Cindy

Purrrr, perhaps you SHOULD be moved to cargo! The commercial passenger airlines are primary transportation for humans first, cargo (including animals) second. If it comes down to a person's needs vs. an animal's needs, unfortunately the paying passenger has to come first. I will agree that perfumes, nail polish, etc are nauseating on an airplane...

I think we've beaten this dead horse (er, cat) to death. Lisa gets the idea at this point...

Eddie

Cindy,

It's pretty cruel to put a living creature's needs second, esp. in a situation that involves travel in a confined, tenuous (at best)environment. By the way, you do pay to have your pet put in cargo, so technically they are paying passengers; that as we have read, have gotten lost, rerouted, mishandled and even perished. So if people like you really object to a small animal in a carrier, maybe you should consider driving. Afterall, the cat is not walking the aisles rubbing up against people and jumping in their laps. I simply do not buy this allergy business since carriers are designed to give enough ventilation but enclosed quite a bit to make the animal feel secure. There's no way enough allergens could escape to cause a reaction. My daughter has a friend who is extremely allergic to cats and has an asthmatic reaction. Before she comes over, she takes her med and there's never a problem--her dad's a doctor and feels perfectly comfortable with this situation. If someone is that allergic to ANYTHING, they should always carry their med. So Cindy, I've beaten this "dead horse, er cat" again, (why does your analogy not surprise me?)even though you would have preferred that no one disagree with you.

Kelly

Hi Lisa,

Last July I moved from Phoenix to France with both my cat and dog, and can understand your issues. I drove to San Francisco from Phoenix, then flew on Air France (only carrier flying with animals then by the way) non-stop to Paris. I made the decision to check the both of them as cargo after much thought and research. There was not an option for my dog, as he is too big, but I decided to check the cat as well as 1)I was almost certain he would scream the entire way 2)I would rather be fully prepared checking him than have the airline staff put him in cargo at the last minute if someone complained about a cat on board. Let me say this was my greatest concern about the entire move and even though everyone made it just fine, I wouldn't have done it if it wasn't an overseas move. I would definately choose the drive option, believe me, it's very doable as I originally moved (driving) from WI to AZ years ago.

I also wanted to comment on the size of the carrier. Someone stated they put a kitty in a huge one, which according to my vet would not be a good idea. He told me it should be just large enough for them to stand up and turn around. If it's too big they can get tossed around from turbulance.

Best wishes and please consider the drive option throughly.

Lori

Please don't underestimate allergies. It doesn't take a cat sitting on your lap and rubbing up against you to trigger an allergic reaction. We aren't talking about watery eyes here: the reaction that we're talking about is the throat constricting so that breathing becomes impossible. Do not expect me to stand by and let a kitty take precedence over my child.

My son's allergies are so severe that if he sits next to someone in class who has a cat at home he could have a reaction. I'm glad that your daughter's friend has had 100% success in controlling her asthma, but there are degrees to everything, as allergy testing will tell you. The reactions you can get from the testing may be anything from a faint redness, to swelling, to huge, open blisters.

Lisa

Thanks very much, everyone, for your helpful (and not-so-helpful!) replies. I am amazed at how many people voiced (well, actually, typed) their opinions on this subject. I spent a good bit of time on the phone today with a Northwest agent and got some answers to some questions. First, I cannot purchase an extra ticket and take both cats on board with me. Each cat must be accompanied by a person, so that eliminates that option since I'll be flying solo. My concern about it being over 85 degrees in Phoenix and NW not letting the cats go in cargo is no longer a problem, because that 85 degree rule applies only to connecting flights, not direct flights (this is so the cats don't sit on the tarmac for extended periods between flights). So my only available options at this point are: (1) bringing one cat aboard and checking one as cargo, (2) checking both of them as cargo, or (3) driving. I am now leaning towards driving, since checking them as cargo is something I REALLY don't want to have to do. One early poster mentioned that her cats are her babies. That is exactly how I feel - they ARE my babies, and I don't know what I would do if anything were to happen to one of them, let alone both of them. One thing I know for certain, I would never forgive myself for putting them at risk. This is my biggest source of concern when it comes to the move - that they make it there safely. The thought of driving almost 2,000 miles with two wailing kitties (they can't stop howling on the 1/4-mile drive to the vet!) does not thrill me, but I think that's what I'm going to do. Wish me luck!

cat lover

Lisa,

Thanks for letting us know what you've decided to do. Your kitties would be a lot less happy in cargo. Have you talked to your vet to see if you can give them a sedative for the long car trip?

Lori, I 'm sorry to hear that your child's reaction is so severe that he can't even be near someone who owns a cat. I've never heard of someone so sensitive. It's a shame. I'm sure you spend a lot of time at home instead of taking the risk of exposing him to someone might have been around a cat--that's a lot of people.

Scott

Lori, I too am sorry to hear about your child's allergies. It's sad that there are people who will downplay allergies to the point that it becomes a psychiatric rather than physiological problem. My wife is very allergic to cats. Not as bad as Lori's child, perhaps, but being near a cat gives her painful hives. We've never had a problem on a plane but we've definitely had problems in hotels. She can tell if a cat has been in the hotel room in the past month!!

alice

I remember reading a few months back that Northwest was given some type of certificate for being so "pet" friendly. I don't remember what Animal rights group wrote it, but the jest of it was that Northwest was rated the "best" of all US airlines for taking pets (children to some of us) on.
With regard to allergies, I too am highly alergic to cats( and I really love them.. Anyway, I was discussing this with a friend and she said her vet gave her something to calm her cat down and she put it in a carry on basket and put a piece of fabric over it to contain the dander. Passengers had not problems with the cat, and when she got to her destination, the cat was great.

Lucy

Alice,

The points you made make a lot of sense. It doesn't seem like enough cat dander could escape to affect one with an allery. It's also a good idea to give the cat a sedative even if you do fly it with you in the passenger compartment. we flew home from Europe last year and there were several animals with their owners. We never heard a peep in 8 hours.

gluck

Flying is going to be somewhat traumatic for pets, no matter whether they go in the pressurized hold or in a carrier under the seat. Even with pressurization, as we all know, there are pressure changes which affect the mammalian ear. Add to this the noise of the engines on takeoff, etc., and the animal is bound to get pretty upset.

The comments about sedating the animal first were very sound, again no matter how it travels. The minimum size of carrier is also a good idea.

In general, where possible, drive. And remember that the airline will have the last word on whether the pet travels in the cabin or not; it doesn't really matter, for all intents and purposes, what their reasoning is, you must be prepared for this possibility.

mm

I had a good experience shipping my three dogs with Northwest two years ago. As I was shipping the dogs from New York to Asia, this required loading the dogs on three different planes. Each time we changed planes, a ticket would be either handed to me or left on my seat to indicate that the dogs were transferred. The staff at LaGuardia were kind enough to hold off loading the dogs as long as they could. In Detroit, I saw them from the window, being transferred and the handlers were talking to the dogs. When I expressed my concern to one of the the check-in staff about the dogs, she said not to worry as they usually give the dogs some water and make sure they are alright. My biggest worry was the transfer in Tokyo as this was the last leg of the flight after a 17-hour. As much as I wanted to see them, one of the staff in LaGuardia explained that this would entail my taking them out, going through customs and then checking them in again. Her opinion was that this would cause undue excitement on the dogs' part and would upset them again when then get checked back in. In any case, the dogs made it okay, a little thirsty and smelly after the trip. I would advise all "pet parents" that if you are shipping your babies that you make sure that you talk to several people in the cargo shipping section especially if you're shipping several dogs at one time. You have to make sure you have the right size of kennel as the airline will make sure that the dog can move in the kennel. You also want to make sure that the actual plane you will be on can carry all your pets in the pet cargo hold - the plane in my original itinerary was not designed to hold three large kennels at one time. You also want to know if there are other animals travelling in the same cargo hold. Godd luck.

007

Lisa -- I think you should go to the source: local cat breeders/catteries. No doubt they've shipped cats with different airlines in many situations.

You could also consult Cat Fancy magazine or www.catsunited.com/ (Please don't accuse me of advertising.)

S

Lisa,
If your cats howl that bad on a quarter mile trip to the vet, please show your fellow travelers the consideration of not subjecting to that misery for several hours.

Thyra

Lisa, I hope you are still checking this thread. I am the poster who stated my cats are my babies.... oh they are for sure. Anyway, several months ago I read an entire report either in Best Friends Magazine or Cat Fancy... sorry I can't remember which, about a woman who moved from like, Seattle to Boston with 3 cats. She drove them and gave a detailed diary of the experience. According to the article.What she did was to buy one single gigantic carrier, the type you would put a great dane in. (They cost about $148.00 here at our local pet store, still cheaper then a plane ticket) she made sure that all the cats had plenty of room to walk, sleep, stretch out etc (She put them together since they tend to comfort each other). She said her cats were cryers too but that after about an hour and a half... which is a really LONG time when your babies are crying believe me... they got used to it and spent the rest of the 8 day trip sleeping.

She had equipped the giant carrier with one of those water bottles that hang on the side, (think hamsters) since dehydration is a real concern, and she had placed bedding on the bottom of the carrier as well as a small litterpan. Though it's likely that your cats will deviate from their normal feeding/pooping/drinking schedule, but for a couple of days, they should be fine.

You may want to get a window shade, like they use for babies, to that the carrier is not in direct sunlight.
At night she would get to a hotel.. Check the entire room to be sure that her cat's couldn't get out from some unseen screen tear etc. She would put out their regular litterbox and let the cats run around the hotel room with her..but if she was going out for dinner or what ever they would stay in the carrier. She said that actually it went fine and she had no problems what so ever.

I read the article because we were considering moving from LA to NYC and believe me, I would have driven my cats every mile. Though a lot of extra work and time, it seems the best way to guarentee that your cats arrive healthy and with you,,, and you can avoid upsetting people in planes.

AC

up for leah!