How to travel with your pet on a flight

I don't consider myself to be an expert at all, but I have carried a few animals on a plane with me, for some reason or another. I have had the opportunity to bring, in flight, three cats, a miniature doberman pincher and a bunny. These were all on separate fights (well one flight had two cats, but who's counting) and they were all learning experiences.

The first time that I traveled with a pet I thought that I had everything down to a science. I am the type of person who never plans ahead, but since I was going to be out of the state for a few months, I thought I should make sure that my cat didn't end up living at Logan while I was in sunny Arizona. I thought that I was really planning ahead when I called the airline a week in advance to make sure that it was okay to bring my cat. Low and behold was I shocked and quite awed when they asked about shots and weight and temperament. What!?!?! I see old ladies with poodles all the time. Is this what they all go through? I found out that most airlines require your pet to have up to date shots and a clear medical history. If they are over a certain weight (which varies by airline, more on that later) they can not even ride with you, they have to go with the baggage. Yes, you read me correctly, with the baggage!

Well, thankfully at the time the vet was a hop, skip and a jump away so I was able to get my little fur ball in for a spew of shots in time for takeoff. The vet was pleasant enough to provide me with some ideas that I was somehow unable to think of myself. At the time, I had a rather large cat. Well, he is still rather large, that is his big head looming over my lap top below. Having a bigger animal on flight with you is really frowned upon by most airlines. My cat is pretty used to going everywhere with me. I open the cat carrier and he walks in. Could be the vet, could be my sisters house. He's always up for a surprise. His cat carrier though, is meant for car travel. My vet clued me in to the fact that they didn't care that I over feed my cat. They wanted to make sure that he could fit in the space under the seat in front of me. Don't ask me what I was thinking, but that stunned me. A six hour flight and he is just going to sit there? Well this is where the vet came in handy again. She may have been in for the desperate sale, but I went home with an airline approved carrier, a spray to make the cat comfortable and a little syringe of magic to put in his water help him fall asleep.

The bunny would prove to be a more difficult travel companion. Pre-super security I just slugged the cat through the X-ray and wondered what he looked like on the other end. Of course, that could not be the case for the massively scared bunny, a poorly planned present to my nephew in Arizona. Thinking that I had the best of the airlines, I had the vet situation down. The carrier was bunny sized and smaller than my purse. When I went to check in I thought I had all of my ducks in a row. Not the case. In the year since I had traveled with a pet, this particular airline introduced a fee. Yes, fifty dollars per pet. Forking over the birthday money originally meant for my nephew, I continued from check in to security. I was originally afraid to give the bunny a sleep aid, I figured I would wait until I was on the plane to see if he would freak. I didn't have to wait too long. I put the bunny on the conveyor belt to the X-ray machine, took out my ID and boarding pass and flipped off my shoes. Being a seasoned traveller, I didn't bat an eye when the belt stopped and someone said, "Who's is this?". Well, sadly it was my bunny. What I didn't realize was that in the days of heightened security I had to take the bunny out of the cage, hold it, and walk it through the detector. It really didn't make sense to me considering you can see all the way through the thing on the X-ray machine, but how am I to know if it has a metal plate in its head or a pacemaker? I guess they don't take those things into consideration for a bunny. Needless to say bunnies are not meant to be handled at airports where random children try to pet it while you are trying to make it through security as fast as you can and get shoes back on your feet.

The easiest of all animal travels was the dog. Quick little one hour flight to DC, and the best of all, a leash! This was after the bunny freak out, so I did prep the pup with a little dose of the quick doze before security, but he did great. Oddly enough, there was no surcharge on this airline. They did, however, go to great lenghts to make sure that I did not remove the dog from the carrier during the flight for any reason. I was watched like a hound, but the dog slept like a baby. The same airline did remember the surcharge when I had two cats with me. They also made me check an additional back and made my boyfriend claim the other cat as baggage. One pet per person and they must be under the seat in front of you at all times. Gotcha!

The best advice that I can give to a pet owner, or transporter, is to call ahead. Each airline has thier own special pet rules and regulations. These rules often change, and can even vary from one day to the next as the security colors change. If your pet is prone to being nervous, there are tons of items that can help to calm your pet, many of them being natural. They can be found at any local pet store or a vet. If you don't bring your animal everywhere with you as if you were a Hilton, it is best to get them used to the carrier. Put items in there that they are familiar with. Make sure to bring something that smells like home in the carrier with you when you go. It may sound horrible, but don't hand out any last minute meals or treats if it is a long flight. In the end you will pay. I have a story about that, but I'll save it for when good pets go bad. And yes, it was the bunny.