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traveling
I am moving in a few months to another country. I have two cats that need to go with us and I was wondering about air travel. They will go in the cabin with us, but I am sure they will scream and howl like crazy. What should I do? I have heard really bad things about sedatives and tranquilizers and that they are not reliable and can hurt the cat. They are both about 10 years old and I have heard that older cats might not wake up from tranquilizers. Is this true? Of course I don't want that to happen, but I also don't want any trouble from complaining passengers because of my cats' howling. Any advice?? Thanks!
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Want to answer more questions in the Domesticity category?
Maybe give some free advice about: Pets?
I work at a veterinary clinic, and the Vets that I work with will commonly prescribe sedatives to patients for car rides/thunderstorms/plane rides. Of course they would not prescribe anything if they didn't feel that it was safe for the patient. You should definately bring your cats in to your veterinary clinic and have them examined to see if they are healthy enough for sedatives.
If a cat doesn't wake up after having a tranquilizer, then chances are they were not examined properly and deemed healthy enough. That being said... with giving any kind of sedative, there are always chances that something bad will happen... just like there are chances that you or your animals will have adverse reactions to ANY medication that is taken.
Some commonly used medications used for sedation (at least at my veterinary clinic) are diazepam (or valium) and acepromazine. Of the two medications I would feel safer using diazepam since acepromazine is hard to judge how it will affect your patient. Plus it's much more dangerous in older patients.
There are also injectable medications that can be used as anti-anxiety meds. One such medication that I absolutely love is called midazolam. I especially love it when our vet's use it on the other cats that come in for sedation. It will calm the wildest cat and is very safe. I don't know if that would be available for you to use, since it needs to be injected, and may not last long enough.
I would go to your vet and talk to them to see what your options are.
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I can see your fear for a sedative for your baby, as an owner of 6 cats travel isn't easy and i love to see thet you are taking your cats with you. Since they are older cats tehy may not make as much noise as a younger cat usually waht i do when traveling my cat to the vets i cover his cage with a cloth so he cannot see out of his cage and be as confering as possible, try to put something like their favorit blanket in the cage or a small toy this can confert them. Sedatives I belieave are not a healthy solution unless they are at the vets for a operation, the best you can try to do is make them as confey as possible in their travel carriers.
I hopo this helps, good luck.
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Well, when I moved to the United States from the other side of the world, we brought our cat with us, in the cabin. Although she was as quiet as a mouse the entire 17 hour flight, I quite understand most other animals are not like that whatsoever.
First of all, I would schedule an appointment with the vet to get the cats a sedative. It is very unlikely that the sedative will harm them, unless of course you give them more than the recommended dose (and giving the vet the cats' ages is a factor in what medication and what dose the vet decides to prescribe).
Oh, and just a side note: if your cats don't howl in the car, most likely they will be fine on the plane. And also, if your cats are close (as in really good friends, and don't like to be separated), it may not be such a bad idea to put them in the same carrier, although I am not sure if the airline would allow that. But be sure to test that out before your flight.
~Maria, 18
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Please, please, PLEASE do not bring your cat in the cabin!
The noise is the least of your concerns. I had a 4 hour flight last year, and the man in the seat behind me had brought his dog in the cabin. I am seriously allergic to some types of dogs, and ended up spending 4 hours barely breathing because I had a really bad asthma attack while I was in the air. I went straight from the airport to the hospital. I am even more deathly allergic to cats. Even 5 minutes of exposure can put me in the hospital, and it's not an uncommon allergy, either! I was so upset because I am a paying customer, and I should have the right to being able to breathe on my flight. So keep that in mind.
Now on to actually answering your question...
Full-on tranquilizing your cats can harm them if they are older. The older the animal, the more risky sedation is.
However, you can see your vet about getting an anti-depressant (yes, they do prescribe them for animals!) like Valium. It will help your cat relax without actually rendering it unconscious.
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These little critters always seem a problem when it comes to transporting them from one place to the next !! Cats panic and shriek when having to travel, it's true. Only 1 cat out of 100 will curl up, quietly, next to you in the car seat.
I would call up the air travel agency and see what their best solution for this type of problem is. Chances are, when youre traveling by plane, your cat will not be able to sit next to you because some people are allergic to those types of things, unless you own a private plane..
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