Flying with a cat

[Harmony83]

DF and I are moving to Mt Isa for work - I am scared, terrified and well scared! We have a young cat who will be travelling with us and i have no idea how to go about this! I read on the quantas website that they are included as baggage so thats fine but... how do I keep him happy on the flight, he hates being caged and will probably cry the whole time, also where do you take them to be put on the plane, cause whenever we go to the airport I see signs saying they are not allowed in the baggage/terminal area? and lastly what about his ears? I know that whenever I fly my ears almost burst, is it the same for cats and is there anyway of easing this, I know with mine it gets quite painful... Sorry for the silly questions - but Im so stressed I can't think straight!

[Littletreasures]

hi
i have never travelled with pets but we did look into it once and the airline told us that we would have to put our dog in a cage and that she would be put in the cargo area where all the bags and stuff go ...wasnt an option for our baby girl lol

[DjF]

Animals are put into a special baggage hold area - and im sure its warmer too (as we all know it is freezing in the baggage area)

You could speak with your vet and ask them about a slight sedation? For the cat that is!:D

[meb]

I've flown with my cat a few times.

You will need to have a cat cage and the cat will fly in the cargo area of the plane. If you need to buy a cage make sure you don't buy one that clips together as some of the airlines won't accept that type. Call first to see what they require first as if you don't and they won't accept it your going to be in a pickle.

I can't remember which airline but we dropped cat off at the baggage terminal but some don't allow this and you actually need to take the cat to the freight termnal. So make sure you check into that too.

I find that my cat travels okay now. The first flight she hated it and hated us for days. But now she's okay with it. I always make sure that I only feed her a little the day of the flight and only a little water too. Saves her having the need to go for a wee or poo in her cage.

Good luck...

[Sarie]

We looked into this a bit you need them to be in an airline suitable cage (it has to be able to be locked) and the pet has to have enough room to turn around and lay down.
The other thing you need to take into account is that some airports don't receive the pet you have to go through a courier company that takes care of the pets at some regional airports. I'm not sure if Mt Isa is one, but I know where we were looking was so we would have had to leave our kitty at the courier depot in Bris and pick it up at the courier depot at our destination.
Unfortunately our move didn't happen, so we didn't look into it any further.

[Chickadee]

We flew a dog here from Canada, and 2 dogs from Perth to Melbourne. I can confirm that what the other ladies have said is correct about the crate requirements & special baggage area (heated and pressurised). Either contract with a specialist pet mover (we found this easiest, our dogs are large!) or find out at your departure airport what the exact procedures are. If you phone twice and get different answers then it's time to go to the airport in person and get something in writing.