Comfort of animals during travels??

Hi Everyone,

My BF and I are moving to Edinburgh in the fall. I have to be there in September and he is coming in October with our 2 cats. We have gone through the first part of the PETS process (gotten vaccines, titer) but my boyfriend is really nervous about the actual overseas flight and I was hoping that others who have gone through this will be able to give some advice.

I think his main concern is that the cats won't have any place to go to the bathroom for 13 + hours. Will they arrive in London covered in their own waste? And also do animals go through any sort of depression once they have endured such an experience or do they adjust fairly quickly? I am asking because our cats freak out if we so much as take them to the vet!

For those of you that have been through this- what was your experience? Is there anything we can do to make them more comfortable?

Thanks in advance!!

My cat is pretty fragile; she's a former feral. She came through the ordeal just fine (the plane ride, that is; she's still adjusting to her new garden).

My vet recommended putting an incontinence pad in the bottom of her carrier. These are large and square (they're intended for human beds). A five-pack at Wal*Mart was the smallest package I could find. I left the other four behind, so the man who bought my house surely thinks I'm a bed-wetter.

The people at the ARC on the London side cleaned out her carrier, but I know she used it -- I had a blanket in there with her, and it was pee'd upon.

My vet recommended putting an incontinence pad in the bottom of her carrier. These are large and square (they're intended for human beds). A five-pack at Wal*Mart was the smallest package I could find. I left the other four behind, so the man who bought my house surely thinks I'm a bed-wetter.

They sell (or at least used to sell) Puppy training pads to put under the paper you're training your puppy to go on.  I was able to buy a single training pad at Dollar General to line the bottom of my cat's carrier when I moved him 8 hours by car.

One cat held it the whole way. When we finally got home she made a beeline for the litter box which I had already set up for them. The other cat peed in the carrier. The people at Gatwick took the towels and such out of the crate and bagged it up for me (which I promptly threw away at a rest stop). They did the best they could cleaning him up. He got a bath as soon as we walked in the flat! Welcome to England! 

My cat too is a fragile guy and has always hated being put in his carrier, going in the car, and being at the vet's, and he's even badly shy with all strangers, so I was very apprehensive about all the many strangers who would be handling him during what amounted to probably a total of 16 hours travel time overall for him. But he came through the whole international trip just fine with a very quick recovery.

It's advised to put a pad or even newspaper or something absorbent at the bottom of the carrier. I think I put towels (he eats pads), then his donut bed. I was interested to find that when i got him home, none of these items seem to have been peed on -- I have no idea if he just didn't pee at all or if ARC at Gatwick cleaned it all out; but even the furry donut bed seemed not to smell -- I washed it anyway. I still to this day have no idea if he just held it the entire time!

Both my cat and the carrier interior were in pristine condition even though he had spent three hours on a drive to the airport then a nine and a half hour flight, out for inspection at ARC, then a couple hours drive to the home destination. He did show distress on the car journey home from Gatwick -- started panting like a dog ( he has always hated car rides).

But when I got the carrier into the living room and let him out to explore his new surroundings, he sprang back to his normal self within a couple of hours, surprisingly. He had such an interesting time checking out the place that he seemed to forget all about his long journey and all the strangers. It is a lot to put them through but they really do seem to bounce back and leave it all behind, even the nervous ones like my cat who is naturally timid but got very settled and happy again very fast.

It's possible that even on a long flight, they just kind of hold it in, pee and poo wise. The same way that you or I often are able to postpone a pee if something starts happening that is heightening our adrenal response, this seems to happen to some travelling pets too. If mine did mess his carrier there was no evidence or at the very least it was cleaned up very well.

Sorry fot what may be a brief hijack:  My dog is used to holding her pee/poo for long periods of time while I am at work, so I imagine that she will hold it during the 9 hour flight, but now that I am reading that the staff has been nice enough to clean the animal's kennels (or atleast remove soiled towels), this makes me nervous that they will be opening the kennel to check for cleanliness...  I would prefer that no one opens my dog's kennel, can you put a note or something on there stating this?

Are you afraid she might bite someone? Cos if you're worried about her running out, I doubt that would happen. My cats go as far into that crate as possible. I'm sure you could put a note on her crate asking them not to open it unless there is an emergency or something. Just call the airline and ask.

Sorry fot what may be a brief hijack:  My dog is used to holding her pee/poo for long periods of time while I am at work, so I imagine that she will hold it during the 9 hour flight, but now that I am reading that the staff has been nice enough to clean the animal's kennels (or atleast remove soiled towels), this makes me nervous that they will be opening the kennel to check for cleanliness...  I would prefer that no one opens my dog's kennel, can you put a note or something on there stating this?

I don't know for sure, but I believe the kennel is only opened by the animal reception centre staff at the receiving airport, after the flight is over. I believe they have to open it and take the animal out for inspection, chip reading, cleanup if necessary, and also to give them food and water and put them in a holding pen waiting for pickup, at which point they move the animal back into it's carrier when the owner comes to the ARC for retrieval. As far as I know, though, nobody else opens the carrier during the flight or even before it possibly -- you might want to verify that.

I dont think she would bite anyone (she never has before), but she doesnt like strangers, and I just would prefer they leave her alone for this reason and if she might run off.  (she is a dog, not a cat).  I remember hearing a story about a show dog running out of her kennel after a luggage handler opened it up was never found and this has always stuck in my mind eventhough I realize its ONE out of however many thousands of animals are transported on airlines.

But, midnightblue is right, of course they would have to take her out to scan her and I assume with a dog, they will attach a leash to her before letting her out of the kennel. Ugh.  Too much to worry about!!  I'll add this to my list of things to ask the airline

Sorry fot what may be a brief hijack:  My dog is used to holding her pee/poo for long periods of time while I am at work, so I imagine that she will hold it during the 9 hour flight, but now that I am reading that the staff has been nice enough to clean the animal's kennels (or atleast remove soiled towels), this makes me nervous that they will be opening the kennel to check for cleanliness...  I would prefer that no one opens my dog's kennel, can you put a note or something on there stating this?

Oh my gosh, I never thought about this. My cat is super friendly and WOULD try to get out of the carrier if someone opened the door. They'll NEVER be able to get him back in!  (but I don't think he'd run....he LOVES people)

The people at ARC are pretty good. I'm guessing they open the carriers in little rooms, like at the vet. My cat is a people-hater and an escape artist, so I worried lots...but they managed not to lose her.

I dont think she would bite anyone (she never has before), but she doesnt like strangers, and I just would prefer they leave her alone for this reason and if she might run off.  (she is a dog, not a cat).  I remember hearing a story about a show dog running out of her kennel after a luggage handler opened it up was never found and this has always stuck in my mind eventhough I realize its ONE out of however many thousands of animals are transported on airlines.

But, midnightblue is right, of course they would have to take her out to scan her and I assume with a dog, they will attach a leash to her before letting her out of the kennel. Ugh.  Too much to worry about!!  I'll add this to my list of things to ask the airline

I remember that story too; try not to worry because, as you say, the likelihood is statistically so very low.

Like your dog, my cat does not like strangers; he's extremely shy with anyone but me, and would rather run and hide than let anyone but me handle him. Of all types of personality, I would fear the worst for my cat's handling of the whole trip. But amazingly he dealt with it all, and the ARC lady even said how "sweet" he had been toward the staff!! Perhaps he was so dumbfounded about spending a strange nine hours in the dark alone, that when they got him out he was in love with anyone who would give him human contact!  

I think Stoatula is right, at the ARCs I think things are done very carefully, probably in small rooms, and escape is probably very much guarded against. When you think about it, even from strictly their point of view of not wishing a potential rabies carrier to slip through the cracks (or the door), I would bet things are very secure just incase an animal is found to have completely screwed up records and is unsafe health-wise to be allowed into the country after all. They are probably super-careful about escape not just because it is someone's beloved pet they don't want to havelost, but also because this is exactly what their raison d'etre is -- to be very certain which animal is let loose on the UK altogether. 

They seemed very caring and very careful too; both ends and I came away with a really good feeling.

So try not to worry; if my stranger-shy kitty got through it without freaking out and bolting for the hills, I feel sure your similarly-natured dog too will be okay. Try calling your airline animal centre and speak to them about your concerns -- I found mine to be very reassuring. They take the welfare of the animals very seriously just as they should, and will calm your concerns about your dog.

Very good point about potential rabies getting out if they arent extra extra careful with the animals.  I like these logical reasons - they make me feel much better!  Even if they dont care about my dog, they sure care about rabies!

Very good point about potential rabies getting out if they arent extra extra careful with the animals.  I like these logical reasons - they make me feel much better!  Even if they dont care about my dog, they sure care about rabies!

There you have the bottom line, lol! Exactly. They don't want your dog out there running around lost any more than you do, but for a very different reason! 

I'm sure it's all going to be okay. 

Very good point about potential rabies getting out if they arent extra extra careful with the animals.  I like these logical reasons - they make me feel much better!  Even if they dont care about my dog, they sure care about rabies!

I think you'll be surprised how much they care about your dog. I was so worried about my cats and the people working both ends (Newark and Gatwick) clearly cared about animals and their well being. They don't want anything to happen to your dog just as much as you don't!