Best Strategies for Flying with Cats: Meds, Calming Aids, and Real-Life Stories

[Wasillaguy]

Our 2 sister cats have been flying with us snowbirding for 5 years now, and that's twice a year round trip, so 4 flights per year.
We have been using gabapentin prescribed by the vet with good results.... until the last flight.
I had a new prescription and upon opening found no seal on the bottle (liquid). Cats cried and drove everyone nuts all the way home. Someone, either at the vet or from our refrigerator, kiped the mess and watered it down.

Very soon we go again. The girls know it's time and they're already laying in their carriers like "when are we going?".

We've done some experiments and they're going with kitty CBD calming drops, jacked up a little with my homemade weed tincture.

 

[whiteva]

I was CP on a charter flight transporting a grandmother, daughter and two felines. ( did not know of the cats before flight) The carriers were opened shortly after take off releasing two very curious creatures to roam the aircraft. I thought about having them returned to captivity but one fluffy cat jumped into my lap and purred. Really not much of a problem for the next two hours so I just enjoyed the company. Close to our destination I requested both to be returned to box's for landing.
After landing and taking care of baggage I received two Ben Franklin's for my trouble.
Daughter thanked me and said Grandmother was moving in with her and husband along with her 2 cats.

 

[Tom]

I'm extremely allergic to cats, and I've sometimes wondered how I'd deal with a cat or two under an adjacent or nearby seat. Feline-owning friends and relatives are sensitive to my situation, and relocate their cats to another part of the house and thoroughly vacuum before we arrive.

We traveled with 1 or 2 small dogs for 15 years.. When we weren't in the RV, we traveled 2500 miles or so each way across country by car. I must admit that I looked into flying with them more than once, but I usually replied to folks asking "why are you driving that far?" with "we have 2 dogs, so we can't fly".

Hope the feline meds will be OK for your next trip. Your story reminded me ...

A few years ago, Chris woke me up in the middle of the night to say that Gabby (the oldest dog) appeared to have passed. For sure she was unresponsive, and Chris took her to the vet as soon as they opened. After examination, the vet asked "has she ingested marijuana?" That's not something we have in our house, so no. Turned out that Gabby was extremely allergic to a medication that was originally prescribed for her daughter, Zoey. Gabby eventually trotted out of the vet's office with her tail wagging, and the vet's records (and ours) were anotated in large red letters..

 

[8Muddypaws]

I’m also violently allergic to cats. During testing they injected cat dander under my skin. I was on the floor out cold 30 seconds later. The nurse said “ I’ll write that down as a 4.”

 

[Tom]

I’m also violently allergic to cats. During testing they injected cat dander under my skin. I was on the floor out cold 30 seconds later. The nurse said “ I’ll write that down as a 4.”

Interesting (and scary) Russ. My cat allergy triggers an extreme asthma issue. Been that way for as long as I can remember. The American Lung Association web site used to have a saying on the Home page: "When you can't breathe, nothing else matters". Coincidentally, I recently quoted that saying to a pharmacist when one of my asthma meds was stuck in a loop between two phamacies and the insurance company.

 

[darsben]

When we were prescribed Gabapentin for our cat when traveling the vet warned us each time was a crap shoot. it might work one time but cause the opposite effect other times and even have no effect sometimes

 

[JudyJB]

I rode on a plane for a reasonably long flight several years ago. The young woman next to me had a cat in one of those fabric carrying cases under the seat in front of her. She pulled it up to check on the cat and asked if I minded if the cat stuck her head out, and I said no. She unzipped the top just enough for the cat to do that and she was very happy the rest of the trip. No meowing or struggling to get out, especially if her owner kept petting her head. Frankly, I don't know if the cat was drugged or not, but she was a very laid-back cat and it was a pleasant flight with no negative incidents.

Now, one of my sons had a Siamese right out of college, and he drove from Michigan all the way to Dallas, Texas, with his girlfriend and the cat in the car. Cat was in a carrier and son said she yowled all the way there--as Siamese are known to do instead of the usual nice, pleasant cat meows. I think he was about ready to toss her out the window somewhere, so I am guessing it depends a lot on the cat. (Girlfriend had bought him cat as a graduation present, so son said she deserved all the noise.) That cat later tore one of those fabric carriers completely apart.

 

[whiteva]

My bride was traveling from New Orleans to North Florida by auto accompanied by our calico cat, George. Nan said see was surprised that not a sound was heard from George UNTIL entering the tunnel at Mobile Al. Suddenly George screamed and turned into a race car driver making laps around the car that lasted only while inside the tunnel. Immediately after exiting the horrible tunnel, George simply went back to her seat like nothing had happened for the remainder of the trip.

 

[TheBar]

25 years ago on our final load when moving to MS I had to drive our 3 cats in my truck 550 miles. The first 6 hours they were pretty quiet. Then one started with pitiful begging sounds asking to be let out of his carrier.. The others joined in. 2 hours later they started getting really mad and demanding to be released. The final 2 hours they were all threatening my life non-stop. They got so loud I had to stuff pieces of kleenex in my ears. Upon arrival in the new house they all quieted down. But I still held off a few minutes for fear they would take me down like a Wildebeest when I let them out of their carriers.

 

[Wasillaguy]

Cats usually are freaked out by the scenery going by, they perceive it as things coming at them. If/when they realize they are the one moving, they usually calm down. My parents had a cat that loved riding in the car after she figured it out. Would get up on the dash and look straight down the road.

 

[Tom]

The girls know it's time and they're already laying in their carriers like "when are we going?".

It's funny how our pets know/sense this stuff. In our case, if Chris or I pulled the motorhome up outside the house, doggies would immediately recognize that diesel sound.

When I'd decide to go fishing, before I even grabbed my tackle, doggies were out the doggie door, down the ramp to our dock behind the house, and were waiting on my bass boat before I got down there.

 

[davismills]

Funny story from a fellow flight instructor:

He had a student that owned a small Cessna (non-pressurizied), but equipped with supplemental oxygen. He and his wife wintered in Florida from their primary residence in New Jersey. She went before him in their car and asked him to bring the two cats down in the plane. He agreed and forgot to "drug" the little beasts.

Once airborne at 3000 ft, the cats started screaming and somehow got their shared cage open and began running around the small cockpit in a total panic. They jumped on the husband/pilot and began scratching him. He almost panicked himself, but quickly donned his oxygen mask and climbed to his service ceiling of 12,000 ft.

The cats started dropping like flies and he threw their unruly asses back in the crate and locked it securely before descending back to his original altitude of 3000 ft. Quick thinking on his part.

I still laugh about that one.

 

[Tom]

... climbed to his service ceiling of 12,000 ft.

The cats started dropping like flies and he threw their unruly asses back in the crate and locked it securely before descending back to his original altitude of 3000 ft.

LOL, remind me not to fly with him

 

[Rene T]

25 years ago on our final load when moving to MS I had to drive our 3 cats in my truck 550 miles. The first 6 hours they were pretty quiet. Then one started with pitiful begging sounds asking to be let out of his carrier.. The others joined in. 2 hours later they started getting really mad and demanding to be released. The final 2 hours they were all threatening my life non-stop. They got so loud I had to stuff pieces of kleenex in my ears. Upon arrival in the new house they all quieted down. But I still held off a few minutes for fear they would take me down like a Wildebeest when I let them out of their carriers.

What a meany!!!

 

[Chef Duane]

Funny story from a fellow flight instructor:

He had a student that owned a small Cessna (non-pressurizied), but equipped with supplemental oxygen. He and his wife wintered in Florida from their primary residence in New Jersey. She went before him in their car and asked him to bring the two cats down in the plane. He agreed and forgot to "drug" the little beasts.

Once airborne at 3000 ft, the cats started screaming and somehow got their shared cage open and began running around the small cockpit in a total panic. They jumped on the husband/pilot and began scratching him. He almost panicked himself, but quickly donned his oxygen mask and climbed to his service ceiling of 12,000 ft.

The cats started dropping like flies and he threw their unruly asses back in the crate and locked it securely before descending back to his original altitude of 3000 ft. Quick thinking on his part.

I still laugh about that one.

172, 182? Maybe 208 Caravan?

 

[davismills]

I believe it was a 182.