Air Travel w/Cat: Tranqualize or not?

i wish i could help. i have travelled across country a few times with my cats, but we never tranquilized them. we were travelling by car, so we were the only ones subjected to the constant meowing. we've never taken the guys on a plane.

Most vets will try and dissuade you from sedating cats when they travel. To much can happen.


http://www.thecatsite.com/Cats/Cat_C...with_Cats.html

I'm leaving tomorrow. Seamus is traveling with me in the cabin. My vet gave me tranqs, but basically told me to decide whether to use them or not. He said there wasn't too much of a risk to Seamus flying tranqed, but that some cats don't respond well to them and might freak out. That article, while helpful, seemed to address cats that were traveling in the hold, not with their owners in the cabin.

I'm torn. Seamus is a really good car traveller, meowing a little, but I have no idea how he'll be on the plane. He's got a loud voice and I wouldn't want him meowing the entire way from Colorado to Knoxville. But then I don't want to wait and see since it takes about an hour for the drugs to kick in and if he did freak out, it'd be under a seat in a carrier instead of in the house where he lives.

Thoughts?

Erin

I would go against tranqs. I travelled with my Siamese (and you know how loud they can be, lol) from Halifax, NS to Florida without any problems at all. I brought her in the cabin (I'd never allow a pet to fly cargo - too many horror stories and poor air, all those factors) and had made arrangements prior to travel and it was great. You can board early and they will provide water for him tho it is prob next not to feed him too much while en route. Tranqs can make your kitty groggy and b/c you may not be looking at him "all" the time, he might suffocate or at best, have breathing probs. Vets instruct you not to use them for a good reason.

You might give him Rescue Remedy or cocculine - a natural product that lets my baby sleep without probs. The other issue is that some tranqs (esp the benzodiapapines - family diazepam (valium) is from - can have the opposite effect.

This is an AMAZING site about traveling with your cat!
http://www.ramblincat.com

Personally, I wouldn't give the cat any tranquillizers. People put up with babies whining and crying and screaming the whole flight. I think the cat would settle down after a bit and not meow the WHOLE way.....

Anyways, check out the website, it's great!

I think the site that I gave you recommends trying anything like that once before you travel to see the reaction, and that way you are closer to a vet, etc.

Maybe if you research it and like the way it sounds, you could try it on your cat before you guys travel and she how she reacts to it?

I flew a very skittish cat once on a plane (he was actually a feral cat that was only recently socialized to some degree) and I gave him Ace. We were able to give him a dose in advance under a controlled situation to see how he responded to it. It was the only way to keep him calm and we gave him the smallest amount possible.

In our case, it worked out great, but do understand your concerns. Bring the pills with you and give it to him on the plane if he doesn't calm down. Better for him to be upset the first hour than the entire flight - you have about a 3 hour flight?

One warning: if you get to the airport and he is freaking there and you decide to pill him before you board the plane, find a safe bathroom with a door that can lock behind you. If you take a scared cat out of a carrier in an airport, you could lose him.

Good luck!

I was wondering if giving them tranqs was safe because we will end up having a 13 hour flight to get these babies home. I really couldn't deal with them meowing the whole flight. But I am skeptical of giving them something to knock them out also.

Well, all I have is anecdotal evidence, but--

My dad (a pilot) has a small plane (a six-seater) that the family uses to travel from the main house to the country house--almost every weekend in the summer. When my stepmother's cats were alive, they would travel with us in the plane, and let's just say they were not big fans of air travel. They weren't particularly loud, but they would make themselves sick (vomiting and diarrhea). The vet gave them very low-dose sedatives--the pills didn't knock the cats out, they just made them sort of sleepy and calm. Basically, they seemed to feel the way I do when I take Drammamine.

This way of traveling continued for years--the cats probably did it 50 times or more. They never experienced any adverse effects.

I say all this with two different caveats. The first is obvious: Every cat is different, and if you're going to use meds like this, it is best to do a test-run in a controlled environment.
The second is less obvious and I truly have no idea about the effects. My dad's plane is not pressurized, unlike all airliners. That means we never flew above a certain height, and we always had fresh air to breath (rather than the recirculated stuff you get in airlines). I have NO idea what that might mean for cats or tranquilizers, but I feel I should mention it.

As I said, this is purely anecdotal, and I'm not sure that I would make the same choices for my cats. But whatever you decide, good luck!

I do not recommend wholistic products easily - I am a pediatrician and almost never recoemmend them to patients - I go with what I know is scientifically proven. That said, I have used Rescue Remedy - hesitantly at first - when I first travelled with my Siamese - and it was WONDEFUL!! Plus, it does not have the adverse side effects of diazepam (valium) or the other suggested meds. Garvol very much depends on the cat and about 50% of cats react in the opposite way to it. They freak out. I have seen the effects of both Gravol and valarian at the ER - children coming in with huge gashes after the administered (sands advice usually and sometimes with tho) both thise meds to their cats. I did not keep records of those visits mind you but I do know (and God knows I hate anecdotal evidence - ever the scientist ) but I have NEVER seen a cat behave strangely after Rescue Remedy. Cocculine is also good - but again works differently in different cats. It was recomemnded by a vet and I used it before I tried Rescue Remedy. A local cat rescue place I know always has the stuff on hand for emergencies with feral or stressed out kitties. Some need it over time but for travel, a few drops before the trip work wonders!! We need to do a study, lol

Best of all, Rescue Remedy can be purcahsed rather cheaply at a health food store or in Canada at Atlantic Superstore or Proovigo - Loblaws stores for even less.

I seriously wonder sometimes if it would bemefit my pediatric patients. It woulds certainly have no lasting effects like valium or other benzodiapzepines. (I rarely use that anyway since there are better prodicts now - less sedating after a procedure is over). I do rsearch in pain meds so that is my area of expertise in my research "hat" - when I am not being just an MD, lol

Good luck!! But check out Rescue remedy. I was pleasantly surprised despite my own misgivings about trying something I could not find in a trusted medical journal!!