Question about flying your pet

[Lulu belle]

My vet said never put a bully in cargo.

 

[Telly03]

Sometimes you have to fly, well it's that or rehome your family member... there are risks either way. But if you feel that you must fly, there are things you can do to minimize the risk:

-Fly direct... I found a site awhile back that documented all dog flying fatalities. Almost all of these had connecting flights, and it makes sense considering the added stress of moving them around, and who knows how long they are sitting on the flight line or warm room before being reloaded. I am flying to the mainland from Hawaii, but will rent a car and drive the remainder once the plane lands on the West Coast.

-Schedule your flight during night or early morning hours for cooler temps

-Give your dog a chance to get comfortable with the travel crate well before hand, for example, our Moe and Winnie have already established their crates as their new bed... once they establish the crate as a safe secure place, it should help with their stress level during the flight.

-Buy a crate one size larger than needed... this allows for better air flow.

-Make sure the travel crate has ventilation holes on all four sides, some of the commercial ones do, some don't. If you already have one that does not, you can drill additional holes. This decreases the chance of losing ventilation because they stacked something too close in the loading.

-freeze water in their dish that connects inside the crate door... this ensures access to water after the intial jostling associated with loading.

I ordered a proselect pet crate fan from amazon... I'll let you know how it works once it comes in, it looks promising though as it is thermostat controlled to turn on at a certain temp. I'm going to test it at home first because if the noise of the fan turning on stresses and scares him, it may be doing more harm than benefit.