why you don't travel with Pets
Posted by yogaferret on Feb 16, 2007 · Member since Nov 2006 · 460 posts
I was almost tempted once to do the airline-thing.
So glad I didn't. Nice(?) to know I wasn't being too paranoid. :(
http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-QanJVsYzeKevvCXwpLAi9JYjD9eU?p=460
Check w/ the airlines many will let you carry on a pet if the carrier is small enough to fit under the seat in front of you. I imagine this would be the case with ferrets. Just make sure that that is your only carry on. If you try to carry on to much they might try to use that as an excuse. I would never ever ever put a pet in cargo though. These stories happen all too often.
Over the Christmas holiday's, I decided to fly home, from oregon to connecticut, with my 5 month old kitten... My boyfriend and I bought him a carrier that we assumed would fit under the seat. We passed through all kinds of security and boarding without anyone noticing we had a cat (that's after we had paid 180 dollars for him to travel with us) When we got to our seats, the carrier wouldn't fit under the seat, mind you, when I had called to make arrangements to bring the cat with us the customer service agent did not inform me about any crate restrictions.
So, we figured we could just hold him on our lap... but that was a big no no... one of the flight attendants almost stopped the entire flight from take off on account of the crate not fitting under the seat. Luckily, one of the flight attendants was very nice and put the crate in first class!! I have never even flown first class, and here my 5 month old kitten is riding in style.
Regardless of the accomodations for our kitty, it wasn't worth the hassle. Kitty cried almost the entire flight and I never want to go through the stress of bringing an animal on a plane again.
This is probably the one reason why I may never be able to move from North America. I would never put my pets on a plane. I think the only way I could do it would be to charter a private flight for me and my pets. Hey, if another Bush ever wins the White House.....I'll be posting the question: Does anyone know a private charter plane company willing to fly me and all the creatures to New Zealand"?! ;)
Check w/ the airlines many will let you carry on a pet if the carrier is small enough to fit under the seat in front of you. I imagine this would be the case with ferrets. Just make sure that that is your only carry on. If you try to carry on to much they might try to use that as an excuse. I would never ever ever put a pet in cargo though. These stories happen all too often.
Actually, that's rare anymore.
It's becoming harder and harder to take pets into the cabin with you.
(hell, we couldn't even take toothpaste at one point. that was a complete joke, not too mention a waste of taxpayers money.)
For ferrets in particular, we're down to only being able to use ONE airline if we want them safe next to us. >:(
This is probably the one reason why I may never be able to move from North America. I would never put my pets on a plane. I think the only way I could do it would be to charter a private flight for me and my pets. Hey, if another Bush ever wins the White House.....I'll be posting the question: Does anyone know a private charter plane company willing to fly me and all the creatures to New Zealand"?! ;)
You could look into a cargo carrier that would let you accompany the dogs. For closer places you can take them by boat too. This is what my cousin did with her 3 goldens a couple of years ago.
You might want to check these guys out they talk about charter services for pets.
http://www.petsonthego.com/transairlineregs.html
http://www.animalairlines.co.uk/
One of the very important things to remember is don't assume any thing. All airplanes are not the same and you must make sure that your carryons fit that plane. It is very easy to get the info for the flight you are taking.
Also make sure you have all the info and then some. Take the latest FAA and TSA bulletins printed out with you. Go early! Make sure that you have time to deal with any problems that might come up.
I haven't traveled with pets in quite a while but I travel often with skydiving equipment, very expensive, life saving equipment that is NOT going in checked lugage where they can do god knows what to it. The trick is one of the components looks kinda like a bomb so we have to take a pictures of the ex-ray image and usually a copy of the TSA bulletin regarding travel w/ parachutes. It's a pain in the a** but it's what you gotta do.
Sometimes there is no other option for a person to travel with a pet, so just be informed. I looked up a couple of airlines below and here are there restrictions on carry-on pets. One of the big problems is traveling overseas. Just be full aware of all possible problems before you leave.
For me it seems like every time I anticipate a problem I walk right through and when I don't I have 10 TSA agents breathing down my throat. One of the easiest trips I ever took was about 3 weeks after 9/11 and no one said a word to me. Go figure.
And I don't want to get all political here but did the whole no toothpaste thing make ANYONE feel safer? Gimme a freakin break.
http://www.delta.com/planning_reservations/special_travel_needs/pet_travel_information/pet_travel_options/index.jsp#carryon
http://www.united.com/page/article/0,6722,51255,00.html
http://www.nwa.com/services/shipping/cargo/products/ppet2.shtml#kennel
http://www.continental.com/web/en-US/content/travel/animals/in_cabin.aspx
You could look into a cargo carrier that would let you accompany the dogs. For closer places you can take them by boat too. This is what my cousin did with her 3 goldens a couple of years ago.
You might want to check these guys out they talk about charter services for pets.
http://www.petsonthego.com/transairlineregs.html
http://www.animalairlines.co.uk/
Nice find. I'll have to look into those.
....I just came back from doing such.....
The pets on the go looks like it could be really nice. Do you have any experience with it?
You have to join to get any information at all(only $5 for a trial membership, $15 for a year. ).
Reasonable, but I and probably others would like to know if you have any experience with their advice. :)
Sometimes there is no other option for a person to travel with a pet, so just be informed. I looked up a couple of airlines below and here are there restrictions on carry-on pets. One of the big problems is traveling overseas.
...
Glad you brought up the point about overseas travel. VERY risky. Frequently, the information and policies that you need about the receving country (the country you're flying into), are not available or WORSE, not up to date in your home country.
I ran into that problem with Japan. Not only could I not get the info I needed from the US side, their official Japanese site didn't have it either.
I played it safe and turned out to be right in not trying to transport them with me.
The other problem with international travel is QURANTINE procedures--there's papers you need from licensed vets and a quarantine stay that requires additional fees. (It can be a lengthy stay, too.)
I hate to think of my guys going through that. :( :(
md
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Ferret Research: http://ferretknots.blogspot.com/
Ferret Resources: http://nippynihon.blogspot.com/
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Mahatma Gandhi:
"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated."
When I adopted Isabela from Mexico I panicked her whole flight to Canada because she was considered cargo. I adopted after I fell in love with her. I was already home when all I could think about was Isabela. She flew without me. I felt sick to my stomach all day at work. She had to fly Cozumel to Dallas. Spend the night in Dallas at a kennel (they charged $163 US for the night) and then fly to Toronto the following morning. She was treated like gold at least by the people who received her in Toronto. If memory serves me, she flew Continental.
Cali flew from Greece on September 23rd. She arrived in fine shape (again Cargo) and the guys that received her and her sister Irma loved them.
I have also heard horror stories and I was equally panicked about Cali flying.
But....they were both in horrendous situations and had to get somewhere.
I would never go away for 2 or 3 weeks and opt to fly a pet to be with me but after the experiences with Isabela and Cali, putting them on a plane was the right thing to do.
Isabela would surely have died if I hadn't adopted her within a couple of months and Cali's fate was very bad as well.
On a side note, couldn't eat the days they flew and felt sick to my stomach. I guess some airlines are better than others.
Di
P.S. Sometimes a situation dictates that an animal has to fly. Buyer beware. Check out the airline. The Cozumel Humane Society has had great success flying dogs and cats to Canada and the US. As has Greek Animal Rescue.
MY cousin and his wife recently moved back to the US after 3 years in Germany and they took their 70lb dog (Bailey) with them (there and back). From what I understand, Germany is one of the few EU countries that has a very short quarantine (less than a week), provided you have adequate immunization records.
arg, it looks like air travel will be the mothod of transportation for me and Guinever and D'Artagnon. :o I'm worried about my Babies. I was looking around at Deltas site and reading their restitutions and stuff....My two kiddos weigh 65lbs each, so there kennels will end up being over sized and they will be shipped "cargo" :-\
One thought I did have, was that because I actually have perscription for them as service dogs, maybe I can bring one and then turn around and come back for the other, so that they can ride in the cab with me? Although I have a perscription for them, they are not certified service dogs. I once was told that I do not have to present proof of service dog status. that it would be violation of my rights under the Americans with Disabilities act...does anyone know? What are your thoughts?
Wow! That is terrible. I was thinking about taking my cat with me on a plane when I went home for Christmas. I usually take the bus, but they don't allow animals at all. I looked into the plane thing and I found out it would cost $75 each way and that she wouldn't be able to sit with me. I didn't like that. I am glad I decided against it. In the end, I was lucky enough to find a friend of mine to cat-sit. Ten days without my baby! It was tough. That was the longest we had ever been apart!
I don't think I'd ever be able to put my baby on a plane. Unless it was absolutely necessary! DH and I want to go to Hawaii as our next station and I've gotta find a way over for Bella...but that is still a few years from now. Summer of '09; we're doing a cross-country road trip and we're bringing Bella. No way in hell am I trusting a kennel for 3-4 weeks! How sad is that, when you can't trust other people/facilities to care for your beloved animal companions??
When I moved back down to the lower 48 from Alaska last year I brought my Cat with me in a soft cloth carrier. I felt so bad for him, the flying was around 24 solid hours including travel to the airport, layovers, and travel from the arriving airport. The vet gave me some traquilizer pills to give him, but he really didn't need them at first. He was quiet on the plane, and his tiny, just barly large enough to stuff him in cage did fit under the seat in front of me. From Fairbanks to Anchorage he was okay. Then had a four hour layover where I was able to get him out of the cage, but of course there was no litter box, so I was hesitant to give him any food or water, I gave him a little bit of water. Then we flew from Anchorage to Seattle, WA, a 5 hour flight in the middle of the night. He was okay, but by the time we reached Washington, it was a one hour layover, and he was beginning to get restless, so I have him a pill. I will never to that again, he looked almost dead for several hours, I called my mom crying thinking that I killed him. But he was okay. Then another four hour layover in New York City. He was still zonked. But by the time we finally got to Syracuse he was ready to get out of that cage. Hindsite is 20 20, I should have finished out the year, and then drove back down in the spring. I was stupid. We all do stupid things, but for some reason I seem to do BIG stupid things.
I've taken our cat Lucy on 3 roundtrip plane rides at Christmas time and this was Joe's first year traveling. BF and I each took a cat and they were with us the entire time under our seats. The flight was only 2 hours w/ no connections and they both did just fine. They were a little freaked out, but I didn't want to leave them for almost 2 weeks. We left our other cat, Mom, with a friend of mine because I knew she wouldn't get along w/ my parents' cats and she did just fine by herself.
I actually work at a boarding kennel and could have boarded all three of them there for $5/day, but cats freak out in kennels. Plus, they had to be "up to date" on all vaccines, and I don't agree w/ excessive vaccination. My cats have not and will not receive the feline leukemia vaccine b/c the benefits do not outweigh the risks for us.
I really think that it's an individual decision--for us, air travel has always gone smoothly because we could always carry them on (I never have used tranquilizers and never will--the effects are too unpredictable as SQ pointed out). For others, kennels are great options and the animals will more than likely be perfectly content there for a few days.
Ugh, this thread gave me the chills. I hate HATE the thought of animal mistreatment.
Big Dog has travel anxiety even in the car (he was abused by a former owner, so he's a little nuts), so I would find another home for him (probably with my parents or my parents-in-law) before I would take him on a plane. I mean, he's crazy enough as it is in the back seat of the car where I can talk to him and comfort him-- can you imagine him in a crate in the cargo hold of an airplane?? Seriously, I'm tearing up just thinking about it. And Little Dog could go in a carrier, but knowing him, he'd probably bark or do something awful. He's a really great dog, but he does not like to be contained. We routinely drive hours out of our way to drop the dogs up with my parents when we go on vacations, because I hate the thought of our dogs at the kennel, and I sure as hell will not bring them with!
I work for an airline and we will not ever carry an animal in cargo (humans can't travel in cargo; why should animals?). But, as others have said, the carrier and the pet must be small enough to fit under the seat. Most of the time my daughter drives home from Ohio but whenever she flies home for a short weekend break, she puts Blue in a kennel. We know he is well treated there because when she takes him in his whole butt wags and he is happy to see everyone there.
Big Dog has travel anxiety even in the car (he was abused by a former owner, so he's a little nuts), so I would find another home for him (probably with my parents or my parents-in-law) before I would take him on a plane. We routinely drive hours out of our way to drop the dogs up with my parents when we go on vacations, because I hate the thought of our dogs at the kennel, and I sure as hell will not bring them with!
This is what I do too. My cats either stay at my mom's house or she comes to mine.