Travel with Pets - Ship 2 cats & 1 horse from scandinavia to YYZ?

Looks like I have a chance to relocate temporarily for a few years to YYZ starting next summer. Would want to bring my kids... I mean pets. Any advice on this?

Cats are sisters from the same littee. Will be one year old when it's time to go. Should/could they travel in same crate? Should I swing for an extra ticket for a friend so the cats can go in the cabin? Which is the best way for them to travel?

The horse is a different kettle of fish all together. A gelding. Trying to find a suitable freight agent is like finding a needle in a haystack. May have leads to stick him on a flight with racehorses when they go over in large batches. (i wonder if I could collect Delta miles for him if he flies KLM which seems to carry horses over the atlantic quite frequently. Or AP miles if he goes with Lufthansa. LOL!)

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

I have had conflicting experiences with traveling with 2 cats. One airline (I think it was Cyprus Airways) made me put my 2 cats in a single carrier and send them in the cargo hold - my cats were not happy to be in the hold, but at least they had company. Bulgarian Airlines told me that I could not carry 2 cats in a single carrier and I had to put one in the hold and one could go with me in the cabin. I asked to take them both in the cabin and they said only if a friend was travelling with me. Basically, one pet per person in the cabin. But then shortly before the day of travel, they called me and asked me to put them both in the same carrier and that I could take them in the hold (which is what I wanted to do in the first place).

Your best bet is to call the airline you are flying and ask them what their rules are.

My recommendation would be to do what you can to try to keep them in the cabin with you. It's safer for the cats and will decrease your worry level. But it all depends on the airline requirements and what you can afford.

http://www.paardentransporten.nl/English/destinations.htm

Air Canada from FRA


http://www.airhorse.dk/

Just don't tell them you're Swedish :D

I would highly recommend taking them in cabin, even if you have to pay a friend to go with you. There are too many (documented) stories of animals being lost or dying while traveling as cargo. When I moved across the US I had three cats. My partner and I did two flights to bring the cats over in the cabin. We did one flight with two 5 year old males and another flight with our 19 year old female. There was no way I was going to put my 19 year old cat in the cargo hold.

Good luck with your relocation.

http://www.paardentransporten.nl/English/destinations.htm

Air Canada from FRA


http://www.airhorse.dk/

Just don't tell them you're Swedish :D

Why?

I don't know about cats, but for the horse:

The Dutta Corporation http://timdutta.com/

If you are familiar, this is the equine transport company owned by the Dressage rider Susan Dutta and her husband.

As Sweden breeds a lot of lovely warmbloods, I am sure there are solutions for transportation right at home. Horses are exported from Sweden all the time, so there must be people close by who are in the business of equine transport.

AMS is probably one of the best options. Direct flights from AMS-YYZ are possible.

It looks like the Vice President of Global operations at The Dutta corp., Karin Ahlqvist, is highly experienced with equine transport from Sweden- probably the perfect person to contact. http://timdutta.com/our-spirit/

Lovely! Thank you very much MikeFromTokyo and also Bankops. I've contacted the dutch company and now Dutta. Airhorse I knew of from before.