Flying across the country with anxious senior cat

[maurice12]

Hi everybody,

My cat is going to be turning 13 years old in just a couple months. He is a male tuxedo cat and we are moving across the country soon. He has lived in a house with dogs all his life until last year when me and my girlfriend moved him to our apartment together. He is more confident and brave than he ever was before but he is still and always has been a nervous kitty. He has become very food motivated over the past 6 months which does make it easier to get him to do things (I have been training him some new tricks). We already booked his flight (it's a 3-4 hour flight) and bought a carrier for him for the flight and we are taking him to the vet tomorrow to make sure we are all set. I just wanted to reach out here and see if you guys can share any tips, difficulties, things to watch out for, before and after the travel. Is there anything I should bring up the vet. Ideally I would prefer for him to be knocked out throughout the flight but I'm not sure how that would work in terms of setting it all up with the vet. Any advice is appreciated. Thank you guys

 

[rubysmama]

I've never flown with cats, so can't offer any advice based on personal experience, however, the topic comes up often on the site.

Until other members reply, here's a couple recent threads:
Need Help - Flying With Cats in 2 Weeks
Flying With My Cat

As well, here's all the results for a site search of "flying with cat":
Search Results for Query: flying with cat

 

[maurice12]

Thank you! These are very helpful. I just want to try and cover all bases to make this as easy as I possibly can for him.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi!

There might be some useful info in here;

Traveling With Cats [Your Ultimate Guide & 36 Game-Changing Tips] - TheCatSite

Traveling with cats can be a daunting task, but this comprehensive guide, including 36 actionable tips, makes it easier. Learn to navigate weather restrictions, reduce travel stress, and utilize professional pet shippers for a safe and hassle-free journey. It's the ultimate resource for pet...

thecatsite.com

 

[maurice12]

Hi!

There might be some useful info in here;

http://[URL]https://thecatsite.com/c/traveling-with-cats/

[/URL]

This is great! Thanks so much!!

 

[Furballsmom]

You're very welcome, let us know how things go !

 

[Maria Bayote]

maurice12
It warms my heart as you obviously love this cat.
Yes, we would love to see him after he has settled to his new place as what Furballsmom said above

 

[Jcatbird]

You are doing the most important thing by checking with the vet. TCS has some great articles to help so the previous posts have pretty well covered that. I did communicate with another TCS member who was flying with a cat from another country. He was one that had been feral and for some months we gave help to her to socialize him. She was very nervous about a very long flight with him. She fed him calming treats and he did very well through the whole trip. The only glitch was that she transported him in a soft sided carrier which he decided to claw at to escape. All was well but do be sure to use a hard carrier and make sure the door is securely latched at all times during your trip. Have a great trip and let us know when you get kitty settled again.

 

[daftcat75]

Have the vet check his ears. At take off and landing, he can be in for an awful time if he has congestion/infection in his ears.

My Krista travels very well. But I won’t fly with her because she does have a history of ear problems. I don’t know that I’d chance it with her.

Also ask about gabapentin to calm him down. See if you can give him a practice dose at home to see how it affects him. I wouldn’t make the flight the first time he takes it.

 

[She's a witch]

do be sure to use a hard carrier and make sure the door is securely latched at all times during your trip.

Actually I think that most airlines require soft carriers as the hard ones would hardly fit under the seat in front of you- but it would need to be verified by the airline in question. I was so paranoid that one of my cats would break the soft one that I decided to take a spare one in the carry on, just in case. It wasn’t needed as both of my cats slept through almost entire fight, occasionally demanding cuddles. They also ate and drank with no problem (but my flight was much longer than OP, if that was only 3-4h I don’t think I’d even feed them..). Although I offered them litter box (I had a small foldable one), they didn’t use it for the entire flight.

You’d have to take your cat out of the carrier through security. For this reason, we’ve had our cats on a leash as well. Make sure the leash/harness has no metal parts, as they can make you take it off.
My vet at the time was against sedating my cats for that flight because she didn’t want to add to potential respiratory challenges because of the changed air. We used natural calming product: calming spray, Zylkene tablets and calming collars which I think worked the best. In general, apart from the airport where they were visibly scared, the flight was a breeze and we had no problems at all.
We bought a last row seats with only two chairs so that least number of people would be affected if they decided to cry/pee/poo or least people would be interested in their cuteness (I’m always the annoying person that gets too interested in cats in the plane so I wanted to spare that to my cats )

 

[Jojo&Tutu]

Hi everybody,

My cat is going to be turning 13 years old in just a couple months. He is a male tuxedo cat and we are moving across the country soon. He has lived in a house with dogs all his life until last year when me and my girlfriend moved him to our apartment together. He is more confident and brave than he ever was before but he is still and always has been a nervous kitty. He has become very food motivated over the past 6 months which does make it easier to get him to do things (I have been training him some new tricks). We already booked his flight (it's a 3-4 hour flight) and bought a carrier for him for the flight and we are taking him to the vet tomorrow to make sure we are all set. I just wanted to reach out here and see if you guys can share any tips, difficulties, things to watch out for, before and after the travel. Is there anything I should bring up the vet. Ideally I would prefer for him to be knocked out throughout the flight but I'm not sure how that would work in terms of setting it all up with the vet. Any advice is appreciated. Thank you guys

I would not use sedatives -they are dangerous from my experience. My cat couldn’t walk straight for hours and her eyes were fully dilated after using such. I use a natural product that you can get from Whole Foods or Chewy - Rescue Remedy (alcohol free) that I put on a small cotton pad and have the cat smell it just before boarding the plane. You can also get your cat used to the carrier in advance of flying by setting up the carrier with a small blanket that your cat sleeps on in advance and in advance let your cat go in and out of the carrier on its own by setting up the carrier like it is another cat bed and leaving it open for your cat to go into by choice.
Another thing I do is leave the cat alone just let it be under the seat in front of you while flying. I noticed my cat gets more stressed if I pay attention to her while in flight -if I leave her alone until we land she’s less stressed.
I also like to put a little baby size fleece blanket under her and over her while flying tucking her in helps her feel secure. I take along an extra one in case she has an accident in route.
Soft carriers are required by airports. I like to use a carrier with little preferred no metal in it. Metal picks up radiofrequency and with WiFi on the plane it could make your cat uncomfortable. Make sure your airline allows pets in the cabin under the seat in a carrier - it’s is safer there.
My cat and I have successfully taken 5+hour flights with two hours of auto travel to and from the airport and two hours wait at the airport on more than one occasion.

 

[maurice12]

You're very welcome, let us know how things go !

The 10 min drive to the vet visit wasn't so fun for him It just makes me so much more nervous about the flight. I'm leaving the crate out but he really hates it now after the vet visit.

 

[maurice12]

maurice12
It warms my heart as you obviously love this cat.
Yes, we would love to see him after he has settled to his new place as what Furballsmom said above

I'm really just hoping he gets through this okay. I'm very nervous now after how much he hated being in his crate for the drive to the vet

 

[maurice12]

You are doing the most important thing by checking with the vet. TCS has some great articles to help so the previous posts have pretty well covered that. I did communicate with another TCS member who was flying with a cat from another country. He was one that had been feral and for some months we gave help to her to socialize him. She was very nervous about a very long flight with him. She fed him calming treats and he did very well through the whole trip. The only glitch was that she transported him in a soft sided carrier which he decided to claw at to escape. All was well but do be sure to use a hard carrier and make sure the door is securely latched at all times during your trip. Have a great trip and let us know when you get kitty settled again.

I have a soft carrier because the airline doesn't really allow for hard ones in cabin. I absolutely cannot leave him with some airport employee to keep in with the luggage that would just absolutely kill me (. I really hope he won't scratch it up but maybe ill bring an extra crate folded up with me in case of any emergency.

 

[maurice12]

Have the vet check his ears. At take off and landing, he can be in for an awful time if he has congestion/infection in his ears.

My Krista travels very well. But I won’t fly with her because she does have a history of ear problems. I don’t know that I’d chance it with her.

Also ask about gabapentin to calm him down. See if you can give him a practice dose at home to see how it affects him. I wouldn’t make the flight the first time he takes it.

That is really great advice and I didn't even think of that but I always get his ears cleaned when I take him to the vet and we did this time as well. We actually did get gabapentin because we used that for him last time and it didn't cause any bad reactions. I got 10 pills with 100 mg so I will definitely do the practice dose soon. Thank you so much!!

 

[maurice12]

Actually I think that most airlines require soft carriers as the hard ones would hardly fit under the seat in front of you- but it would need to be verified by the airline in question. I was so paranoid that one of my cats would break the soft one that I decided to take a spare one in the carry on, just in case. It wasn’t needed as both of my cats slept through almost entire fight, occasionally demanding cuddles. They also ate and drank with no problem (but my flight was much longer than OP, if that was only 3-4h I don’t think I’d even feed them..). Although I offered them litter box (I had a small foldable one), they didn’t use it for the entire flight.

You’d have to take your cat out of the carrier through security. For this reason, we’ve had our cats on a leash as well. Make sure the leash/harness has no metal parts, as they can make you take it off.
My vet at the time was against sedating my cats for that flight because she didn’t want to add to potential respiratory challenges because of the changed air. We used natural calming product: calming spray, Zylkene tablets and calming collars which I think worked the best. In general, apart from the airport where they were visibly scared, the flight was a breeze and we had no problems at all.
We bought a last row seats with only two chairs so that least number of people would be affected if they decided to cry/pee/poo or least people would be interested in their cuteness (I’m always the annoying person that gets too interested in cats in the plane so I wanted to spare that to my cats )

That truly sounds like the perfect flight and i hope that's how it'll go for my cat as well. I definitely am considering packing an extra carrier just in case he scratches out of the one I have. I did read about having to walk him through security but I did not think about the metal parts so that is a great call! Thank you! I wish I thought about the last row seats sooner but maybe I'll just pay a little extra to have my seat changed to somewhere better for the cat.

 

[maurice12]

I would not use sedatives -they are dangerous from my experience. My cat couldn’t walk straight for hours and her eyes were fully dilated after using such. I use a natural product that you can get from Whole Foods or Chewy - Rescue Remedy (alcohol free) that I put on a small cotton pad and have the cat smell it just before boarding the plane. You can also get your cat used to the carrier in advance of flying by setting up the carrier with a small blanket that your cat sleeps on in advance and in advance let your cat go in and out of the carrier on its own by setting up the carrier like it is another cat bed and leaving it open for your cat to go into by choice.
Another thing I do is leave the cat alone just let it be under the seat in front of you while flying. I noticed my cat gets more stressed if I pay attention to her while in flight -if I leave her alone until we land she’s less stressed.
I also like to put a little baby size fleece blanket under her and over her while flying tucking her in helps her feel secure. I take along an extra one in case she has an accident in route.
Soft carriers are required by airports. I like to use a carrier with little preferred no metal in it. Metal picks up radiofrequency and with WiFi on the plane it could make your cat uncomfortable. Make sure your airline allows pets in the cabin under the seat in a carrier - it’s is safer there.
My cat and I have successfully taken 5+hour flights with two hours of auto travel to and from the airport and two hours wait at the airport on more than one occasion.

I just don't how to get him to stop hating his carrier. After the vet visit yesterday he just absolutely hates that thing. i'm not sure what I can do to get him interested in it again. I think I'll start leaving treats inside but as of right now he's been having a major loss of appetite (rabies vaccine side effect) and he's not been ver interested in his treats.

I think I'm going to try experimenting with a few things to see which one makes him the most calm so i will add the rescue remedy to my list for that. That's good advice about leaving him under the seat, when my cat is scared he wants nothing to do with me or anyone so he'll definitely appreciate being left alone for the flight.

The carrier i have for him has some metal like on the zipper and the handle, do you think that would also pick up that radio-frequency? If so I am definitely going to switch it out to be on the safe side.

That is amazing though that your cat has gone through multiple flights, that truly gives me hope that mine will survive just this once. I am just so very nervous for him.

 

[Furballsmom]

he's been having a major loss of appetite (rabies vaccine side effect)

Hi! Have you told the vet about this?

Can you handfeed him with a syringe or popsicle stick/tongue depressor?

 

[maurice12]

Hi! Have you told the vet about this?

Can you handfeed him with a syringe or popsicle stick/tongue depressor?

I did tell the vet, i wasn't sure why he wasn't eating at first because he is VERY food motivated normally so this was a drastic change. She told me it was just a side effect to the vaccine and should be over in 24-48 hours. He's also been a bit lethargic but he ate a full can of food this morning so it seems like he is getting closer to being back to normal.

 

[Furballsmom]

ate a full can of food this morning so it seems like he is getting closer to being back to normal.

Whew!!