Hi all,

well the time is fast approaching for us to leave Blighty (Yippeee!) and we're trying to figure out the best way to ship our cat.

Has anyone had any recent first-hand experience doing this? We're up in Chester and we're flying to Vancouver next April.

We've seen on the wiki that there are one-stop-shops, but I've not had a quote back from any of them yet... are we better off using one of these or should we organise it ourselves direct with the airline?

Any help/suggestions would be very much appreciated

Thanks all,

Martin & Belinda.

Take him / her as "carryon" luggage. It's cheaper and better for the cat as you all travel together.

I'm not sure he'd fit! He certainly wouldn't fit under an airline seat. Plus, he'd meow constantly... Would I have to book a seat for him?

No, he meant as excess baggage. Some airlines do this and it's how we brought out cat over. Much easier all round.

BTW one stop shop for shipping pets is hard to say, esp quickly and over and over.

Seconding the recommendation for taking the cat as excess baggage if the airline allows it. That's how we shipped our whippet cross with Air Canada. I think the weight limit of the animal plus their IATA approved pet-carrier was 32kg, so our black lab was over and considered cargo (about 5x more expensive!)

Er, yes I did! There are some airlines that still allow small pets as cabin luggage, but I should really have said "excess luggage". It's how we got our two cats here, via Amsterdam, and it wasn't too traumatic, was relatively cheap and the cats were only without us for about 17 or 18 hours.

Ah, I thought that's what you meant! Did they have to go in containers that fitted under the airline seats? Our Benny is over 7kg and would definitely not fit under an airline seat.

I think we're going to have to see if we can book him in as excess baggage, but I'm not quite sure how it's going to work with getting him checked-in and collected the other end?! How did you do it??

They travel in a pressurised and heated hold.... not the cabin. You just take Benny to the check out with you and after the papers have been inspected, he gets taken away. At the other end, you'll go to the "special baggage" section to pick him up... or someone might bring him over.

It's really a good idea to call the airline and discuss with them. They'll thank you for it at check in as they will have been forewarned.

Forgot to mention... ask the vet about "travel pills"..... they'll make Benny a bit sleepy and it will avoid a lot of stress....

Thank you for the advice! The vet said they'd be reluctant to give him any medication due to the risk involved, but I'd much rather he was sleepy and less frightened than wide-awake and panicking.

So it really is as simple as calling the airline and arranging it directly with them? I thought you'd have to go to one of these company's, but I'd rather do it ourselves.

Thanks again!

We came over with BA. You HAVE to tell them ahead of time, but there's no charge for this. The airlines will refuse an animal that looks as if it has been sedated and advise against it as it can be dangerous for the animal.

We booked our flights online then made some phonecalls to book Mog in. BA also told us that once a cat had been booked in they would not allow a dog to be booked into the same hold area. I have no idea how true this is, bit of a problem if you had booked online and then were told no.

They told us to arrive early which we did but when we arrived we were told that we had to wait for someone to come and collect Mog from us. They said that they left this as late as possible which meant we were hanging around a bit. Mog wasn't bothered at all. We were as we didn't have time to use the fancy Lounge we had paid for.

We collected her at Toronto airport in the baggage reclaim area - no not from the carousel- from the odd shaped luggage section. I was rather alarmed that they just put her crate out and anyone could have picked her up.

You then have to go though customs with the cat and the import certificate that you have got previously from your vet in the UK. They inspect the animal and make you pay some more money. Then you are all done.

You're quite right, I forgot that! We actually had to choose a flight a day later because they couldn't take the cats on our initial choice.... we were told there were dogs already booked! And yes, you do have to let them know upfront.

It was very easy, and far cheaper (and more pet friendly) than sending them as cargo

That's brilliant, thank you so much!

Do you remember which carry case you used? And one other question, did you put a small litter tray in the container with them, together with water and food?

Thanks again

The cages were bought in a pet shop and were "airline compliant".... I can't remember about a litter and food.... I think we put in a blanket and you have to have a "drip feed" water bottle.

The best thing to do is look it up on the web site of the airline you intend to use. They have stacks of information about transporting pets, and some of it specific to their requirements.

Good luck!

We bought a large crate made from thick plywood. It had airholes and a metal grid at the front with a deep tray and funnel so you could add water.

We lined the tray with Vetbed and under that we put layers of newspaper. The Vetbed has a thick woolly side for comfort and on the reverse a layer that wicks away moisture. We didn't feed her as we knew from experience that she wouldn't eat when anxious.

We filled the container up with water before we sent her off and when we got her back it had been refilled so she was looked after.

The Vetbed was bone dry on top and not smelly, underneath the newpaper was wet so she had peed. She hung on until we were almost at out destination before she had to poo, poor thing. She was in the box in the car and getting very distressed, couldn't wait any longer. Poor me, sitting next to her in the back of the car. .....

Thanks all for the advice, we've just ordered a pet carrier and a vetbed to line the bottom. If he needs to pee he'll just have to.

We'll just need to get in touch with the airline when we come to book the flights (hopefully at the end of the month).

Thanks again