Travel with Pets - How strict is Lufthansa about weight limit?

I'm traveling from the UK to the US with my dog and just found out the best news today- that we can fly Lufthansa via Germany and my dog can go in-cabin.

I called the airlines office at Heathrow and they confirmed.

However now I have a slight worry- she's gained a bit of weight since we've moved to the UK (I'm thinking it's the food which has more water in it, -judging by what the vet told me) and I have a month and a half to get her into shape.

I haven't weighed her yet (will go to vets tomorrow to do that) but I think she is at about 18-19 lbs so about 8.6 kg at the most. At her optimum, she should be at about 16.6-17 lbs so I'm going to change her diet and give her cooked meals and exercise her a bit more. Hopefully I can get it down a bit but not sure how much I can do in a healthy way in 6 weeks.

Does anyone know how strict Lufthansa is about their weight limits for in-cabin pets?

Also about the carrier- do they care what material/water-proof etc? I have two carriers for her, which I think would actually conform to their dimensions but they are tote-bag style and made of canvas. Would that be okay?

Hi Did you actually left the UK with your pet in cabin? I ve been searching for many airlines and I had the impression that pets coming to/from UK are not allowed in cabin unless they are guide dogs. Could you share your experience?I want to take my dog with me and I am trying to find ways of taking him in cabin...so far the only conclusion I had is:to go by car to Paris and fly from there :( any input would be very helpful....thanks

One of my puppies left the UK in cabin with LH last April. They flew LHR - FRA - DEN. Assuming they haven't changed the rules then as long as your pet meets the weight / height criteria that LH impose, has the necessary documentation to transit through Germany, and you book the pet on the flight in advance you shouldn't have a problem I think. We searched and searched for an airline that would carry a pet from the UK to the US in cabin and LH were pretty much the only one we came across.

Thank you very much Kazza for your reply. May I ask another 2 things? how did you take your puppy, in a box with LH dimensions? (55 cm x 40 cm x 20 cm) ?
I was planning to buy the SturdiBag™ Large (45L x 30W x 30H) which has a Flexible Height Design however does not meet strictly the 20 cm height LH requires. Do you have any tips on this?

I also have researched and LH so far is the only airline which would allow I fly with my dog.I have a 9 months Cavachon (less than 8 kg total allowed-so far he is 5 kgs, and 6 kgs with the bag) and so far he meets all the LH requirements to fly in cabin .I am planing to go sometime on January when the new UK rules for PETScheme takes place.

And my 2nd question would be to know if you travelled back from the US to the UK with your puppy in cabin? (after a few researches it seems DEFRA has some regulations about pet on air routes and companies, and I did not see any route coming from Germany allowed other than via CARGO.

Thank you in advance.

I bred the pup in question and he travelled with his new owner in a large Sherpa bag that didn't meet the LH regs that seem to be a little strange to be honest. His owner had brought a medium bag too just in case they made a fuss at check-in but he fitted into a large more comfortably so she wanted him to travel in that really. They never checked or queried the size, just weighed the pup in the bag.

They did check his pet passport though at LHR. He needed a pet passport showing his chip number and there was a declaration from the vet that stated that as he was under 3 months of age he didn't need a rabies shot but as your pup is over 3 months he will need a rabies shot. He'll need one anyway if he's re entering the UK at some point. I think he also had a health certificate from the vet too.

As far as I know there are no airlines that will fly a pup into the UK unless in cargo and this is down to the rules of the PETS scheme. I don't expect this to change in the new year to be honest although I might be wrong. When I flew 2 dogs from the US to the UK 3 years ago we flew them as excess baggage (too big for carry on) into CDG and then drove from Paris to enter the UK via Eurotunnel. The reason we did that was because at the time we lived in Kent so we were very close to the channel tunnel and we'd heard lots of reports of the dogs entering LHR as cargo being kept at the Animal Reception Centre for several hours before they were released. At CDG we were able to get the dogs out of their crates as soon as we collected them from baggage reclaim.

If you really don't want him to travel as cargo then your only option will be to fly him into a country near to the UK, eg Belgium, Holland or France, and then drive to the UK via a ferry / Eurotunnel. If a car is a problem then at least 1 carrier will allow you to take your pet as a foot passenger but they seem to want you to leave your pet in a secure carrier. Not sure about any other carriers though so you'd need to check:

http://www.poferries.com/tourist/content/pages/template/onboard_taking_your_pet_1Taking_your_pet.htm

You definitely can't take them on Eurostar unfortunately.

Lulusmom I've just found the same thing with LH Air. Did everything clear? What can I expect? Any suggestions?