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Flying with Fido
It’s hard enough to fly a human from Point A to Point B, let alone a pet. Here are some suggestions from some grizzled veterans of the task:
*Sharon Sakson, author of Paws & Effect: The Healing Power of Dogs, says that it’s harder to fly a pet in cabin today than just a few years ago. Among other things, she says that the height restrictions seem to have been reduced, since a carrier can now be no more than 8.5 inches on two airlines she recently tried.
“I’ve seen two people with ‘fake’ assistance dogs, who must have gotten their doctor to declare that they needed the dog for medical purposes, in this case, fear of flying,” she notes. “The airlines are obligated by law to let assistance dogs travel in the cabin without any kind of carrier or kennel. More people are shipping their pets, and Continental Airlines has opened a wonderful new office in their Newark terminal to accommodate just the shipping of pets. There’s even a ‘pet employee’ on duty 24 hours, seeing that the animals are comfortable and doling out ice chips in their water dishes, a good way to avoid spills.”
*Lexie Gross of Boston travels a great deal with her mini Dachshund, Otto, and she’s found a way to deal with standard restrictions to keep her dog in his carrier for the entire flight. “The way I keep him happy is to provide him with a certain type of bone — we call it the crack bone — in the carrier. He is so excited to have this treat that he chews the whole way. He ONLY gets this bone when he is in his carrier, never any other time!”
*Catherine MacDonald of Malta and her family recently flew internationally on Alitalia with two cats. “We booked our tickets on Expedia after researching the airline’s policy on pets in the cabin, where they were permitted. When we called to reserve our cats’ spots, the customer service rep informed us that the particular flight we had booked was on a jet that could only accommodate one pet in the cabin per flight. This restriction was news to us — there was no heads up on the Alitalia website.
“We ended up having both our cats fly cargo. They managed the flight okay but they were very frightened by the experience. On the bright side, it certainly appeared that the cats were well cared for by the baggage crew, including a connection, and their cages were first off the plane at our destination, before the luggage. Moral of the story: check and double-check the policies — with a live customer service rep — before booking the tickets. If we had known about the one-cat per cabin policy on these particular flights, we would have considered splitting up to fly separate flights so that both cats could make the trip in the cabin.”
*Itamar Kestenbaum of Moishe’s Moving in New York frequently deals with people who fly with their pets. But he has personal experience, flying with a 90 pound dog from Tel Aviv, Israel to New York. Here are a few tips off the top of his head:
- If you can avoid it, do not give your dog a sedative before putting them on the airplane. If they are in their cage and cannot use their reflexes to defend themselves against turbulence and the likes, they’re likely to get injured.
- Always make sure to feed and water your pet before the flight.
- Put a blanket that smells like you in the cage with them so they feel safe and comfortable.
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