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Cat Forum / Health and Behavior / October 2006Flying 2 Cats in One Crate Cargo
Hi All, I am flying on WestJet with my two cats, who must go in the animal cargo hold, due to their size. The flight is going to be about 6 1/2 hours from airport to airport (this includes one stop, with no change of plane for 30 minutes). The cats get along very well, and sleep in the same crate regularly at home, but I am wondering if they should have their own crate while on the plane? I have one cat that will hiss when very stressed and am not sure if she will "go off" on the other cat if she becomes frightend. I will not be "tranqing" the animals. I would drive, however, is 3 day, 26 hour trip and have done the trip before, and cats were very stressed the entire trip in the car. I have flown one cat in passenger with me, but she is too big now to fly under the seat. She tolerated the trip very well. Any one with experience on putting two cats in one crate? Thanks! > Hi All, > [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > > Thanks! 2 crates you are going to stress them out and they might degrade to territorial aggression being in a confined area under that amount of stress. Always better safe than sorry > Hi All, > [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > the same crate regularly at home, but I am wondering if they should > have their own crate while on the plane? Absolutely! Stressed and frightened cats can be unpredictable. Fear and stress could trigger a situation of redirected aggression by one of your cats towards your other cat. Phil > Hi All, > [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > > Thanks! We flew two cats in one crate from OKC to Milwaukee about 10 years ago and they both handled it very well, but that was a nonstop and a shorter flight than yours... If I remember correctly, we didn't use any drugs either. The crate came out separate from other luggage and sat beside the airline's baggage claim office since they were nice enough to do that kind of thing back then - don't know how airlines handle that nowadays (if it's like everything else airplane-related, they probably aren't that nice anymore). If you use two crates, you might wanna check with the airline to see if you'll have to pay extra since there are all kinds of new restrictions... Good luck. brian  SignatureIf you want to reply to this message by mail, you will have to change the reply address to beuchaw@beuchaw.net Hi All, Thanks for the advice - I could bring the small, nervous feline up front in the cabin with me (under the seat in a small soft sided carrier) and the bigger girl will go into pet hold in the double size crate (she seems to handle stress differently and doesn't go into "attack" mode when in crate for long periods like smaller one). This might be the better option. I also agree, separate space would be better, since the smaller one has a history of going into attack mode when very stressed. The whole trauma of the trip may be lessened if she is under the seat with me. The airline said there are two other animals flying in cargo hold, so my other cat will be with other crated animals, which makes me feel better. She tolerates dogs to a point so having a dog next to her shouldn't be much of an issue unless the dog barks the entire trip, which would drive me nuts too!!! > > Hi All, > > [quoted text clipped - 32 lines] > If you want to reply to this message by mail, you will > have to change the reply address to beuchaw@beuchaw.net Get some feliway also spray it into the carriers to help out the stress > Hi All, > [quoted text clipped - 52 lines] >> If you want to reply to this message by mail, you will >> have to change the reply address to beuchaw@beuchaw.net We drove 26 hours to Florida and the same back years ago with 2 Siamese cats. After the first couple hours they were fine. Stayed in motels twice each way. -- Barb Of course I don't look busy, I did it right the first time. Hi All, Just found now out that the airline may NOT take my "nervous" cat up front with me as she is 1 1/2 inches "taller" when "standing" up in the soft sided carrier. The agent says the agent at the gate may refuse her to board with me. Now here lies the problem. The pet cargo hold is *full* i.e. the airline can only take one more crate (max. is 3 crates per flight in the pet cargo area). Therefore, if she is refused by the agent at the gate, I would have to put her in crate with my other, more docile female cat (see my original email above). The only travel experience I have with both cats, is the road trip we took about 4 months ago. I travelled via car and both cats were in their own crates. The first day, nervous cat cried/hissed the *entire* 8 hours and she continued once we were in the hotel room. She never did "attack" my other cat, but did hiss for about 1/2 hour when approached (the more docile cat I had no problems with what so). She did eventually settle the second and third day, still cried but did not hiss. Tommorrow I am going to put both of them in the one crate and the car and go for a long drive to see how they both manage (say for an hour or so, about the time the more nervous one gets antsy) to see how they cope? I do realize that flying will be more stressful but at least this will allow me to see how they both behave. I do have a choice between a Vari Kennel small dog crate (which they both sleep together in now and are very use to - it would fit a 20- 40 pound dog comfortably) or a medium size crate (the medium size crate would hold a 40-60 pound dog) which would be rather large for both of them, but, it may give the other cat enough room if she needs to move to the other side of the crate. Would the larger crate be better? I am also going to hopefully get some Feliway for travel - anyone know how long this will last? I do understand that it is a calming phermone in a spray format. Thanks Possible to change your reservation if they are non refundable you can use the excuse of their problem they described Yes feliway in the crate should help > Hi All, > [quoted text clipped - 31 lines] > > Thanks on Sun, 22 Oct 2006 23:15:24 GMT, "Matthew" <Iamacatslave@proudtoserve.com> wrote: > Possible to change your reservation if they are non refundable you > can use the excuse of their problem they described That would be my first option, but if it is not possible, can you get a divider for the dog crate? Some manufacturers do make dog crates with dividers, but I don't know if you can get just the divider part. You may want to consider investing in a crate or carrier that has this option. Good luck to you and your kitties! - Lynne Most airlines only allow one animal per crate. They've had too many instances of regularly calm animals freaking out when traveling and harming (or worse) the other one in the carrier. I would change the reservation. Could you even change to another airline that doesn't care how tall the cat is? I thought most go by weight. I know someone who brought a golden retriever puppy in the cabin and it was a few ounces under the max. weight, but definitely taller than a cat! Good luck, Rhonda > Hi All, > [quoted text clipped - 31 lines] > > Thanks > Just found now out that the airline may NOT take my "nervous" cat up > front with me as she is 1 1/2 inches "taller" when standing" up in the > soft sided carrier. ... Hello KittiKat, How does the airline know how tall your cat is when it stands up? What is she taller than when standing up in the carrier? Does the soft sided carrier fit under the seat (conform to the required size)? If it does, can you cat stand up inside the carrier? If your cat can stand up inside the carrier, I don't see what the problem is. Annie Hi Annie and All, My cat is 11 inches tall, and the height requirement, which is new to West Jet since adding the Leather seats, is 8 1/2 inches. The agent states the cat must be able to "comfortably" stand and turn around while under the seat. The seat space use to be around 10 - 11 inches with the old standard seats prior to the company putting in new leather seats with Video Display terminals this year. The agent stated that the Video screens "stole" the space from under the seat, hence the new travel requirements for pets in passenger. I have flown on WJ before the new video terminals, with cat, when they use to allow the standard small hard sided Vari Kennels. Now the company is only allowing soft sided carriers in passenger, which they say, must "squish" down to 8 1/2 inches. Testing my cat out in the carrier under my bed frame which is approximately this height, the cat had to crouch low, could not stand up at all, and looked stressed and very, very uncomfortable. Additionally, as two pet stores told me, companies that make soft sided carriers, make them for a 10 1/2 - 11 inches head space, which is standard on most planes. When you squish a soft sided carrier of this size, down 3 inches, the carrier actually folds in on itself and the cat, leaving even less room for the animal to move. I talked to the agent, who stated that they would probably refuse her boarding in passenger but more to the point, she just looked like a sardine stuffed into a tiny tin can! When West Jet states animals can come into the cabin, they are limiting the type of animal to very few (like maybe a Yorkie or kitten), based on the new seat requirements, so anyone thinking of taking their cat be forwarned. My cat is tiny to most cats, and even she can't make the space requirements. At any rate, to all, thanks for all your great suggestions. I actually changed the reservation which cost me 200 bucks extra to put both animals in separate cages and we leave tomorrow. As for the FeliWay - Instructions state one spray 20 minutes prior to loading cat into crate - Does anyone know if this will be enough for the entire trip or should I spray the bedding as well as the interior sides of the crate? The vet technician couldn't give me any answers??? Also, crating animals at about 10:45 Am, should I feed them and get up early, at say 7 am or should I just not feed them anything and wait till we get home???????????? Thanks in Advance :) > Hi All, > [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > gate, I would have to put her in crate with my other, more docile > female cat (see my original email above). Get a large dog VariKennel and put your two carriers inside side by side. Put a thick piece of foam rubber or bubble wrap between the top and bottom of the carriers so they don't move around and also provide cushioning. Make sure the padding is large enough to wrap around the sides of the inside cages up to the top and bottom of the vents- leaving the vents clear, of course. The trip will be less stressful if the doors of the inside carriers are a little lower than the side vets of the outer carrier. The less the cats can see the better. VariKennels have about the highest side vents. The outer carrier provides extra protection from objects (and people) reaching your cats. The double doors also provide protection against the cage doors jarring open. If the outer carrier has plastic bolts holding the two halves together, take out every other bolt and replace it with a thick plastic electrical locking tie. Use a tie on the top and bottom of the outer door to keep it closed securely. Put a few extra ties in a ZipLock bag and tape it to the inside of the outer cage. Don't put any food or water in the cages- the flight is short. Phil |
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