Travel with Pets - Flying with a senior pet

In a few weeks I'll be moving from SFO to RDU. This has been happening a lot faster than I expected, so I haven't had as much time to plan as I would like.

My partner and I have three cats that we need to move. One is a 17 year old female and two 4 year old males. All three cats have traveled long distance by car but never by plane. Right now, we think we'll take the female with us on a flight already booked that happens in about 2 weeks, assuming we can make the arrangements in time with US Air. The two males would probably go on another trip a week or two later, or I may decide to drive with them cross country. The female has already traveled by car from Chicago to California.

Has anyone traveled with an older cat who can share their experience? I don't plan to sedate any of them, but I do worry about the female. She's very noisy when she travels, mostly because she wants to look out the window. :D She gets upset if she's in a kennel but will quiet down and go to sleep if you let her out in the car. That's not an option on an airplane. I also worry about an older cat having trouble with the altitude change. She's in pretty good health for her age and is still relatively active.

I'd appreciate any advice specific to older cats.

I have not traveled with a senior Cat but will try to offer some suggestions.

First thign I would do is talk to your vet to see how your special Cat (I don't call the Cats with two digit ages senior) will do on a plane. I'm leary about giving a sediative too but maybe the vet can offer some suggestions.

Next: maybe mention to US Airways (if you haven't already done so) that you are traveling with a special Kitty and make sure there is space available for her to travel in a carrier in the main cabin (I would NOT check her as cargo.) Guessing you already done this but make sure there's space available for her to travel in the cabin. (check out rssrsvp's thread on Carry on Rules on this forum.)

When you are ready to take the other babies to their new home and you decide to drive read Kipper's thread on his travels with his dog. The rules like finding the right hotel and other travel tips can apply to Cats too.

Please keep us posted on this and Positive Cat vibes that your Feline children have a great journey to their new home.

Next: maybe mention to US Airways (if you haven't already done so) that you are traveling with a special Kitty and make sure there is space available for her to travel in a carrier in the main cabin (I would NOT check her as cargo.) Guessing you already done this but make sure there's space available for her to travel in the cabin. (check out rssrsvp's thread on Carry on Rules on this forum.)


Thanks for the advice. It's probably mentioned in another post, but I did find out today that US Airways does not require a health certificate for my cat. The only requirement for in cabin pets are that the carrier fits under the seat with room for her to move around. They charge $100 per segment.

I thought I'd follow up with my recent experience on US Airways with my 17 year old female cat. She flew with my partner and I in cabin on an A320 from SFO-PHL and an A319 from PHL-RDU.

I had first bought a small sherpa cage which had lots of space for her to sit but was too low for her to stand up. I returned that an got a small Bergan Comfort Carrier bag. That was narrow but let her stand up. She could sit down in it, but she spent most of her time trying to get out to look around.

We paid the pet fee at check in. I had to mention we were traveling with a pet, even though it was supposed to be in our reservation. They didn't seem to notice the pet notation at check in. The agents in SFO didn't even ask about the size of the carrier and never checked to see if it was the right size for the pet or the seat.

We found a quiet corner of the gate area and let her out of her cage while we waited to board the plane later, before it got crowded. She sat on my jacket and I kept her from walking around. I think letting her out for a few minutes helped her calm down. Once on the plane, she cried a bit, mostly because she wanted to look out the window. She does that. She does the same thing when we travel by car, cry until we let her out to look out the window. I was worried that her crying would bother people, but I forgot how loud the planes really are once you are in the air. I think most folks couldn't hear her over the noise from the jet engines. She wasn't even as loud as most babies I've heard on some flights.

The only problem happened when we landed in PHL when she had an "accident" and urinated in her carrier. Fortunately I had one of those absorbent puppy training pads inside which contained most of the liquid. Boy, was I glad that I did that. I don't know if she got scared by the "bump" of landing or just couldn't hold it anymore, being an older cat. We discovered that a handicapped restroom is a perfect place to let a pet out and clean up at the same time. It's private, big and there is no way for your pet to run away.

We put her on the second, short flight from PHL to RDU which she handled pretty well. She is now in a corporate apartment, apparently very happy that our two male cats aren't there. I think she is convinced that they have "disappeared" and she will never have to see them again.

We now plan to try this with our other two cats. They are only 4 years old, and could probably handle being in cargo, but my partner thinks they would fit under the seats in the airplane.

I was worried about causing people allergies and even brought along some Claritin. No one around us seemed to be affected, probably because we didn't let her out of her cage.