Cat Travelling By Air - Cabin vs Cargo

[travellingcat1]

Hello,

Can anyone please advise the best way for a cat to travel by air?

My cat (female, neutered, around six years old) is very confident with people but nervous about noise and hates other cats and dogs. She has travelled by car once for around 2 hours and was very stressed with lots of panting. Every time she is in a carrier, even for a short time, she cries/yowls and claws/bites the carrier, trying to get out the whole time. I have a few months to help get her used to this.

The flight will be 2.5 hours. Which is likely the least stressful for her - cabin or cargo?

Also, does anyone have advice about getting her used to being in a crate and travelling? I will start with having the crate out at home, putting treats in it, and taking car journeys. Is there anything else I can do?

Thanks.

We didn't do any crate training. We had a roughly 60cm long by 40cm tall crate for each cat and I put old towels / t shirts in the bottom. They had a snack of dried food to eat when in transit at KL airport and I seem to remember cable tying a frozen bottle of water on somewhere, I can't remember the logistics of that! The vet advised on what to do and helped with the paperwork.

Ours travelled back to the UK in the hold. The crate was the same as in the picture. In total he was travelling for 24 hours between setting off and us picking him up. That included a change of planes.

He was OK but he got really stressed out with car journeys afterwards, even when we used a cage rather than the crate. I think he was worried that he was in for another 24 hour journey from hell.

If she's panting on a car journey then you need to talk to her vet. In general, sedation is not recommended for flights and airlines won't accept a sedated cat, but if she gets that distressed it could be dangerous.

To help her get used to a carrier, have a look at this book:

www.amazon.co.uk/Trainable-Cat-Practical-Making-Happier/dp/0465050905

Ours went cargo to/from Japan (c. 12 hours) in cargo just fine.