Flying with My Cat from Morocco to the USA

[Sph111 4]

12 hours ago, SaRy said:

My cat weighs a bit less than 6Kg. The total weight with the carrier is a bit below 8Kg, so I think I'm good  

 

China to USA with 3 flights sounds like a long trip! How are you planning to feed/give water to your cat? And what about the potty needs?

 

Actually we have some expierence, we flew from Russia to China (3 flights, 36 hours total), so there are some tips I can share with you (but of course I am still nervous about the flights to the USA):

- dont feed the cat 24 hours before flight, water is ok. Our airport was an hour away and our cat hates to be in a car, so he got sick on the way there. AT the airport I cleaned the carrier and calmed the cat down. I am totally excpecting the same situation this week, current airport is even further. 

- we put some pads that can absorb the water (well urine, not just water), on the bottom of the carrier, bought them at the vet store,

- do not feed your cat during the flight! we did and he threw up during the landing. we tried to give him some water, but he didn't want it. I am planning to have some extra pads and tissues, and a bowel for water in my bag, in case of emergency. 

 

[SaRy 73]

9 hours ago, Sph111 said:

 

Actually we have some expierence, we flew from Russia to China (3 flights, 36 hours total), so there are some tips I can share with you (but of course I am still nervous about the flights to the USA):

- dont feed the cat 24 hours before flight, water is ok. Our airport was an hour away and our cat hates to be in a car, so he got sick on the way there. AT the airport I cleaned the carrier and calmed the cat down. I am totally excpecting the same situation this week, current airport is even further. 

- we put some pads that can absorb the water (well urine, not just water), on the bottom of the carrier, bought them at the vet store,

- do not feed your cat during the flight! we did and he threw up during the landing. we tried to give him some water, but he didn't want it. I am planning to have some extra pads and tissues, and a bowel for water in my bag, in case of emergency. 

 

 

Thank you!  

Actually, my cat is very used to traveling, and I'll be attaching small food and water containers to the inner side of her carrier's door during the trip. I'll also add absorbing pads like the ones you mentioned.

 

To calm her down, I give her Zylkène (I mix it with her food) at least 3 days before a flight to calm her down. Ask your vet about it  

[Sph111 4]

On 10.04.2017 at 8:02 AM, SaRy said:

Thank you!  

Actually, my cat is very used to traveling, and I'll be attaching small food and water containers to the inner side of her carrier's door during the trip. I'll also add absorbing pads like the ones you mentioned.

 

To calm her down, I give her Zylkène (I mix it with her food) at least 3 days before a flight to calm her down. Ask your vet about it  

 

Thanks for advice we arrived in the USA two days ago, our cat behaved much better than during our flight to China 2 years ago. Obviously he was a bit stressed but he is doing great now, exploring our new appartment. When is your flight?

 

 

[SaRy 73]

4 minutes ago, Sph111 said:

 

Thanks for advice we arrived in the USA two days ago, our cat behaved much better than during our flight to China 2 years ago. Obviously he was a bit stressed but he is doing great now, exploring our new appartment. When is your flight?

 

 

 

Congratulations!  

 

I don't have the visa yet, so it's hard to tell when the trip will be...

 

So did you give your cat anything special to keep him calm? Please tell me how you handled his trip and how he was treated at your Port of Entry and if they checked him or asked questions...etc. Thanks!  

[Sph111 4]

4 minutes ago, SaRy said:

Congratulations!  

 

I don't have the visa yet, so it's hard to tell when the trip will be...

 

So did you give your cat anything special to keep him calm? Please tell me how you handled his trip and how he was treated at your Port of Entry and if they checked him or asked questions...etc. Thanks!  

 

I see, good luck with it!

No, we didn't use anything - we did last time, but it seemed not to help, according to the cat's behaviour.

So, we had three flights: first he had to go in a baggage department in a hard carrier (Chinese laws don't allow any pets on board!), he was stressed after than, we took the cat out, put him on my lap and spent some time like that. I could feel his fast heart beat! He was feeling better after a while.

For the second and the third flight we moved him into a soft carrier which was a bit bigger. The cat was nervous during the take off and landing. Our secound flight was very long - around 13 hours + 90 min of delay, which we spent inside of the plane, atfer maybe 6 hour the cat became noisy and he started to tear apart the carrier! I took him out for a while, just to calm down, it helped but just for a bit - he was absolutely not happy to come back into his carrier. I assume at the last flight he was just exhauseted and he didn't make any noise at all. 

Before the second flight, in Beijing, at the security point, they asked us to take him our so they would look at him and check his carrier, the officer decided to hold him and he scratched her a bit. Well, she was a new person to the cat, so I think it was a predictable reaction. At the POE, TSA asked my husband to take the cat out and at some point, the officer asked my husband to show him his hands (i assume to check for something) and the cat just ran away! Fortunately, my husband caught him in a second. Also we had to declare the cat. 

 

 

 

[SaRy 73]

5 minutes ago, Sph111 said:

 

I see, good luck with it!

No, we didn't use anything - we did last time, but it seemed not to help, according to the cat's behaviour.

So, we had three flights: first he had to go in a baggage department in a hard carrier (Chinese laws don't allow any pets on board!), he was stressed after than, we took the cat out, put him on my lap and spent some time like that. I could feel his fast heart beat! He was feeling better after a while.

For the second and the third flight we moved him into a soft carrier which was a bit bigger. The cat was nervous during the take off and landing. Our secound flight was very long - around 13 hours + 90 min of delay, which we spent inside of the plane, atfer maybe 6 hour the cat became noisy and he started to tear apart the carrier! I took him out for a while, just to calm down, it helped but just for a bit - he was absolutely not happy to come back into his carrier. I assume at the last flight he was just exhauseted and he didn't make any noise at all. 

Before the second flight, in Beijing, at the security point, they asked us to take him our so they would look at him and check his carrier, the officer decided to hold him and he scratched her a bit. Well, she was a new person to the cat, so I think it was a predictable reaction. At the POE, TSA asked my husband to take the cat out and at some point, the officer asked my husband to show him his hands (i assume to check for something) and the cat just ran away! Fortunately, my husband caught him in a second. Also we had to declare the cat. 

 

12

Wow, that was very detailed! Thank you

 

I think your husband's hands were swabbed for an ETD test (Explosive Trace Detectors). It's a randomly carried out security routine at airports. 

 

You got really lucky when your husband was able to catch your cat! I've been asked to take the cat out of her carrier a few times before but never had to let go of her. I really hope I won't have to because she could easily run away and get lost in the huge airport

 

By the way, did you feed your cat during the trip and give him water? What about the litter?

[Sph111 4]

On 17.04.2017 at 8:16 AM, SaRy said:

Wow, that was very detailed! Thank you

 

I think your husband's hands were swabbed for an ETD test (Explosive Trace Detectors). It's a randomly carried out security routine at airports. 

 

You got really lucky when your husband was able to catch your cat! I've been asked to take the cat out of her carrier a few times before but never had to let go of her. I really hope I won't have to because she could easily run away and get lost in the huge airport

 

By the way, did you feed your cat during the trip and give him water? What about the litter?

Hello! Sorry for the late reply. Yes, an ETD test (I wasnt sure how it is called). Hope your cat will stay with you and won't run away  

 

Not really. I gave him some water (i brought one small bowl with me), i put the bowl with water right inside of his carrier, i did it at the airports during the waiting time and couple times during our longest flight. I did not give him any food (as I may have mentioned before, dont remember, during our flights to China I gave him a bit food, and he threw up during landing ). The same situation with the litter, I changed his pads during waiting time and during the longest flight (well I had to do that, fortunately the lady who was sitting next to us, was asleep))) 

[SaRy 73]

Hey, no problem! Glad you guys made it to the US safely  

 

Just one more question, the carrier where you put the cat in the cabin, was it non-rigid (fabric) or rigid (plastic)? And did the total weight (cat + carrier) exceed 8Kg?

[Sph111 4]

On 02.05.2017 at 7:49 PM, SaRy said:

Hey, no problem! Glad you guys made it to the US safely  

 

Just one more question, the carrier where you put the cat in the cabin, was it non-rigid (fabric) or rigid (plastic)? And did the total weight (cat + carrier) exceed 8Kg?

Thank you! It was non-rigid, slightly bigger than the size at the website (we flew with United; their website says both plastic and fabric are ok for the cabin). Yes, a bit,  the cat's own weight is 8 kg. Fortunately noone checked his weight, except of Air China (first flight), but they dont allow pets onboard. 

I attached the only photos we have

 

 

Edited May 4, 2017 by Sph111

[SaRy 73]

Wow that was very helpful! Thank you so much for all your help!  

[Sph111 4]

 

Wow that was very helpful! Thank you so much for all your help!  

No problem! Good luck!

[SaRy 73]

Thank!  

[Sph111 4]

On 06.05.2017 at 7:09 AM, SaRy said:

Thank!  

One more thing - i recommend you to cut cat's claws before the trip, so your cat won't hurt herself during your flight. :-) 

[SaRy 73]

16 minutes ago, Sph111 said:

One more thing - i recommend you to cut cat's claws before the trip, so your cat won't hurt herself during your flight. :-) 

Funny you said that because I was just done trimming my cat claws as part of her regular grooming sessions. Thank you!   

[lacolinab13 86]

I flew my cat from Peru to the US a year and a half ago. Total door to door travel time was around 20 hours or so. I've also flown cats from France to the US several times before that (probably more like 12-15 hours total travel time), and from California to the East Coast (10 hours or so total travel time?). 

 

Personally, I would not recommend fasting a cat for 24 hours before a long flight (meaning a total of close to 48 hours without food for the cat), and I don't think a vet would recommend it either. It can be very dangerous to cats to fast, as they are at risk of developing a serious/deadly condition called hepatic lipidosis. It's just not something I would risk even if it means kitty vomit to clean up. I don't know if it is common for cats to be car/airsick or not, but I've never had it happen. 

 

In all my experiences, my cats have never peed or pooped in their carriers, not have they ever eaten. I did wet my cat's nose and try to get him to take a bit of water as I was worried about dehydration, but he wasn't interested.

 

On this trip, I declared my cat and went through the special inspection line, but they didn't ask any questions nor did they ask for any documentation. They just looked at him inside his carrier and waved him through. I had to carry him through security checkpoints at the international airport in Lima (Peru), just in my arms and he was so terrified he didn't even try to escape. 

 

My cat had a terrible time on the flights, and managed to claw through both the sides of the carrier and the zipper. I had to keep stuffing him back in there. It was completely traumatizing actually - this is the first time this has happened, other cats I've flown with have been unhappy but never so agitated or distressed. I did have a tranquilizer with me, which I gave him, but it barely worked. I wouldn't fly again with my cat in a soft-sided carrier again, and probably wouldn't attempt a soft-carrier with another cat. I'm not trying to scare you, but I think it can be difficult to predict how a cat will react. I think a sturdy carrier is safest. Just something to think about.