Cat Food in Checked Luggage?
 

My cats are moving to Belgium in May, and I was wondering if I could put some of their canned and dry food in my checked luggage so that they will have familiar food while they adjust to their new home. I couldn't find anything on the TSA website. Thank you!

Shouldn't be a problem. It is only raw food, fresh produce or uncooked food that is a concern. Sealed canned food should not be a problem.

I have flown many times with both canned food and dry kibble in my checked luggage for my dog without an issue. Just pay attention to the weight of your bag so you don't get hit with an overweight luggage fee from your carrier. @:-)

Tell that to the Ag Inspection clowns at Atlanta.

They confiscated the cat treats I was bringing home for my cats from Europe. Cooked, processed cat treats, not raw, were deemed a threat to American farming and were taken and destroyed. :rolleyes:

I realize the OP is heading the other direction, but I would consult the Agricultural /importation laws of the EU before packing the kibble. TSA has no interest in it.

I should have added to my post that my flights were all domestic.

I am going to be traveling from the UK to the US (EWR) in June, and was wondering if it was possible to pack some of their food for them (canned) of if I'd be better off just picking up something for them when we got them from cargo?

I hope your cats enjoy Belgium. Will you be visiting them occasionally? :rolleyes::rolleyes:

Tinned and bagged cat food will be ok. I do it all the time from the US to Cyprus - mostly tinned food and treats.

You should be ok with canned food. If you are taking it in your carry-on, make sure the volume of the can is less than 100ml. TSA might consider dog food a liquid (I've seen cans of tuna fish confiscated for this reason). If you have to bring an canopener with you in your carryon be prepared to surrender it - TSA could consider it a weapon. You just never know with those guys. :mad:

Sorry to hear that your cats are moving away. Will you at least be able to visit them often?

If yes, and if they have iPhones, you might want to look into the video chat options offered with iChat.

Make sure any food you bring to the U.S. does not contain beef or mutton/lamb.

On the customs forms you receive on the plane, there are questions about what you are carrying, including if you have any meat products. Do say yes, because if you don't and they find your catfood, it's an expensive fine and you and the cats might be on the next plane back to where you came from.

However write on the form "commercially prepared, canned meat product" - that statement comes from advice I've been given by the ag inspection people. They will ask to your cans. According to some regulation related to the mad cow disease scare, beef from countries which have had mad cow outbreaks in the last 10 years is not allowed and will be confiscated - like the cat treats we tried to bring into the U.S. The fish flavor was allowed, the beef was confiscated. For reasons that they did not explain, the ag inspectors also confiscate mutton/lamb based products.

So if you have poultry/fish/rabbit/venison cat food, it should be allowed in.

Why are the cat/cats flying cargo to the U.S. and not in cabin?

To clear up the confusion I am also moving to Belgium with my beloved kitties. Sorry for the bad English-made it seem that I was sending them away when I'm not.

Since BOS2DCA will be accompanying the cats, I think he should get them an iPad instead, so they call all play YouvsCat. :D

My cats go nuts over cat games on the iPad. Anytime I pick up the iPad they think it is cat play time and run over, if I don't turn on a cat game they crawl all over me and the iPad looking for their game. One night my black kitty laid next to me watching every move I made for over a half hour making pitiful meows until I gave it over.


BOS2DCA I am so happy to hear you are taking your kitties and not shipping them off. How exciting it must be for all of you! If you can't find regulations specific to pet food you may check to see what the people food regulations are and plan accordingly.

you can't put a lot of liquid in the baggage
you can only put dry food for your cats and just a couple of cans of wet food