Flying with Cats: To drug or not to drug?

In My Humble Opinion
1

My wife and I are going to be taking out Siamese Attack Kittens[sup]tm[/sup] on a plane in about a month. We have been researching all form of travel with cats from luxury cat carriers (they are going to be on board not in cargo) to hard/soft sided individual carriers. So far we are most likely going to go with the Sherpa run of the mill carrier for both cats. My questions are as follows:

Should we drug them for the flight? I have heard some airlines frown upon that because some cats have attendency to growl, and moan more when drugged…

Should we have them fast before so they are not micturating mid-flight and causing some nasty odors?

Do we have to put them through the luggage scan? (Seriously, my wife is concerned about that)

Any words of wisdom? Something that is easily forgotten? Anecdotes?

2

Incidentally, they are not kittens anymore, they are full fledged siamese hellians.

3

My fiancée brought her cat out with her during her visit. She used a soft carrier, and carried the cat as carry-on baggage. The carrier fit under the seat.

When she went through security in Nashville, she held Harvey as she went through the metal detector and sent the carrier through the X-ray machine. The detector beeped, so they wanted her to remove her boots – but they didn’t want to help her with the squirming cat! She had two people yelling at her to take her boots off. She held Harvey out so that he could be checked with the wand (there’s a real danger of explosive cats, doncha know) and they finally allowed her to put him back in the carrier.

On the return trip she and Harvey passed through the metal detector without it detecting anything. (She’d removed her slip-on shoes.) The people at SEA-TAC were very helpful with the cat.

Harvey was not sedated. He’s a good cat. He miaowed until they got on the aircraft, and then he was quiet for the whole trip. He did not fast before the trip, but had a bit of food and some water. No problems with physiological imperatives.

So:
[ul][li]Be prepared to remove the cats from the carrier(s)[/li][li]Be prepared to remove your shoes. It might be a good idea to remove them prior to letting the cats out of the bag[/li][li]Use your judgement regarding feeding[/li][li]It depends on the animal, whether sedation is in order[/li][li]The airlines charge extra for pets. Be prepared to pay for them at baggage check-in (You’ll have to use the baggage check-in counter.)[/li][li]Some airlines will not allow pets, or only allow them certain times of the year. Check with the airline before booking your tickets[/li]A soft carrier will fit under the seat; hard cases won’t[/ul]

4

Thanks Johnny - we are flying America West because they allow cats under the seat. I am very gald we asked about the security check point thing, I always wear slip-off shoes anyway. As for the sedation, both cats should be fine without, they are fairly good…I’m just worried because for short distances i.e. 2 hours they are find - but this is an across country flight…so it will be more like 6 hours.

5

I would definitely suggest fasting them overnight before you fly out. I wouldn’t be concerned about messes so much, since most of them would explode before eliminating in what’s essentially their bed. But an empty tummy cuts way, way down on mid-trip horkage. The sound of a cat puking (and sometimes the smell) is just repulsive, and there’s really no way to clean the poor thing up in-flight so they’d just have to sit there with the puke for the duration. Feed them early in the evening the night before you go, then take their food away. Take the water away when you go to bed. They’re not going to starve or dehydrate overnight, I promise. If you’re flying later in the day, leave the water out overnight and then take it away when you get up. No breakfast, though.

Giving a young, healthy cat a very light dose of a mild sedative like acepromazine is generally not an issue. At the lower end of the dosage, it just knocks a little of the edge off, so there shouldn’t be involuntary noise-making. If you gork the shit out of them, that’s a different story. Anti-nausea drugs can also have sedative effects. Talk to your vet. Most airlines require a health certificate, often dated within a month of flight, so you’ll have to go in anyway. Ask about it then. If your cats seem like good candidates for sedation, try giving them the stuff ahead of time so you can see how they react to that drug and that dosage. If your cats are not good candidates for sedation, you might try some of the pheremone spray stuff available in most pet stores.

I don’t know about the luggage scan, but your airline can tell you. They can also let you know what kinds of paperwork you need for the cats–vaccination records, health certificates, whatever. Even if you do have to put them through, though, I don’t know of any possible health effects from it. The radiation shouldn’t be any higher than getting a diagnostic x-ray taken, and those are quite safe.

How acclimated to carriers are your cats, anyway? The more acclimated they are to them, the more smoothly things will go. A cat who freaks out about the carrier is more likely to have stress urination, develop stress colitis and shit all over the carrier, become nauseated, and/or scream the whole flight. These things will not endear you to your fellow passengers. If I could not acclimate such a cat to a carrier, I would drug it if at all possible. Set the carriers out and let the cats explore them way ahead of time. Throw treats in and do lots of petting while the cats are inside. Put favorite napping blankets in there. Turn the carrier into a nice place to be, and they’ll handle being in there much better.

6

CCL One of them I already know will ont make a noise in the carrier. I could place him in a the big end of a Tuba and play Yankee Doodle Dandy and he wouldn’t bat an eye lash. The other one - the little lady - is a different story, she’ll let us know she is unhappy, but she should be fine. She would never dare shit where she sleeps. As a matter of fact, she has never puked. Not once since we ahve had her for over a year. But she is definitely the vocal one. :slight_smile: But we bought three seats so when the flight gets underway we can put them on the center seat.

Heh! And I used to hate cats :rolleyes:

7

I strongly recommend that you be sedated if you are planning to fly with cats :wink: .

Seriously, though, if you are using a soft-sided carrier, make sure your cat cannot escape. I had a bad experience with my Natasha (now know as Houdini) and a carrier. Apparently she can not only undo zippers from the inside, but also squeeze through a space smaller than a walnut. Trust me, it is not fun driving with one hand while wrestling a cat busy dislocating her shoulder to free a paw with the other. Somehow I doubt that your fellow passengers would enjoy the sight or sound.

Oh, and if anybody needs a slightly used, soft-sided cat carrier…

8

Pre-9/11, I used to sneak my cats on the plane. And I used to drug them so they wouldn’t give themselves away.

Ziggy was completely stoned as soon as I gave him the pill. I mean, he had the scary I’m-awake-but-my-third-eyelids-are-closed-anyway look. No peep out of him the whole trip, and he was practically immobilized. In fact, he was still kind of drugged a day after the flight.

Monstro, however, freaked out. He’s a scardy cat who doesn’t like to travel anyway, and that pill did absolutely nothing to calm him down. In fact, I think it made him worse. He didn’t try to get out of his soft carrier, but he wouldn’t stop meowing. I’d peek at his face through the mesh screen and see zombie, stoned eyes but he was wide awake and fully conscious. But I couldn’t really do anything for him on the plane since 1)you can’t take the cat out of the carrier while in flight and 2)he was on there illegally. My neighbor didn’t know what was up, though, until we pulled up to the jetway and I told her.

When we got home, after I took him out of the carrier, Monstro jumped in my lap (something he doesn’t do too often) and looked at me with those psycho-kittie eyes as if to say, “You drugged me! Now look at me! Look, dammit! Meowr!” I felt so bad. Poor Monstro!

9

OK, speaking as someone who took 2 full-grown cats, on-board under the seat, my strongest advice is: If there’s any way under the sun to leave them at home, leave them. Don’t take them on the flight. It is heartbreaking to see that little soft-sided carrier shaking and contorting because the cat inside is miserable. It will ruin your stay at the destination, because all you’ll be able to think about is that you’ll have to do it to them again on the return trip.

Having said that, I recognize that there may be situations where there’s no other choice. Here are some things to remember:

  1. Test the drugs on your cat before you go. The drug will turn some cats into wild-eyed unmanageable psychopaths.

  2. See if the departure or arrival airport has a quiet place where you can let the cats get some air. Remember, this won’t be just 6 hours in the cage… add the travel time to, and from, the airport.

  3. Let them fast before departure. It’s either that or have urine dripping out of the case. Kitties hate to be dirty just as much as you hate them being dirty.

  4. Make sure the case is secure. The last thing you want is a runner in the airport. Secure the cats to the case via a leash. (Attach one end to something in the case, the other end to the cat).

  5. You will have to remove the cat from the case at the security check.

  6. Airliners are often so loud that other passengers won’t hear your cat… that’s the only bright side to all this.

  7. You may have to take your cat to the restroom for cleaning. Make sure you leave the cover down… it is a suction toilet, after all.

  8. Don’t panic if, after arrival, you find that the cat has lost its voice. You would too if you had been screaming for many hours nonstop.

  9. The space under the airplane seat is not as large as you remember. It is not as large as a full-grown cat inside a carrier. There is some squashing involved to make it fit.

I’m sorry if I sound like a wet blanket. I resented people who tried to warn me off of doing this exact same thing. Trust me, this is just one of those things that seems like a do-able thing on paper, but in reality it’s a nightmare. Of course it goes fine for some. I have heard of people with perfect little kitties who slept the whole time.

Bottom line… it’s a catch-22. If you love your cats enough to take them, you’ll wish you loved them enough to leave them at home. I only ask that you consider this very carefully. Good luck either way.

10

Is there any way you could do a test run with your noisy cat? Maybe put her in her carrier and drive around, just to see how she acts.

The reason I ask is that my former cat loved her carrier (would go in there for a snooze or escape) but howled like a banshee when shut in it. I tried conditioning her to being shut in, but it did no good–shut the carrier door and it sounded like the cat was being tortured in there. I know some quieter cats can’t be heard over the plane engines, but I drove 10 hours in a LOUD rental moving van and I could hear that cat howling the entire way. When I flew with her, I had her sedated (just a light sedation–she wasn’t knocked out or anything, just really mellow) and that quieted her down. The alternative would have meant many angry fellow passengers. That cat would howl to wake the dead!

I flew pre 9/11 so my security check experience is probably outdated. I just held her and walked through while the carrier was scanned. We didn’t beep. Come to think of it, if she’s squirmy or nervous about being carried in a strange place, that may be reason alone for light sedation–the last thing you want is to be chasing an escaped terrified kitty who jumped out of your arms in security and is now tearing around the terminal!

11

We’re moving permenantly out of state. So there is no way we can leave them home. I’m taking them to the vet today, so I’ll get some narcotics and do a test run on them. We’ll see :slight_smile:

12

I think NattoGuy has summed it up beautifully.I’m only going to relay my personal experience, as a positive story, nothing more. YMMV, naturally.

My Sebastian is a very jumpy, neurotic little bundle of joy. However, I was going on a long vacation, and had absolutely nowhere to leave her. My friend wouldn’t care for her properly, my family owns a very territorial pup (and Mom’s allergic to cats, to boot), and the local kennel had just been on the news about a dog that had escaped his cage and killed a cat. Kind of put me off. So, I decided, my darling would have to come with me.

I took her to the vet to get all of her proper shots (we were leaving the country) and some papers to show customs. I talked to the vet about sedatives, and decided against them. Sebastian has bad reactions to many meds, so I figured I would just keep a close eye on her. I flew Air Canada, and they allowed me to bring her in as carry-on. Her carrier was made of canvas and nylon - much easier to get under the seat that way!

She fasted the day before the flight, and in her kennel I put her favourite blanket, and some of her favourite toys. I brought her treats, and a bowl for water and one for food. I kept a safety collar with her nametag and contact info on her at all times. I also brought a harness with a leash, so when we changed flights, I could take her outside to allow her to do her business, and stretch her little legs out for a bit - it’s no fun being cramped in that little carrier! (be sure the carrier is at least large enough for your cat to stand up and turn around in). She ate very little, but she drank quite a bit. Whenever I could, I would reach in to stroke her and reassure her, and just let her know I was near. She’s normally very vocal, but for most of the trip, she was quiet.

The final 45 minutes of our trip, she began to meow, and I honestly can’t blame her, poor dear. After all, I just wasted her whole damn day, and disrupted her schedule! As soon as we got to our destination, my then-friend (now hubby!) had a fresh litter box waiting for her, since i alerted him she would be coming. I let her out immediately, and she was fine. A little disoriented, a lot tired, but okay. No “accidents” in the carrier at all.

In a strange turn of events, I never returned from that vacation, found the love of my life and married him, and never had to make that plane trip back. I don’t know if I would put her through it again (I don’t know if I want to go through it again, what a tiring trip!), but she did handle it wonderfully, better than I expected her to.

She became a US citizen before I did - she’s all licensed with the county with her own ID number and everything! (why couldn’t it have been that easy for me? Heck, I’ll even wear a chip if they want me to!)

I wish you the best with your cat!

13

Anastasaeon - thank you for your story. I do not think we will be sedating the kitties, I think they will be fine. I have collars and nametags for both of them and my wife and I are confident they will be OK. One can only hope though :slight_smile: