Oink

No I'm not joking. The cat had a heart attack on the plane and apparently he was as stiff as a board in his create when my mate picked him up. It was really sad and then he buried him in his back garden.

arniedog

im not laughing honest (hand over mouth to stop snigger) i Cant believe the airline actually said that it was his fault because his cat was a bit fat surely if the cat was unfit to fly the vets should have noticed it. So did you mate have any come back at all

Oink

I don't think so.

Alphawolf

As always a needless post Oink, I doubt any dog owner would reply to this as I can't imagine anything worse than what you ask about happening. However in our paperwork it does state that neither Animal Airlines or Thomas Cook airlines would be responsible for natural death of the animal during transit, hope that answers your question

Oink

However limited your imagination is, pet deaths do happen on flights. I was simply curious to see if any BE's had a problem, so others can learn from their mistakes. It appears that over weight animals are at the greatest risk so people might want to think about their pet if its fat.

Pet flight reports

Oscardon

I was wondering the same thing oink. It must happen.

ann m

It would be a very small percentage - even going by the (unofficial) accounts on this forum - in all the threads I've read about stressed out owners transporting pets, I only recall two tales where the dog didn't make it.

I'm sure the risks are mitigated as much as possible by owners, vets and transporters. But like everything, there must be a small risk. I'd be devastated if it happened to me, but it would be the risk I would choose to take I guess.

Anyway - someone else write a nice happy tail-wagging story next please!

Alphawolf

Wish granted, my 3 babies are officially registered Canadian Doggies today

MikeSS

Pets fly all the time around the world, and the mortalities are a tiny tiny proportion of those that fly.

In comparison to the trip to say, Auckland, the trip to Canada will be a short trip for your pets- that doesn't mean that you're not entitled to be worried though!

The majority of the small number of mortalities on flights are due to snub-nosed breeds having problems due to stress- which is why very few airlines will fly them.

If your vet has said that they are "fit to fly" - i.e. no major heart or breathing problems, then there should be no problems. If your vet has said this (all airlines will require a "fit to fly" statement) and the worst were to happen, the airline would really only be liable if the cause of death was directly attributable to them- i.e. the hold heating failed mid-flight or similar, but as I said there's hardly any risk at all.

Pets tend to sleep for the whole flight, since it's warm and dark and they can't go anywhere. A tip for the flight would be to put ice in their bowl when you drop them off- that way it can't slosh everywhere on the way to the aircraft and they can't drink it all in one go! They'll be very very pleased to see you when they get to the other end, and if they've crossed their legs for the trip they'll be very pleased to be able to go!