Anybody transported cat as cargo/baggage?

kkh

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I do not want to put my cat in a cargo/baggage area for the flight to HI but seems I've no choice over it at all

I am taking a connecting flight since there is no direct flight from where I live(Tampa, FL) to Honolulu. First flight is probably 2 hours, a couple of hours lay-over, then the second flight would be 8 hours.

I have to buy a crate very soon to have her "crate-trained" prior to the actual travel date(end of August to early September) but I'm not too sure which one to buy. My agent's recommendation was either Vari-kennel or Iris USA. I've already checked some from petmate vari-kennel at a nearby petco store but I wasn't too impressed on the sturdiness or even the appearance of items I saw at the store.


I know that my cat can probably open the locks/doors as I'm quite sure that she'd try to escape if being contained in a small crate for longer hours - 12 hours at least. I'd definitely need to get a crate with unbreakable/ uncorruptible door comes with a reliable lock(or double-locks, maybe?).

Which crate would you recommend for longer transportation in air cargo?
 

white cat lover

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Make sure you check the specific airlines regulations. I'm flying 2 kitties with me & a friend as carry-on luggage. They have size & weight restrictions. Which airline are you using?
 
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kkh

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Either CO or NW, most likely CO as they have "petsafe" program.
I'm wondering if I should purchase a crate from the airline.
I am researching how it is but haven't found the information anywhere yet.
 

missymotus

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Most kitties settle down pretty fast, but still get a sturdy carrier.

My kittens only had a short flight but with travel to the airport etc. they were in there for about 7 hours. I know my breeder has sent several kittens from Australia to Hawaii and they all arrived just fine


I don't know if you have PP20's over there, but they are what's usually used for transporting here. Secured with cable ties to make sure the door doesn't open during transport (required by the airlines) http://www.petstuff.com.au/list.asp?id=1
 
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kkh

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Originally Posted by missymotus

Most kitties settle down pretty fast, but still get a sturdy carrier.

My kittens only had a short flight but with travel to the airport etc. they were in there for about 7 hours. I know my breeder has sent several kittens from Australia to Hawaii and they all arrived just fine


I don't know if you have PP20's over there, but they are what's usually used for transporting here. Secured with cable ties to make sure the door doesn't open during transport (required by the airlines) http://www.petstuff.com.au/list.asp?id=1
What airline did they fly with?

Thank you for the link - it seems the same kind as vari-kennel but I like this one better, also the color is prettier than any of those available here in the states
 

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It is not heavy I think 24 by 24 ??
 

persi & alley

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Originally Posted by white cat lover

Make sure you check the specific airlines regulations. I'm flying 2 kitties with me & a friend as carry-on luggage. They have size & weight restrictions. Which airline are you using?
I used AA to ship Shelby, an exotic short hair under the front seat of the plane in a special carrier for the purpose. She arrived well and happy. Alley was shippd via cargo from LA to here (Texas) and had to sit in a holding area both coming and going for a total time of near 12 hours. Not good. Of course if you have an adult Maine Coon or the like there is not much you can do about it that I know of.
 
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kkh

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Originally Posted by Persi & Alley

I used AA to ship Shelby, an exotic short hair under the front seat of the plane in a special carrier for the purpose. She arrived well and happy. Alley was shippd via cargo from LA to here (Texas) and had to sit in a holding area both coming and going for a total time of near 12 hours. Not good. Of course if you have an adult Maine Coon or the like there is not much you can do about it that I know of.
Was Alley OK & calm to be in a crate for that long hour?
Did you use Rescue remedy or any other supplement to calm her prior to your departure?

I just had to bring my baby-cat back from my vet. Only for 15 min ride o/w but she was stressed out, growling & ready to attack me as soon as we got back home.


I really have no idea if she'd survive of traveling
 

persi & alley

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Originally Posted by KKH

Was Alley OK & calm to be in a crate for that long hour?
Did you use Rescue remedy or any other supplement to calm her prior to your departure?
Alley was totally freaked out when she got here and we finally picked her up. Our kids sent her to us and had no idea on how to make her calm. At the time we got her home, we knew nothing about things like Feliway and such. When we got her home and opened the carrier she was afraid to come out but we left her in there until she finally came out after about a half hour whence she proceeded to head for under the nearby bed. However, this was a cat that the kids had just picked up from the rescue center so poor Alley did well to adjust at all.
 

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My friend - the one who moved to Ireland from Canada (I posted about her situation on your other thread a while ago)- used Vari-Kennel. This is the one:

http://www.ukdogguards.co.uk/vari-kennels.html

She has the smallest one, obviously!

I borrowed two of them to transport our kittens to the vets to get fixed and they were great. The ones she had had a four way locking thing and our vet commented on how great and study these particular ones were. Our kittens are (were, rather!) feral, so we had to endure a lot of 'action' in the carrier and they were no match for the carrier!

The only issue my friend had, however, was even though the airline told her that is particular carrier was fine, when she went to drop the kittens off at cargo, they told her that these carriers couldn't be used because they only had three-way ventilation. Ugh. They took pity on her (she was MOVING overseas, for goodness sake!) and drilled some holes in the un-ventilated side. The cages held up and the cats were fine.

Not the prettiest things in the world, unfortunately, but they did their job!
 
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kkh

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Originally Posted by wendyr

My friend - the one who moved to Ireland from Canada (I posted about her situation on your other thread a while ago)- used Vari-Kennel. This is the one:

http://www.ukdogguards.co.uk/vari-kennels.html

She has the smallest one, obviously!

I borrowed two of them to transport our kittens to the vets to get fixed and they were great. The ones she had had a four way locking thing and our vet commented on how great and study these particular ones were. Our kittens are (were, rather!) feral, so we had to endure a lot of 'action' in the carrier and they were no match for the carrier!

The only issue my friend had, however, was even though the airline told her that is particular carrier was fine, when she went to drop the kittens off at cargo, they told her that these carriers couldn't be used because they only had three-way ventilation. Ugh. They took pity on her (she was MOVING overseas, for goodness sake!) and drilled some holes in the un-ventilated side. The cages held up and the cats were fine.

Not the prettiest things in the world, unfortunately, but they did their job!
Yes, Vari-Kennel. We can purchase exactly the same one here, too.
I've found one under a bargain item & just ordered it from here:
http://www.discount-pet-superstore.c...l_closeout.htm

I've actually read that under the new(?) USDA & IATA Airline Kennel Guidelines, the kennel must - Be adequately ventilated. The total ventilated areas must be a minimum of 16 percent of the total surface area, including the door and three remaining sides.

So, yes, although these kennels are IATA airline approved, majority of them only have 2 ventilated sides - including the one I ordered. I am going to drill some holes like you mentioned, also replace those plastic nuts to metal kinds for added security.

I'll start "crate-training" my baby very soon.
I've also purchased more feliway products. I have to purchase rescue remedy as well & try to see if it works
 
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kkh

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Originally Posted by Persi & Alley

Alley was totally freaked out when she got here and we finally picked her up. Our kids sent her to us and had no idea on how to make her calm. At the time we got her home, we knew nothing about things like Feliway and such. When we got her home and opened the carrier she was afraid to come out but we left her in there until she finally came out after about a half hour whence she proceeded to head for under the nearby bed. However, this was a cat that the kids had just picked up from the rescue center so poor Alley did well to adjust at all.
Awwww...poor kitty but I guess she didn't get violent, did she?
My baby was a feral, too. Although she's already been accustomed to live in a comfort as a household pet, in another words: spoilt rotten, she occasionally gets violent instead of freaking out. Last 2 times when I brought her to a vet, she had to be sedated to get all the check-ups because she was too violent for my vet & her assistants to handle.

Hope she behaves and wouldn't get violent or break the crate when traveling...
 

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Our kittens are ferals too! I worry about all this stuff because our situation in Ireland is only temporary (my husband is an academic on a short-term contract). We hadn't expected to take in any pets (planned on waiting until we had settled), but three feral kittens showed up and well....anyway, I worry that ours will get violent once we have to transport them to wherever we go in a years time (their first trip to the vet was an adventure, which resulted in both my husband and me on antibiotics after Paddington chomped down on both of our hands!).

One thing my friend recommended was that when you drill the holes in the cage, make sure you do it on the bottom level. If you do it on the top, it kind of throws off the stability of the whole thing. The guy at the airport did the first one on top and then realised that issue, so did the other two on the bottom. I was really impressed with the cages. We walked all of them to our vet in the cages (no car - vet is only 10 minutes away) and I was concerned about them getting out/breaking the cage but they were sturdy enough to handle all of Steve's thrashing around!

I would have done more cage training with our kittens if I had thought about it properly. As it was, I put it on the floor and let them hang out in it. They actually really like the cage (even after their speuters!) and spend quite a bit of time in them still. I hope the RR works for you! I used it with Paddington and it really helped him out. Steve wasn't so affected by it...
 

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Does the airline have rules that you can't take your cat on the plane with you? Is it the length of the flight? Because I have friends who moved back to Germany from the states a while ago and they were not allowed to ship their cat as cargo because of the heat. They had to buy an airline approved soft carrier and take her on board. I was so happy I could have cried, because I was so stressed about Misty (who I love dearly) in the cargo hold having who knows what happening to her that I was verging on a nervous breakdown (seriously).

I don't have any advice on a crate, but I would suggest doing resarch on the best way to make it easier for your cat. I do remember reading that you should personalize the crate as much as possible with your cat's name and some personal info, try to make your pet seem like more than just another piece of freight to the baggage handlers who might or might not care that they're transporting a living creature.

Best of luck to you and I hope you both make to Hawaii safe and sound
 
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kkh

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Originally Posted by Misty8723

Does the airline have rules that you can't take your cat on the plane with you? Is it the length of the flight? Because I have friends who moved back to Germany from the states a while ago and they were not allowed to ship their cat as cargo because of the heat. They had to buy an airline approved soft carrier and take her on board. I was so happy I could have cried, because I was so stressed about Misty (who I love dearly) in the cargo hold having who knows what happening to her that I was verging on a nervous breakdown (seriously).

I don't have any advice on a crate, but I would suggest doing resarch on the best way to make it easier for your cat. I do remember reading that you should personalize the crate as much as possible with your cat's name and some personal info, try to make your pet seem like more than just another piece of freight to the baggage handlers who might or might not care that they're transporting a living creature.

Best of luck to you and I hope you both make to Hawaii safe and sound


Yes, I've already checked with all the major airlines that serve flight to HI.
None of them allow in-cabin pet to HI at all due to the quarantine


Even if they allow it for the first segment(connecting flight to a hub - there's no direct flight to HI from where I live), I'd still have to check her in as either a baggage or cargo for the second segment(flight to HI)


The airline I am flying with(very likely be Continental), suggested me to ship her via cargo all way rather than moving her around from In-cabin to Cargo.
Also found out that Continental(& some other airlines) do not allow pets as check-in baggage due to the temperature controlling issue. Some airlines are under seasonal embargo, they would not even accept any pet transportation during the summer months
 

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I think the issue here is the quarantine. Hawaii (like the UK and Ireland) has this sort of thing in effect - the animals have to be handled as cargo because they have to go through special sort of handling on either side.

Also, just for the record, most airlines (I can't say all because I haven't checked all!) won't let you travel with your in the main airplane for trans-Atlantic flights anymore. This is fairly recent. My friend did all sorts of research on this when she moved from Canada to Ireland - she was hoping that she could fly to the continent (the cats with her in the main cabin) and then have them vetted there - and then somehow transport them from France/wherever to Ireland. Very complicated, obviously, and it wouldn't have worked anyway because all the airlines she contacted said the same thing - no matter where she was flying trans-Atlantically she would have to put them in cargo. Maybe if she flew first class they would bend the rules...
 
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kkh

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I am not sure how recent it is but seems flights originate from Asia to Hawaii tend to allow in-cabin pets, heard that traveling with smaller dogs(not many cats, unfortunately...) to Hawaii is getting popular or something
 

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Originally Posted by KKH

I am not sure how recent it is but seems flights originate from Asia to Hawaii tend to allow in-cabin pets, heard that traveling with smaller dogs(not many cats, unfortunately...) to Hawaii is getting popular or something
the reason for any animal COMING into Hawaii to be Quarentined is IT IS a RABIES free zone//

all leaving are KNOWN to be rabies free
 
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