Flights (O'Hare->Heathrow)

Hiya,

My cat and I are flying next Friday (9/11/09) from O'Hare to Heathrow. All my vet stuff (minus the visit the day before and the shots needed then) are completed. Now, uh, I just want to make sure my cat doesn't hate me / has an okay journey. I already have his IATA approved cat carrier.. And it came with a water/food bowl that attaches to the door. I also have those absorbent pats for the bottom of the carrier. What else, if anything, should I be prepared for? I plan on bringing some of his food/treats to the airport with me, for him. Is there anything else I should know before I fly? My vet recommended buying a harness/lease incase they make me take him out at the airport, as he's had cats get away in O'Hare before due to them needing to check the crate..

Thanks!

I'd recommend limiting food on the morning of the flight.  My baby Mae pooped in her cage almost immediately and it was a LOOONG drive to the airport, plus a good hour sitting around the cargo office.  Fortunatley I had a second set of bedding in another carrier for my old lady Syd, otherwise she'd have had to go without.

They did open each of my crates to get a picture on the cats inside (I guess to prove it was big enough) but none of them had to be removed.  The schooched up in the back, but it would have seriously sucked if one of them had done a runner.

Make sure you leave plenty of time.  There was someone ahead of me at the cargo office and it was not a quick process.  I think I was there for about 3 hours. 

My babes adjusted really quickly, but it was hairy for the first few days.  It's all just a memory these days...

Good luck, and I hope it all goes smoothly!

We flew from Dallas to Heathrow but since your cat will also be in cargo ,I assume the procedure will be the same.I had to drop my cats off at the cargo office 4 hours before the flight.

I already had the doors on their crates ziptied to make sure the door can not open accidentally.Your crate should have holes ,above and below, the door for this.The smaller crates may not. My husband drilled holes in two of our carriers.

You should also have one of those stickers that says "live animal"

I also attached a clear pencil pouch with good old zipties ,with copies of the cats papers and a baggie of food.Did not feed them food after midnight the night before. (one still pooped) ugh.


And lastly (I hope) I taped a picture of my cats on the crate,with their name and a little info.
(I can't seem to attach a picture on here)

so for example ,one said "I'm Cavuto, I'm very friendly but I hate to be picked up"

One said "I'm Monkey, I'm scared of everyone and everything."

I used lolcats.com to put text right ON the pictures.

They WILL be removing them from the crate at animal reception at Heathrow.They'll clean them up if they made a mess ,check their paper work ,read their chip and do a little health check, then hopefully say "here's your cat ma'am."

               
                         I'm going through this fun again myself on the 16th  :\\\'(

                                                  It's sooo nerve wracking,isn't it?

                                            Good luck to you and your kitty.

Oops, the LOL cat website is http://icanhascheezburger.com/

I had large, clear pics of each cat, with their names, characteristics and our mobile number in the packet.  I wrote each cat's name on their respective carriers with a sharpie and made sure I'd applied all of the stickers in advance, taping stuff down where necessary. 

We flew Virgin out of Boston and their standard procedure was to use one Virgin-issued zip tie.  I brought my own zip ties to check in, and zipped up the other 3 corners myself after everything was cleared with the airline.

Basically, I did everything I needed to do so that I could stay as sane as possible for the flight.  I knew that there was very little chance that any of my additional stuff would come into play, but it just made me feel a little better about the whole thing.