaya mean, Spot and Cleo have to go in the hold? And it’s going to cost me an extra $60 each? Nobody told me this!”) Again, check with the airline.
Oh, absolutely - make all reservations, making sure to tell them you’ve got animals; alert the vet about what you are up to, etc. Make sure no nasty surprises await you at the check-in. And to be quite honest, if I was going to have to have any of my animals fly with the luggage, I like/trust Air Canada. I don’t know a lot about other airlines, but these guys were very easy and pleasant to deal with when it came to animals, and everyone that needed to handle my cat was gentle and knew what they were doing. They offered free bottled water for my cat without my asking. When I made my reservations and told them I’d be bringing a cat, the lady was extremely helpful, telling me where to go for information on carriers, and told me how much it would cost and what restrictions applied if I wanted to bring my cat onboard with me as carry-on, etc. They were all around very good about the whole thing, and made me feel very comfortable about bringing my cat in the first place (I was going on vacation, originally! We were supposed to fly BACK 3000 miles! :eek: What was I thinking?) But definitely, be sure to ask these questions yourself in all cases, since I may have just gotten a particularly helpful person.
To have my cat beside me, I had to pay $80, so the $60 fee for the luggage hold sounds about right. Still a shock if you’re unprepared for the fee - I didn’t have to pay for mine until an hour before boarding. If you don’t know it’s coming, that would be an unpleasant surprise!
I drove from Wisconsin to Georgia with a cat in the car. Two issues: if you check in to a motel where they allow cats but have a water bed, be sure the cat can’t get under the bed in a place you can’t reach (water beds are way way to heavy to move; I bet you thought this was going someplace else!). And, in the car, if you don’t put the cat in a carrier, somehow you need to be sure the cat does not go under the brake pedal. You really don’t want to have to choose between stomping on the cat or running into a wall!
Oh, that is soooo sick!!
What’s even sicker is that I am still laughing at it.