Shipping a cat from LA to Chicago?

My cousin was diagnosed with cancer 3 months ago, and can no long take care of her 3 year old female. She has been searching for a home for her for the last 2 months. The only place that will take her little girl is a kill shelter. The shelter will only hold the animal for 30-60 days until it puts them down. Since I already have three cats, what's one more... My cousin says it will be around $275 for the crate and shipping. Do they just put the animal on a plane and I have to pick it up for the airport? I take it they don't deliver! Does that seem like a fair price?

They wont deliver, LOL! They will have to drop off, and you pick up.
The price is about right, I have only shipped one kitten, and they went by weight, crate and kitten was under 9 pounds and it cost about $180 over 9 pounds was the next weight. If you try checking around you may find one cheaper. I used continential and they are great! So try checking around.
Try looking in your local classifieds (or your cousin) to try and find a cheap used crate, and make sure it is suitable and large enough for the cat to lay down, turn around, ect. That may save a little money. Make sure it meets all the requirementes, if the shipping place has a website (like continential) it will have all the info you need. Your cousin will just have to call and make a reservation and get the confirmation and flight #'s and give that info to you for pick-up (along with your ID)
Hope it works out for you and shipping will go smoothly for all of you!

Seems fair. However, its winter time and if the temp. is above or below a certain number on EITHER end, they will not ship. You'd have to call the airlines and ask their policy on shipping/temps.

When the cat is shipped by itself - you also have to have a vet check no later then 10 days before shipping that says the cat has all shots, and is ok to travel - the vet should have the little certificate available to fill out and sign. Make sure all papers and shot records are in an envelope and attached to the inside of the carrier or very secure on the outside.

Also she needs to clearly mark To and From addresses and a phone number just in case. I'm sure the airlines will help fill out all paperwork regarding this.

The cats will come in a separate part - not with the baggage on your end, so be sure you know where to go to pick it up.

I had to ship 2 of my 4 cats from Oakland to Boston and I can highly recommend Continental. Prior to making the decision, I spoke with a Pet Travel Consultant, who told me about Continental's program (I believe it is called Quik Pak) and told me that it is the prefered method for shipping pets in her industry. It did cost about $200 per cat but it was worth it to know that they would be bused from the plane to the gate in case of a layover and that during that time they would be in a climate-controlled enviornment. Here's a link to their site so you can check it out: http://www.continental.com/web/en-US...s/default.aspx
My 2 made it safe & sound to Boston and were very happy to see me when I picked them up at the airport. Good luck getting your new cat home!

I wonder if you might be able to find, through this site, someone flying from LA to Chicago who would be willing to take the cat in a carrier, inside the plane with them... to eliminate weather issues and make the cat more comfortable...

Originally Posted by CarolPetunia

I wonder if you might be able to find, through this site, someone flying from LA to Chicago who would be willing to take the cat in a carrier, inside the plane with them... to eliminate weather issues and make the cat more comfortable...

Click to expand...

That would be ideal, but I don't know a single person in LA (other than my cousin and family), and they would have to be flying this weekend.

I'm just curious where would your cat be placed on the plane? Is the area climate controlled? What about if the cat needs to go use the litter box?

If the cat is travelling with the person, the carrier goes under the seat in front of you (I always request an isle seat cause its more room).

If they go under the plane, I'm guessing they have a special part where the pet carriers all sit rather then to have boxes/bags/suitcases around them. In either case, the animals are pressurized

Usually flights are only a few hours - I've never had a cat that needed to go potty on the plane and none of them did it in the carrier either.