March 06, 2007

• Tell the pilot you have animals on the plane. Not a flight attendant, the pilot. Stay with the animals until they are on the plane. Take an early flight. Never fly with an animal in the summer. It's generally not recommended that animals be tranquilized. Even though you have the pet passport it is advisable to have a certificate of health from your vet made up within a week of travel. Have extra copies made of all animal travel documents. Tag and collar your pets, chip your pets. Might be a good idea to put a picture of each animal on each carrier with the animals name on it. Might be a good idea to have a leash attached to the carrier if the animal has to be removed from its carrier for inspection. Go to this site-there is a piece about traveling with dogs: http://newsday.typepad.com/news_local_flaim/ All this is for domestic-I assume most of this stuff pertains to intl. as well. That said, I once met a man who took his 16 year old dog to Australia and said it was just fine.
• If Samuel L. Jackson is on the plane, get a different flight.
• I flew with a puppy from Puerto Rico to Boston last May. It was fine, but I would STRONGLY RECOMMEND that you get some of those plastic zip-tie things and zip-tie shut ANY part of the cage that could come loose. Top to bottom, back to front, even the screws on those plastic clamshell type cages. Especially zip the door shut. If a baggage handler must water the animals, they'll figure it out. Leave them an extra to re-zip the door. All of Blanky's suggestions are good too. Oh, and Pfizer's Cerenia motion-sickness drug has been approved for use in dogs. But I have no experience with that at all. I wish you and your crew the best of luck!
• Blanky - I do not have an argument with telling the pilot about the pet, but can you tell us why, what benefit might ensue?
• Also, I think there is a difference between flying an animal 'cargo' and having a ticketed animal in the hold. You probably don't want to drop the pets off at cargo-they may wind up on a different flight. They should be checked in at the counter with the rest of your stuff. I could be wrong about this but it's a question you might ask (I'm kind of nuts, I'd glue the screws down on an animal carrier). Also, check with your vet about a food and water and poop schedule before the trip.
• It's just a reminder for the pilot-so he knows living things are in the hold. I have a friend who flew her Westie all over the country and always did it. Pilots are very receptive-she said they were always glad to know.
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• Thanks monkeys, much appreciated. Yes, will be following that good advice about zip-ties, ID labels and talking to the pilot. Other advice we've had is to put ice-cubes in their dishes, rather than water which would spill out. Currently from talking to Virgin and Continental it looks like the pets travel will be considerably more pricy than ours. Virgin were slightly cheaper, friendlier and e-mailed us all the forms. One more thought about "in-cabin" to Europe, which seems like it would've been much less stress for the pets than cargo: KLM/Northwest have said that they do allow small pets in-cabin to Europe (just not to the UK) and Wikipedia currently says " The UK restricts incoming flights to only ship animals as cargo. A cheaper alternative around this aberration in the rules is to fly to some other European city, such as Paris or Amsterdam, and then travel to the UK by rail or ferry instead, which do not have this restriction. " Should I believe this?
• Agreed with all the comments above. A picture of the animal with its name and then your name and destination address (and cell phone) written large and covered with a clear protective surface (such as wide cello tape) is a good idea. We were required by the military to have this, as well as a copy of the health certificate and vaccination records secured to the crate with a sticky-back plastic bag they provided. I've flown with dogs on a five hour flight, and we brought back two cats from Turkey to Idaho. We had to pick up the crates after landing in New York and hand-carry them (at a run) to our next gate. The Ankara cat is deaf, and had no problem through the whole experience. La la la, what jet engines? Strolled around the airport on her leash making friends and checkin' out the joint. (Check to see if they're allowed out of their crates) The (former) wild street cat was terrified, in spite of having had tranqs prior to leaving and before the East-to-West coast flight. Poor thing peed all over himself and was so upset we didn't dare take him out of the crate for a "breather". I did have a clean towel with me, and managed to throw it in for him. It's a good idea to get your critters used to the crate weeks in advance--have them sleep in it overnight, feed them treats, etc. They'll be much happier if the crate feels safe to them. (We couldn't get the wild cat used to one--he'd been caught in a hav-a-heart cat trap, and was convinced the crate was deadly) We actually took several towels to bed with us for about a week before leaving so the cats would have a familiar people scent. Probably not absolutely necessary, but made me feel better. Don't feed your kids. They're better off going without food for 24 hours than being airsick and puking. If you're worried that they'll be stranded without food, you can seal a dry meal in doubled zip lock bags made as flat as possible, and duct tape it to the top of the crate. Leave a note to let a handler know that there is food available they can push through the bars. Some people put a chewy in with their dogs. I'm not in favor of the idea for fear of choking or puking, but you know your dog best. Ice is a great idea, but freeze it in a plastic dish with a piece of cord through the middle of the ice. Just lay the cord in the dish suspended on both ends through the water. Drill a hole through the edge of the dish and fasten it to the bars of the crate, then tie the ice to the bars also. That way nothing's being flung around in case of sudden stops or jolts. Glue the screws on the cage, and you can even poke extra holes to zip tie the two halves together. Don't forget to zip tie the swinging side of the door, but I wouldn't zip tie the door closed. We had two clip snaps to keep the door secured. The airport told us that they wouldn't open the crate for any reason if it was "permanently" fastened shut. Good luck traveling with your critters. If they're good travelers, the flight will be harder on you than on them.
• Not really any advice - but my cat Kimutaku flew solo from Japan to Australia and he was perfectly fine. In fact he's now the size of a small tiger. I made certain to have completed all the forms and vaccinations/ID chipping, and that his container was very secure and comfy.
• I tried to fly two cats in cabin and was told that there was an animal limit -I could bring one but not two. Seems they were worried about allergy issues with the other passengers. So you might check that. I would speak to Britrail about keeping the animals with you on a train-it might be fine. Just fly direct. If you decide to fly with them in the hold make sure you are there to see the animals get on the plane-you are allowed to be in the cargo area to do this. There are some good tips on this web site, mostly don't fly pugs, check the collar to make sure it can't get tangled in the cage, clip the pets claws before travel: http://www.expatwomen.com/tips/tips_safe_pet_air_travel.php Scroll down to the bottom of the page. And everything BlueHorse said.
• > Anyone seen pets travel in-cabin to Europe? A friend brought three cats from San Francisco to Paris, two in the cabin and one in a the hold. I think the two in the cabin were in a single cat box. I can find out the airline if you want. I've also seen small dogs travel in the cabin from the U.S. to France. Eurostar from Paris to London will accept only guide dogs, however. This may make the Netherlands or Belgium + a ferry trip an easier route, depending on your final destination in Britain.
• make sure you are there to see the animals get on the plane-you are allowed to be in the cargo area to do this This probably goes without saying, but if they're going in the hold, make sure they're the last to be loaded and the first to be unloaded. Good luck!
• Thanks again for the excellent advice monkeys - we arrived safely in the UK with pets and people intact :) Both our pets seemed to have had a good flight - we had ice-water dishes zip-tied inside their cages and kept checking-up with Virgin Atlantic that they were loaded/unloaded at departure and destination. They were well-cared for by Virgin Cargo US and Heathrow UK staff. However, there were some aspects that I'd warn people about... mostly to do with DEFRA bureaucracy. We had spent months checking DEFRA's website, and making sure we had all the correct paperwork for both pets from USDA, DEFRA and Virgin Atlantic. We were pretty sure we had everything in order, but on one form we had used the American date system mm/dd/yy and we had corrected it to the British date dd/mm/yy. According to the lady from DEFRA this "could be evidence of tampering"(!) Another piece of paperwork was from a USDA accredited vet, but apparently needed a "star" stamp from USDA... even though we had a "round" stamp from USDA on another similar piece of paperwork. These two errors meant we couldn't actually see the animals on arrival at Heathrow Animal Centre, and had a nerve-wracking five-hour wait and had to pay £230 for a vet to come out and inspect them yet again. In case it's useful for anyone, these are the minimum requirements for USA to UK pet travel without quarantine: 1. pets need to be chipped (with an "ISO" chip), and have proof of chipping date (which HAS to be before their rabies vaccination date). 2. they need an original Rabies Vaccination Certificate and Rabies Antibody Test Result. 3. You need to wait 6 months after that Rabies test (they may reduce that to 3months I think) 4. They need an "official PET passport certificate" endorsed by the USDA. 5. They (might) need a USDA Health certificate (stamped properly). If you can't find a USDA vet that has any "UK PET passport certificate" forms (see step.4). Most US vets, understandably, seem to know nothing about this UK paperwork. 6. They need an "EU 3rd Country Health Certificate", stamped by a USDA-approved vet 7. They need a certificate that treatment against tick/tapeworm using DEFRA-approved chemicals (Praziquantel/FrontlinePlus/Drontal) took place within 24-48hours of travel. 8. They need to have all this documentation validated before departure by an accredited USDA vet. 9. They need to travel in an IATA approved kennel... of the correct dimensions (enough room to stand-up and turn around) and with enough ventilation holes (Virgin gave me a power-drill to ventilate our cat's "IATA approved" kennel at the last minute!). 10. They have to fly on an "approved" airline, on an "approved route"... i.e. not just any airport. That's all I can remember just now - I may have missed some stuff, and all this bureaucracy may change. DEFRA's website has most of the info, but it is not a very well laid out website. Virgin Atlantic Cargo were very nice, but seem to try to distance themselves from the DEFRA paperwork, saying they thought it was "all on DEFRA's website" (which it isn't) and that DEFRA had "advised Virgin not to give people detailed advice" on the UK paperwork required... "in case they get it wrong". A bit of a cop-out, considering both Virgin and DEFRA are getting so much money for transporting pets - it cost double our human air-fares. They could at least organise a system where the airline sends people a concise list of everything they need! Anyway, all's well that ends well - despite the DEFRA/USDA paperwork kerfuffle our pets were well looked after by Virgin Cargo JFK & the Animal Reception Centre Heathrow and we were very relieved that they didn't have to go into quarantine. So, to sum-up this lengthy spiel... stick with one date-system throughout and make sure you find a USDA vet who is really familiar with the finer points of British bureaucracy!