Traveling with pets?

[seattleguamgirl]

DH, DS, the two cats and I are moving to Seattle this month. For those of you who traveled with your pets, do you think it is possible for DH and I to handle two cats and a baby in the cabin?

One option is for DH to bring the cats up by himself, one cat at a time (I think there is a one pet limit per passenger--please correct me if I'm wrong) since he starts his new job and will commute home on the weekends for a couple of weeks.

Another option is to bring both cats, but place them in cargo. I'm not really comfortable with this option because I can imagine it would be quite scary for them (even if they are sedated) and I would hate to traumatize them. It'll be traumatizing enough sticking them on a plane and moving them! Would this be an issue?

[KimberDK]

I think the biggest concern with bringing two cats and a baby at once would be the carry-on limit. Each of you would be fulfilling your carry-on allowance with a cat, and while you'd still be allowed one smaller personal item each, would that be enough to carry all the stuff you'll need to have with you to care for the baby on board? Also, each of you would be using up the space under the seat in front of you with a cat, so you would have to put any other stuff in the overhead, and I would think that if you had a baby with you, you'd definitely want to have easy access to your diaper bag. Unless at least one of your cats is particularly small, and can fit into a small carrier that would leave room for a diaper bag besdie it under the seat, but it would probably be tight. I know it sounds like I'm thinking way too much here, but I fly with one of my dogs on a very regular basis, so these are things I deal with all the time.

You are correct that you can have only one animal per passenger, but if your husband is taking more than one trip and you have someone to care for them there until you arrive full-time, it could be a good solution to send at least one ahead of time. Cats are pretty low-maintenence flyers (one of my cats used to travel with me a lot), and won't give you much to worry about once you're onboard - it's mostly the issue of making sure you have room for everything and can carry it all. If it was up to me, I'd send at least one earlier.

[seattleguamgirl]

KimberDK, thank you so much for all of the info! I'm not worried about the carry-on limit since we'll check all of our baggage in and I'll just have the diaper bag as my personal item.

It probably makes more sense to split the cats up on two trips. I think it will be easier for us anyway. :)

Thanks again!

[KrissyCat7]

I would suggest splitting it into two trips, especially if youve never traveled with the cats before. It would be less stressful probably for all of you.
From my previous trips with my cat, make sure your pet goes to the bathroom before leaving the house or you may have an "accident". I usually lock my cat in the laundry room with her litter box for an hr before we leave.

[MamaBear]

Not sure if you have looked into this or not, but check with the airline before you travel. Most (if not all) airlines require a health certificate for travel. You can obtain one from your vet. It just states that your pet is healthy and has been vaccinated etc. On United, the certificate needs to be issued within 30 days of travel for pets traveling with you and within 10 days for pets traveling in cargo. Not sure about other airlines policies. HTH!

[seattleguamgirl]

KrissyCat--thanks for the advice! I wouldn't want my poor kitties to have accidents on the way. :)

mamabear--we def know about the health certificate. We'd just make sure each cat went to the vet within the 10 days of travel as stated by Alasaka Airlines.