From Kabul to Vancouver with my cat
 

My 14-month old rescue kitty (hand-raised from 3 weeks!) will travel with me from KBL to YVR at the end of September. He's fully immunised, micro-chipped, and has a passport with valid Health Check. I'm extremely nervous and very reluctant to put him in baggage for such a long journey. I only have two options departing out of KBL - DXB or IST. Any suggestion, hints or advice on:

1. Airlines allowing cats in Business Class:
(i) DXB-YVR (transit in BKK or HKG?),
(ii) DXB-YVR (transit in SEA?)
(iii) DXB-YVR (transit in LHR, JFK or YYZ?)
(iv) IST-YVR (transit??)

2. The national/regional airlines servicing Afghanistan will not permit him on-board; thus, he'll have to endure either a 3 hr cargo/baggage hold flight to DXB or 4.5 hrs to IST. Yikes! I'm trying to see if I can persuade the UN flight to DXB to relax their rules but this is probably not likely.

Will I be permitted to visit/stay with my kitty in the airport holding areas, until he is loaded and when he's off-loaded? I am not confident in the capacities of the ground staff to delicately and empathetically handle such delicate cargo, esp considering my observations of their handling of fragile baggage. I'm also concerned about his exposure to the very high seasonal temperatures. How would I find out this information from the authorities and then receive an official pass. if needed?

Thanks a lot! :)

How did it go? Hope it all went well!