apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Delta has a good pet shipping service. $195
or they can fly with you in the cabin on Jetblue $95 (under 20lbs)

as noble as the company sounds, i'm lucky to have a cat and will take him in the cabin with me when i next go to australia.

(i meant when i move there for good, not just for vacation!)

heatherleaf, I thought you couldn't take cats inside the cabin with you on international flights? We're moving to England next year and have had a hard time planning on a way to get our 2 cats overseas. I don't really want to have them go below, but can't find an airline that will let me carry them on. Any suggestions?

Personally, I wouldn't take pets in a plane cabin - I have cats and I love them dearly, but I also know that people who have severe allergies to pet dander would be in hell for the entire flight if there was a cat on board, no matter how far away it was from their seat.

I think the benefit of pet shipping services is that they take care of all the aspects of moving a pet that you may forget if you're in the middle of the move. It's one less thing to worry about.

And, being Australian, I always thought all animals had to be quarantined for ages (like, 6 months or something) when they entered.

Pets in the cabin/quarantined depends on the country you are going to (and from).

I will take my 2 cats in the plane cabin when we move, via plane is the only way to get us there and I love them too dearly to give them over to a pet shipping service, no matter how good they are, I would never forgive myself if something happened to them down in the hold.

that looks like a pretty fancy travel crate. Any idea what the make is.

Kah, pets have to be quarantined for 30 days upon entry in australia.

i just did my research again and was reminded that only service dogs are allowed on Qantas (my preferred carrier) to Australia. unfortunately, i'd have to have my kitty go in cargo! :-(

Harpy, I heard you can bring your pet in the cabin with you on international flights via Delta, Air France and Continental!

Thanks!

I would be so mad to be subjected to someone's pet on a flight and I love/have animals and have no allergies. Some people can't control their kids (or themselves) on a plane and I'm supposed to trust someone to keep control over their cat/dog/bird/rodent through pressure changes, unfamiliar surroundings and unpredictable events? No one knows how their pet will handle such a situation and there's no preparing for it. How do you control the noise or smell or hair or slober or unpredictable behavior its such a small area for such a long period of time? Taking pets on a plane, other than service animals, just seems completely inconsiderate. It seems to me cargo in a specially designed crate etc. etc. seem better for everyone.

i'll say from experience, if you are getting a new pet and they have to be shipped, find something very very reliable. i live in Portland, Maine and had my basset shipped from Missouri. the breeder didn't have a lick of logic and sent my pup to Portland, Oregon through US Air. my zip code was clearly stated and US Air apparently didn't double check that. he was alone for 23 hours and, as the breeder promised, no one took him out of that crate and walked him. he was covered in pee and very upset =(
to this day he doesn't like to travel, even in the car. moral is: don't be afraid to really hammer the questions to these pet shippers and breeders!

I've never moved long distances with my dogs, but I have taken my 15-pound Boston Terrier mix in the cabin with me several times on several airline carriers. He is always in his bag (the airline won't let you take them out) and 9 times out of ten when I do let him out near baggage when we land my fellow passengers are shocked there was a dog on the plane. I really don't see the problem. I think the idea that the dog would slobber and run around the plane is really ridiculous.

Enamorada, i have had to listen to so many babies and kids scream, cry, and kick the back of my chair but I'm not suggesting people put them in cages and fly them in the hold ;) At least the cats are in a cage and wont be kicking anyone, there is no running around unpredictable behavior to worry about.

I have travelled with my two dogs in the cabin several times, including on international filghts from NY to the Bahamas and to Bermuda (most recently on Continental), and they have never made the slightest noise or bothered anyone -- last time the people behind us were shocked to learn we'd had dogs with us at the end of the flight.

Animals must be completely enclosed in their travel bag, which has a fine mesh on the sides to allow them air flow -- their hair does not escape, and a dog with a good diet and regular baths shouldn't smell. That said, mine are city dogs and used to traveling in their bags, so it was pretty predictable to me that they would be well behaved. I was once on a flight with a cat who meowed (softly) almost the whole time...but I bet she wasn't used to traveling in a bag and associated it with stressful things like going to the vet.

I would NEVER ship my dogs -- there are too many horror stories about dogs getting loose (like Vivi the whippet who got loose at JFK after Westminster and was never recovered), getting lost, getting overheated, getting forgotten -- even getting stolen. They are far more than "cargo."

I used Delta to bring my pup in from Georgia, and it seemed to work great. I would love to be able to bring him with me in-cabin when I travel, but he's too big.

Personally, I love to see little pups in the airport--they're a nice break from the boredom of travel. Never heard a dog bark on a plane, but boy have I heard kids cry (and worse, whine). Completely understand about the allergies, tho.

Strange question for this posting, but what kind of puppy is that in the picture with the dog cage?

I'm preparing to deal with this soon. We fly our 14lb cavalier in cabin on northwest Seattle to Detroit once a year for xmas. He normally does really well, one time during heavy turbulence he scratched to be let out, I slipped him a biscut and all was good. Agian, everytime the dog is revealed at the end of the flight people exclaim that they never knew he was with us.
My guy is going to the vet tonight to start his rabies shots to allow entry into the UK on the PETS scheme. I'll get more info then. My main worry is a flight more than 8-10hrs. The dog is simply going to need to use the restroom at that point. The one time we got stranded in chicago, and then milwakuee with him was REALLY tough, you have to exit the airport completely to let him relive himself and go through security to get back in. So... hoping to avoid that. Also having him out of the box during layovers children come over to pet him and he gets all over-excited.

I've often wondered how and why people travel with pets. I love my dog dearly, but I would rather him be subjected to two weeks of being boarded at a kennel or with a friend than on flying on an airplane (he's well over 100lbs, he'd have to go in cargo), unless I was moving and it HAD to happen.

I understand that people with allergies can't avoid everything that triggers them, but sitting next to a cat on a 10 hour flight would be hell for me.

Delta flew our elderly Lab (55 pounds) from JFK to Oakland last year, but the experience was very mixed. The clerk at the hangar where we took her to be loaded in her crate really treated her (and frankly, us) like freight, not live beings. I almost didn't leave her, but had no choice since we were moving to California the next day (a friend was at Oakland to pick her up and keep her overnight). The plane was delayed by 4 hours, and by the time she got out of the cargo hold and off the plane, poor girl was very distraught and quaking with fear. It was not fun for anyone, though she did arrive alive and more or less okay.

I flew with my cat on several flights. I sedated her so she wouldn't freak out. My vet advised trying the sedation once at home before the trip, which I did and kitty was a happy sleep zombie the whole time.

My sister-in-law used to be a flight attendant for Southwest and they had several stories from multiple airlines about pets getting loose in airports and on runways. She advised if ever shipping a pet to use strong twist ties to connect the top and bottom of crates as well as one on the door so that if the crate is dropped coming off a conveyor (usually how pets got free) the case doesn't come apart. Handlers can still get in to give water and walks.

Here are few tips since I help coordinate international pet travel at my office:
I know of many people who have used the services of Worldcare Pet Transport. They help out many people to get their pets from NYC to the UK. You will definitely pay a bit for services, but to many people the price is worth it.

As for quarantine, 30 days is true for Australia. UK no longer has quarantine, but they make you stay in the states after the rabies blood test for 6 months. (Same is true for Australia and practically any place that is an island because they can claim to be rabies free). The rule comes from the fact that it takes up to 6 months for symptoms of rabies to manifest in an infected dog.

Unfortunately, UK will not accept pets in cabin on flights. I have never heard of an airline that will for the trip. For people that are really freaked about the idea of sending a pet in cargo, I suggest looking into travel on the Queen Mary because they will accept pets and you can enjoy a nice trans-atlantic ride.

Travel is easy for some pets and tough for others, but if you know your pet (how he/she reacts in a carrier, especially), then you will know if you are in for a difficult time to travel with him/her. Talk to your veterinarian for suggestions.

parisienish,

Or you could have gone to:

http://www.bassethoundrescue.com/maindefault.htm

and adopted a dog close by and not put your poor dog thru the stress.