The vets I worked with, didn't recommend the shots if the cat was strictly indoors. I have had cats for nearly 20 years, without giving them rabies shots they have all been just fine.

Really? Well, that's something to think about! Thanks Bethanie.

The process involving blood work is actually for the PETS passport. The simple rabies vaccine can be given as a single dose or a 2nd dose can be given 2 weeks after the first. You don't need bloodwork unless you go for the PETS passport. As far as not vacinating indoor kittys or not treating them with preventatives, we just did testing on a kitty this week and the Feline Leukemia virus test was positive. This is a cat that hasn't been outside, but even through a screen door, the virus particles can travel from an infected stray kitty to the pet cat, so i strongly advise you to get all vaccines done. it only takes one chance encounter and your baby is worth more than that risk I'm sure.

Do look into your local animal organizations. Many Humane societies do clinics, where you can get yearly shots done at a discount rate. Here locally I think it is only $5 for a rabies shot. The local paper prints when the clinics are going and where. You can also call the Humane society and find when they are having a clinic. This is a great money saver if you have healthy pets.

There are also 3 year rabies vaccines, this will save you two extra trips to the vet so long as the animal is otherwise healthy.

My cats are already immunised against leukaemia and cat flu et al. My vet would not sign them off as rabies vaccinated without the follow up work being done. Pretty sensible I think. It is best to be sure that the vaccine has done it's job rather than just assume it has...

Just out of interest, I thought leukaemia could only be transferred through cat saliva. I found this below on the FabCats website http://www.fabcats.org/felv.html. Which incidentally, is a pretty good website for feline information.

You stole my line. I'm not even gonna read the rest of this thread!

I was the one quoted earlier. Took United with my cat after he had his blood tests and received his pet passport. There is an option to have a photograph of the pet done as well but I didn't go that far. I paid my additional fee at my departing airport and not to United online where I initially bought my ticket. Once the 'excess baggage' fee was paid we checked in normally. The only time he was taken from me was at Heathrow when he went into a separate area (presumably where they keep bags) and I went through security and boarded later to find him sitting in first class waiting for me. Sadly our designated seats were in steerage so we moved back there before departure.
He was quiet all flight and his heart seemed to beat quite fast. He was not sedated as I was told not to do this. His nose was quite dry and he didn't want water or food. I dabbed his face with water now and again. Occasionally I'd zip open the sherpa bag and he'd stick his head out then pop it back in again. The only major problem was at Chicago. Got through immigration with just a simple check and a look at his pet passport then headed for a connecting flight. To get through to the domestic terminals we had to go through security again and this time I was told to take him out of the bag which he didn't like, the claw marks were with me for the next two weeks. We did have someone near us on our second flight who had mild cat allergies but it wasn't a major issue.
Since then we have flown two more cats from California. We now have four rescued cats (one local, two from the West Coast and one from Berkshire) plus a Golden Retiever that was found abandoned and hungry just before the winter set in two years ago. All are doing well and one day, if circumstances change some of them (if not all) will make the journey back to the UK, although we may have to do it in stages.

Pucklechurch I just want to say what a lovely person you sound and send you a big well done for taking in abandoned and rescued cats and a dog!

If only more people were willing to do that rather than buying kittens and puppies

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas.

Incidentally how is the english cat settling into the neighbourhood? Is he getting beaten up by the local cats or totally holding his own?

Thanks for the kind words, missy antha.
All my cats are doing fine but their friendship can be a little strained at times. Two of them (including the one from England) have FIV so we need to keep a close eye on them as they are quite vunerable. With the right care I hope they stay with us for a long time. My dog is ten years old and, when we were alerted to where he was, he'd been roaming around a local farm for a week and the owner wanted to shot him. It was over Thanksgiving dinner that the discussion came around to this so we went the next day and picked him up. We did alot of advertising in the papers and the Golden Retreiver rescue centres but after two months we knew he was here to stay. I'd love to know his past, who he belonged to and what his name used to be.

If you don't mind me asking, how do you stop your uninfected cats getting FIV from the infected ones? Do you keep them all apart?

I had a cat that had FIV; he had it from birth. When he reached about 3 years old he became so ill I had to have him euthanised. I had two other cats that had to be tested for FIV, luckily they were clear.

I am also wondering how you managed to get a pet passport for a cat that has FIV.

Thanks for putting up with my questions. I'm just a bit curious! Or nosey, take your pick!

His diagnosis was after he arrived here. It wasn't a feature on his pet passport.
My four are all outdoor cats mingling with many others in the area. They go mad if they find the back door closed. Not only that, but other rescued cats pass through as we find homes for them so it's difficult to keep everyone apart.

I don't mean to sound rude but I find this terribly irresponsible. FIV is a deadly and contagious disease and is transmitted via cat bites (through the saliva). Cats that are outside fight...so your cats WILL be fighting with others and, consequentially, could be responsible for passing FIV to EVERY other neighbourhood cat they come into contact with.

There is no vaccination for FIV. It is the feline equivalent of HIV, though it isn't spread through sexual contact between cats. But, it severely compromises the immune sytem of the cats it infects. The end result is the same as HIV.

It is great that you care for rescue cats...but you are potentially spreading this disease to many others through your own inability to take responsibility for your FIV infected animals. As well as all the neighbourhood cats, every rescue cat that you pass on could be infected...this cat could then infect many more and so on. Do you see my point?

I would just like to add that the chances of FIV being passed on are lower if the cat is not a "fighter" and is neutered. But...you may know your animals very well, but you don't know what other peoples' are like. So in a way, you have to think for everyones' cats rather than just your own.

Difficult I know.

Also, the treatment for FIV is much improved due to better drugs etc.

I'm just adding this as I don't want to sound like I am scaremongering regarding FIV!

P.S. I'm starting to sound like the Chief Feline Protection squad here, so I'll say no more!

They are neutered and are not fighters but will NOT be caged up at home because of FIV. Other cats in the area that find there way onto our land have more chance of being run over by a truck than catching anything from my pets. Would you keep a cat indoors because there was a chance it might get hit by a car? As I know the disposition of my cats and how much they love outdoors my wife and I came to the decision that was made, whether you feel it was irresponsible is something that has no bearing on how I will care for them, but thank you for taking the time to present your feelings to me.
In the case of three of my cats, they were found then taken to an animal shelter and if nobody claimed or wanted them then they faced death or we would take them back. That's why they live with us.

We did this with Delta when we moved cross-country. Just be warned that the carriers will probably not fit (even if you get the official Delta brand carrier, which we did) and you will have to let them stick out and drape things over your legs so they can't see the carriers aren't all the way under the seat in front of you. Unless you have a fairly empty flight and get a row of three seats to yourself, in which case one carrier will fit under the aisle seat and the other one will fit under the space between the window and center seats.

Get carriers with pockets to hold stuff, since you can't have a carry-on if you have a pet.

Also you will probably be asked to prove that you and your son live together, because airline rules & regs only allow two animals in the same row if the people who own them live in the same household.

Our vet was against sedation, but they were fine, even though we got stuck overnight in Atlanta. They didn't eat or use the litter box for about three days after the move but they were fine after that.

We bought them harnesses and leashes and they wore the harness all the time we were traveling, then whenever we needed to open their carrier (like to go through security—you need to put the carrier through the metal detector) we put a leash on them as well. That was really good because they totally freaked at all the people. At Atlanta (insert swearing here) we were mis-directed by several people and then when we went through security the security person wouldn't believe all his colleagues had given us the wrong information and thought we were trying to pull something, so he made us go through the terrorist line. Which actually turned out to be better for the cats since it was enclosed and the Atlanta airport's security screening area is huge, but it's rather difficult to be pat-searched while holding a cat that's trying to run away.

We also used the leash when we opened the top of the carrier to let them look around in the airport. One of ours hates being shut up so she was much happier being able to stick her head out the top of the carrier, even though we didn't let her out of it.

I took my small dog with me when I moved here.

She came in the cabin with me and I put her under my seat. I used the soft dog carrier. This was in May 05, it cost me $60 from Nova Scotia to Atlanta.


I travelled on Delta. When I went thru Immigration in Boston, they never even asked me about my dog. I did have her shot chart from the vet with me. I really couldnt believe how good she was on the trip. She never made a peep. She was 10 when she moved here with us. The vet also told me not to give her any seditive, so I didnt. I took her out to use the potty when we were waiting for our connecting flight.

She really gets alot of attention here from everyone. My husband spoils her the most. I am glad I took her with us. When I drive home this summer, I want to take my cat back with me. She has been staying with my parents.

What if you have connecting flights with different airlines.

I'm looking for a short term kennel for Herself and found this..of course I thought of this thread!
-----
Attention: Planning to transport your cat by AIR, please visit this site first. As a feline professional I know the hazards of Pet Air Travel. 7 out 10 cats we pick up from the airport have had wetting accidents or water bowl spills and are forced to ride in a cold wet carrier. Unable to sit or lie down the entire trip.

With DRYFUR disposable CRATE MATs you cat will arrive with DRYFUR guaranteed!
http://www.dryfur.com/
http://www.dryfur.com/demo.htm

Shame I can't find a UK branch. Ah well, the vet recommends, to avoid "accidents", that no water should be given for 5 hours beforehand and no food for 7.






If your animal is in cargo, I presume (don't know for sure) that the animal will get transferred with your luggage. For carry on, you just take it with you, like you would a normal bag.

HI folks, has anyone had experience with taking pets on board with Air Berlin? They have awfully small dimensions for their on board carry luggage. For the pet carrier it has to 35cm x 40 cm x 20cm, and no more than 6 kg including carrier! My cats are both just a year old, and both my husband and I will be carrying them, one each, but I fear we cannot get them into such a small carrier! I wonder how strict Air Berlin is? Anyone know?

The smallest Sherpa carrier should be sufficient - it is approved by most airlines for in-cabin travel. 6kg is a good weight limit for a cat and carrier (they are pretty light). Unless it is a Maine Coon or hugely overweight it should be fine.

As to how strict Air Berlin are - I can't comment. My personal opinion is that they probably won't whip out a tape measure (or make you shove your cat carrier into the hand baggage cage size guide thingy).

I know that my medium sherpa bag was slightly too large (by a couple inches) for Air France but they just weighed her and it was fine

I'm so happy this thread was resurrected! I am thinking of taking my cat with me to my travel to New York and I am concerned on how stressful it can be to her.. My cat is pretty anti-social and gets nervous around people other than us.. and I'd be staying in New York for 6 days in a hotel. My husband and I thought about boarding options in a VCA hospital near us but after hearing about other people's review of their own pets--going crazy and not the same temperament as they were before they were left for boarding, etc--that I can't leave her any place safer but to be with me.

My question is:

How were the cats during the flight? And after the flight? I need to reassure myself that my cat will be fine, I guess. Or I'm just a worry-wart.

I'll admit that when I booked my cats' tickets and the fella on the other end of the phone asked me the dimensions I knocked an inch off.

Delta never checked and, considering the carriers are soft anyway and compress slightly where needed, it didn't really seem to matter.

Krakatoa ~ My cats settled down and were quiet the whole way. They just seemed resigned to the fact they were in this carrier and that was that.

You'll be happy to know that based on Mags very knowledgeable posts in another thread, I have made a wiki entry for this very subject. I didn't know of the wealth of info that was in this thread.

Since I actually don't have any pets, and actually don't care for cats (mostly cos in the past they have not cared for me, though I did make an effort) I am handing it over to more interested parties to edit, and update.

It is here: Importing Pets to the USA

Quite seriously - your cat would find flying twice and staying 6 days in a hotel absolutely more upsetting than a short car ride to a boarding facility for 6 days. If you are willing to spend that kind of money, seriously look into getting a pet sitter. Leave your cat in her home environment where she is happy, leave the radio on, and arrange to have someone come and visit her twice a day to feed, clean out the box, and just to check that she is ok. She will be a bit lonely, but she will not be nearly as stressed out as she would be flying! It is not being with you that will keep her feeling safe - it is being totally uprooted and away from her home environment plus the stress of the flight - and - what happens if she manages to get out of the hotel room while you are there? What if housekeeping comes by to drop off more towels when you are not present and just leaves the door open while they quickly come in and leave - and your cat decides to go out the door? You would never even know what happened or where she was. Seriously, give 2nd and 3rd thoughts to having your cat travel with you for such a short period, especially as she is anti-social! A qualified pet-sitter - and your veterinarian may be able to recommend a good one - is a far, far, far better option.

My cats and their well-being are very important to me as well and that is why I make sure I have a responsible pet sitter looking after them while we are away - I know they are much, much, much happier and safer that way - even though I miss them. They are too important to me for me to take a risk with them.

I posted a full report in the UK sticky thread. Daisy was in her carrier for 24 hours and only got a bit noisy about 2 hours before landing (on an 11 hour direct flight).

We opted for a direct flight to make the time she was in the carrier as short as possible and she was really as good as gold - I was really worried as well but things like getting her out in the airplane toilets then getting her back in her carrier (normally she struggles and won't go in) were really simple - she saw it as her "safe" place I guess away from all the crazy things she was going through. She sulked for a day and hid lots but now she is fine again and has even started scratching the furniture (now I KNOW she is back to normal! )

I have to agree with Kathryn here. Uprooting cats can be traumatic for them, it's best to do it only if you have to. I.E. locating to a new home. I certainly don't recommend it for a simple vacation (as I think that's what you are doing).

My cats are howlers in the car. I am so scared if I took them in-cabin that they would howl the whole way. I want to move them with em when we leave the country-- but I may just check them. I have 3 anyway, and there is only 2 of us