air travel for cats?

I am moving 400 mi. south (northern to southern California). Assuming air travel will be less stressful than a 7+ hour car trip in the heat, I am considering shipping my two cats by air (my husband is already there and lives close to the target airport, as I do here on my end).

Both are older cats, but have no particular health problems. While one is tame, the other is feral and freaks out over the least thing. I'd like to tranquilize them both to minimize stress, but I can't get anything down the feral cat. Can I crate her (assuming I can catch her), stop at the local vet for a shot (for whatever the feline equivalent of Valium is), and then drive her to the airport? I'm assuming air travel will take no more than 3 h. door-to-door, if I time it right.

What are your opinions on shipping cats by air, and sedating them? Is this plan feasible? Are some airlines better than others for this? Any thoughts would be helpful!

When I flew Manytoes from Toronto to Edmonton, I was told NOT to sedate him at all as they would not transport drugged animals for liability reasons. I even had a signed letter from a veterinary neurologist regarding my other cat who I ultimately had to leave with my parents, and was told that made him ineligible for air transport. This was with both Air Canada and Westjet only, and was in 2006 so things might be different now, just a heads up that you might not be able to tranq like you want...

I agree that driving is pretty easy with cats. Ours sleep most of the time in the car.
We live in ND, so we don't have the heat that you have. But we have made 3 moves (with 1 or 2 cats) with at least a 5 hour drive. Only one of our moves has consisted of us being in a moving truck (at night, during a storm and pulling a car) with the cat in a carrier. Most of the time, we manage to have 2 people in our vehicle so we let the cats roam.
Each year we also take a trip to Wisconsin (10 hour drive each way) with our 4 kitties. None of the cats bug the driver (though they roam the vehicle freely) and each have their space (Sassie and Teddie are on the back seat, Max also on the back seat but in a carrier (as long as the door is off) and Stinker (formerly named Oreo) is normally on the floor of the back seat). We have bought a portable DVD player and play movies for the cats (they are use to the noise of TVs) and it seems to help.

Do NOT tranquilize, regardless of what way you decide to have them travel, ESPECIALLY if they are flying cargo. Tranquilizing is very dangerous, cats can react funny, with decreased heart rate, depressed respiration, or worse, totally freak out. With no one monitoring them in the plane especially, I wound not do it, but I would not do it in the car either.

I agree with the others, take them in the car. It's better if they are with you. Are you driving straight through? They'll survive 7 hours in carriers. Use the ac.

Breaking up the trip with an overnight in a motel would probably be better for them. Don't leave them lose in any motel room, if you go out, put them back in their carriers until you get back.

If they are indoor/outdoor do not let them out for many months. At least six.

Let us know how it goes.

Originally Posted by SassNTedd

Each year we also take a trip to Wisconsin (10 hour drive each way) with our 4 kitties. None of the cats bug the driver (though they roam the vehicle freely) and each have their space (Sassie and Teddie are on the back seat, Max also on the back seat but in a carrier (as long as the door is off) and Stinker (formerly named Oreo) is normally on the floor of the back seat). We have bought a portable DVD player and play movies for the cats (they are use to the noise of TVs) and it seems to help.

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What a neat idea! I like that.

(I would never travel with cats loose in a car though)

We went on a week trip to another state to see friends and it was a 8 hour drive when we had just Winston and Murphy pre baby. It went ok .. Murphy is a meow-er tho and I think he must take breath thru his butt because he didn't stop for 4 hours solid! Of course he started Winston off who never makes a sound!

So after that we stopped and let them roam around the Tahoe to stretch their legs. Murphy laid down on the dash and went to sleep and Winston was happy to be in his travel box as long as the door was open. So we proceeded on our journey and the rest of it was lovely and silent

Maybe you can put a towel over the ferel cats crate to calm him down some while you are driving?

Mama is very hissy in a crate, especially if you try to carry it but she's somewhat ok in a car but still hisses more than usual(since she rarely hisses, only if another cat is annoying her.) Not sure if a towel helps but I always use one if I have to take her to the vet.

Airlines will not accept sedated pet, too much liability for them.

Personally I would drive them. Even if they don't like it you know they are ok. Not even sure if airlines will take pets at this time of year. I know here(St. Louis) they have times of year where they will not ship pets via cargo for any reason because it's just too hot.

Taryn

Originally Posted by otto

What a neat idea! I like that.

(I would never travel with cats loose in a car though)

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We only let them loose in the car if we have at least 2 people traveling.
If they come up near the front, the most they do is sit on the passengers lap and look out the window.
In the past we use to have a net-type material (see though) that we'd pin up in the vehicle blocking the cats into the back. Then all we had to do was unpin it whenever we got to our destination, and I could put the cats in the carriers before any of the doors opened.

Honestly, with my feral, I would probably get a dog crate so she had extra space and transport her in a car, by the time you drive to the airport, check them in, board, wait for them to be brought off the plane and pick them up - the flight takes a lot longer than you think.

On top of that, most airlines will not fly cats in the summer or in heated climates and if you take them on board with you, you will need someone with you to take the second one and can be bumped if someone has allergies so you may end up at the airport for hours waiting for another flight

I think that's depending on the airline but I know some airlines would absolutely not let you ship animals during summer months or whenever outside temperature goes up to 80F. Even if they allow you ship regardless of temperature, sedation is definitely the biggest no-no - airlines would not accept sedated animals as far as I know.

By all mean, I would drive if that's a possible option. This way, you can constantly monitor your babies during the traveling. Also they would be less stressed as you'd always be there with them throughout the trip.

When I relocated from the mainland 2 years ago, I had to ship Ku Ku via cargo. Absolutely no sedation, no medication, also no food or water few hours prior to flight... I was worried so much until I finally saw her at the quarantine station. If I was allowed to travel with her, I'd definitely took whatever the option but unfortunately, any pet animals coming into Hawaii must be traveled via cargo and passed through quarantine.

If driving with them is a feasible option for you, I'd absolutely recommend you doing so. Also, consider using "rescue remedy", it worked on Ku Ku.