My parents are moving from Melbourne, Australia to Dublin, Ireland in about three months' time. They want to take the cat with them. We're thinking that they will most likely fly Lufthansa, as they are one of the preferred airlines for transporting pets into Ireland from Non-EU countries.

Has anyone had experience transporting their pets on long haul flights such as this? Anyone used Lufthansa as the carrier for their pets? Due to Irish quarantine rules we are 99% certain we can't bring the cat into the cabin, but she'll have to go as cargo instead.

I'm kind of terrified about it, actually, since she's a senior cat and very timid. However leaving her in Australia is not an option. I'm flying to MEL shortly to help them pack up the house, and will go on to DUB with them - and the cat.

Any advice or tips would be appreciated. Thanks.

Can you route the trip so that the cat could be in cabin for the first leg, and then sent to cargo only for the final leg? Maybe stop over in Los Angeles, so the cat is in cabin as much as possible?

I was just discussing taking a cat trans Atlantic with the vet this morning. She said a big concern is making sure the cat does not become dehydrated while flying, and that's for a much shorter trip.

Don't know if we can put her in the cabin for the first leg - since the flight is codeshare (Lufthansa from Melbourne to Frankfurt and then Aer Lingus from Frankfurt to Dublin), I don't know if she will be required to travel as cargo the entire trip.

I'm considering looking into a professional pet courier/cargo service.

There's another trade on pet cargo services active right now. Based on it, I would guess it might cost several thousand dollars in any currency to use one.

Have you called the airline and asked if the cat can ride in cabin to Frankfurt? Or what provisions (food, water, litter box) they make for small animals on such long trips? If the cat travels all the way from Melbourne to Dublin without food or water, it will be in very poor health on arrival.

In the spirit of trying to help, they do make in-cage water bottles big enough for cats - you know, like the bottles you give rabbits. And you can buy ones that hook inside the cage so the risk of it falling would be minimized. Fasten it to the cage door with zip ties and I promise it won't fall.

I'm always appalled that the little tiny bowls that clip onto the door are considered adequate - really, I don't see how that's possible. I had the most spoiled military working dogs ever because they always had one of those bottles clipped to the door instead!

That said, I hope you're able to get your kitty inside with you as much as possible!