How I almost lost my cats...a warning for all

So after months of combing through the regulations and arguing with receptionists at the vet, I had everything taken care of.  All the paper work done and the cages modified with metal bolts, etc.  The airline and an independent pet transporter recommended I buy "200 Series" cages for my cats.

I locked up my empty rental home, mailed the keys to the landlord and drove to the airport for a one way flight to the UK.  I went to the airline cargo office and the man behind the counter looked at the 200 Series cages and said they are too small and that the cats couldn't go.  I said, "What are my options?".  He said that I had about an hour to find them new cages. 

I left the cats in the cargo office and drove to the nearest Petsmart/Petco.  It turns out that the dimensions the airline assigned to a "Series 200" cage were MUCH larger than the dimensions of a Series "200" cage at Petco.  I ended up buying Series 400 cages for medium size dogs for each cat because those were the smallest ones that met the airlines measurements.  The cages even had Cesar Milan's grinning face on them mouthing the word "Sucker!".  The cats looked so tiny in those monstrous cages.

I wrote down the dimensions of each Series 100 through 500 cage from Petco and brought them back to the airline to show them how out of touch they were.  Fortunately, I wasn't charged any more by the airline for the 400 series cage and I made my flight to Heathrow.

My recommendation: Don't ask what Series cage do I need?  Ask what are the dimensions that I need and then buy accordingly.

I got the jitters at the last moment and ran to Petco and bought a carrier for a small dog. The cargo lady laughed when she saw my cat rattling around in that thing, but hey. I got through and it didn't cost me any more.

Our two cats went in Petmate "medium" (28 x 20.5 x 21.5) carriers labeled for dogs because we have one monster cat and I was afraid he'd do one of his giganto-cat yawns while at the airline checkin and we'd be told to go get a great dane carrier.  

It's such a nervewracking process, I wish airlines/consultants/whatever wouldn't "help" with crap information.  Things were fine for us on the cat front, but stupid Virgin sent us directions to a cargo terminal that was no longer in use.  Because I wasn't totally losing my mind that day anyway.  

yes, its better to find out how much clearance an animal has to have inside a crate, sitting and standing, etc and then figure out what to buy on your own.

My cat also has a humongous dog cage. I think the airline had some ridiculous amount of clearance stated for when the animal was standing up.My other 2 flew in regular cat sized cages.

The big one is 27.5 x 21.5 x 21 inches high If you have a tall/big cat ...don't get the cat sized carrier. The other cages were 21 x 16 x 15 inches high.Those were for a 6.5 pound and a small ten pound cat.

BA did also charge me more money for the bigger crate.

Gah, my cat is 18lbs. I don't want to know how big of a cage he needs.  He's also super long!

Pushkin, didn't you look at your airline's website to see what their carrier size specs were?

My cat was 25 lbs when we came over, but I just used BA's guidelines and had no problem. I suppose I assumed that's what anyone else bringing a pet to the UK would do.

It's not the pound weight that matters in terms of the crate size.

(Total crate+cat weight does figure into the price at time of weigh-in, but that's another matter).

Your cat could be of small height and small length but be 25lbs (heaven forbid what kind of little round creature that would be) and still be permitted to be in a smaller crate.

What they want is a certain specified CLEARANCE on the actual size of the cat in terms of how they fit in the space and how they move within it.

They're looking for how much room your cat has, clearance is the key word. Not the weight of the cat.

The information I was given by a pet export specialist, namely a woman called Sandy Lehrack at VIP Pet Transport, is that the when the animal is standing still at full height, there must be at least two inches, ideally three inches, between the top of his ears and the inside "roof" of the crate.

In addition, he must be able to stand up and turn around without any part of his body touching the sides, front or back inside the crate. Presumably the tail brushing against a wall is okay. It's the body that must have room to turn completely around without a tight squeeze.

The animal must also be able to lie down fully.

What it all boils down to is that even a small or average sized cat usually does wind up in what Petco deems a "dog" crate. All that matters is the clearance inside. They've got to have those inches above the ears when standing erect.

Having measured my cat as best I could while he was standing around, my crate too wound up being the 27.5 x 21.5 x 21 inches crate. He only weighs about 11 or 12 lbs.

They want the animal to have plenty of room to stand fully if he wants to, and turn around fully when he needs too, rather than be crouched into one positions, because he's going to be stuck inside there for usually a long flight. They want it to be much roomier than the tiny crates we can cramp them into for a quick ride to the vet's.

It's not the pound weight that matters in terms of the crate size.

but be 25lbs (heaven forbid what kind of little round creature that would be)

At 25 lbs, I'm sure you can understand that there was nothing little or round about my cat. He was and is an extremely large cat - tall, wide, large-boned with a very large head. A big cat. Any cat weighing that much is likely to be large so, no, would not be able to fit into a smaller crate.

The information I was given by a pet export specialist, namely a woman called Sandy Lehrack at VIP Pet Transport, is that the when the animal is standing still at full height, there must be at least two inches, ideally three inches, between the top of his ears and the inside "roof" of the crate.

But please check the website for the airline you plan to use. Each airline has its own rules and its own specifications. If you follow their guidelines, you'll be fine. Don't take anyone else's word for it - CHECK WITH YOUR AIRLINE!

At 25 lbs, I'm sure you can understand that there was nothing little or round about my cat. He was and is an extremely large cat - tall, wide, large-boned with a very large head. A big cat. Any cat weighing that much is likely to be large so, no, would not be able to fit into a smaller crate.

But please check the website for the airline you plan to use. Each airline has its own rules and its own specifications. If you follow their guidelines, you'll be fine. Don't take anyone else's word for it - CHECK WITH YOUR AIRLINE!

First of all I was making a point about ANY 25lb cat who IS NOT tall.

I was making a HYPOTHETICAL case that it's not about literally the poundage. It's about YES INDEED whether or not the animal is tall or long or wide. That tall or long or wide animal could be 25 lbs or 10 pounds and anorexic for all I care.

Secondly, of course everyone should check with their airlines but you sound like you're trying to suggest MY word shouldn't be taken for anything because I'm full of BS.

I can tell you with confidence, the airlines ALL fall within the recommendation of BETWEEN TWO TO THREE INCHES CLEARANCE between tip of ear and ceiling of crate.

One airline might be fine with two. Another might be fine with three.

There is NOTHING FAULTY with my information if this is what you're trying to suggest.

At 25 lbs, I'm sure you can understand that there was nothing little or round about my cat. He was and is an extremely large cat - tall, wide, large-boned with a very large head. A big cat. Any cat weighing that much is likely to be large so, no, would not be able to fit into a smaller crate.

22 pounder here.  I followed him around for several hours one afternoon, waiting for him to sit on his haunches so I could measure to the tips of his ears.  Even then, I was still stressing about the clearance, but couldn't bring myself to buy a kennel nearly 3 feet long for the additional inch or so of clearance.

Secondly, of course everyone should check with their airlines but you sound like you're trying to suggest MY word shouldn't be taken for anything because I'm full of BS.

I'm going to ignore the rest of your post because it's clear you have some issues that go way beyond me, cats or pet carriers.

I wasn't saying that you're full of BS at all. I was merely recommending that anyone bringing a pet into the UK should go by the specs provided by their airline on that airline's website. That's what they're there for.

And that's all.

22 pounder here.  I followed him around for several hours one afternoon, waiting for him to sit on his haunches so I could measure to the tips of his ears.  Even then, I was still stressing about the clearance, but couldn't bring myself to buy a kennel nearly 3 feet long for the additional inch or so of clearance.

Aw, I love big cats! Mine has lost substantial weight since then, but he's still a big cuddly boy. But I did bite the bullet and get him the jumbo crate. 

I've modified a few things to take as much aggressive stuff out as I could, without just removing whole posts like I was tempted to do. This has also been locked. Problems with that, you can PM me.