Originally Posted by
WineIsGood
I see the advantages of a hardside carrier (no one can smush it) but I like the softside carriers I use with my cats. They have zippers all over so you can zip open just enough for your hand to fit in and pet the little guy. One of my cats is likely to mew the whole flight if I don't have my hand in there patting his head. That means I'm leaning over almost the whole flight so that I can keep my hand in there, but he's worth it.
The hard-sided carrier I found has a kind of "grate" on the top through which my cat and I can keep an eye on each other, in addition to a sliding "trap door" through the grate, about 4" square, that I can slide open to put a comforting hand in.
Certainly I can see advantages to a soft-side as well, that's a tough call to make.
As for sedatives, perhaps you can get some from your vet, then just give them to the furball if/when he starts acting up? In my admittedly limited experience, how they act in the carrier in a car is pretty indicative of how they'll act in the carrier on the plane.