We are relocating in June. My wife has gone ahead to set up everything.

Our cat is an indoors female and can get spooked easily. I want to make things as simple and stress free as possible for her.

My concern is that we book tickets, then cannot get a Fit to Fly cert.

Are there other ways such as by sea that I could travel with a cat? Any links gratefully received.

I cannot abandon her as she is too dear to me.

Many thanks in advance

Looks like you might take your cat on the Queen Mary 2

https://www.pettravel.com/cruiseship...QueenMary2.cfm

Thank you I will look into this!

You are most welcome. Welcome to the British Expats forum.

Thank you very much indeed

Why do you think you cat might not get a Fit to Fly certificate?

Does your cat have health problems, or are you just imagining worst case scenarios?

I always run worst case scenarios. I will be going soon and don't want to leave her. She has a bit of arthritis but aside from that her health seems good

I moved a 15 year old cat with me. She came on the same aircraft but in the hold for the transatlantic flight. My own vet was on holiday when I needed to get the fit to fly certificate so I had to use the locum who said it would be better to put the cat to sleep! There was nothing wrong with the cat except age, so I asked him if the cat was healthy, other than old, he said yes, and I got the certificate no problem. I did get a mild tranquilizer for the cat and asked if I could see the cat just before boarding to give it to the cat. They actually brought the cat up to the pre boarding area just prior to me boarding the flight so I could do that. This was AA at Birmingham when they used to fly BHX to ORD, so quite a while ago. Anyway, the cat arrived just fine, and lived happily for almost 3 more years. There were no after effects from the journey other than the cat was tired for a few days. Don’t overthink it, the journey will harder on you than it will be on the cat. Just make sure you comply with the airlines requirement for pet travel accommodation.

Thanks GG. How did you go about booking? Direct through AA?

Vets can be heartless. Why puta cat to sleep for no reason if healthy. Some people l just can't fathom

OK, so yeah, don't overthink things. The only likely reasons for a pet to be declined a Fit to Fly certificate are either having a communicable disease, or having either acute or chronic breathing issues, that could cause the animal distress or put their life in jeopardy. .... So it would be surprising for most house pets not to get their Fit to Fly certificate.

That's encouraging thanks

Sadly l over think EVERYTHING!!!

Yes, directly through AA. I think it cost £75 for the cat. It was a good few years ago, so probably more now but not that much more. I think most airlines still allow pet bookings directly with them so long as it is not a large animal. Book a direct flight if you can. I had a connection and everything that could go wrong did so. The transatlantic segment ended up being diverted because of severe weather, and had a 5 hour delay getting into Chicago where I I collected the cat, and got rebooked onto a new internal flight. That flight also got diverted because of the same weather. We were forced to land and sit the weather out. The cat was in the cabin with me for the domestic flight and the pilot heard it when he was walking though the cabin. He was bored with the delay and took it up to cockpit to pet it for a while! Anyway the message is, a direct flight is best, but even when things go wrong it all works out. The cat had a much longer journey, with several more take offs and landings than planned and still arrived in good condition.

We used Virgin Atlantic when we flew over. The cat was in the hold on the same flight. Had to go to the Cargo area and check them in, with an approved Crate for air travel (not the smaller ones you would use to go to the vets). All very smooth.

At the other end we had to go and provide some documents to Customs then return to the Cargo area for Delta (Atlanta Hartsfield) to collect her - again this was very swift, not even a queue to handover forms etc. Our cat is very nervous but seemed no more stressed than she would be in a crate under normal circumstances when we collected her.

Thank you. May l ask what costs were involved beyond the flight and certificate? Particularly in the US?

I had no additional cost.