Pet Travel Blog

It’s a long way from Honolulu to Frankfurt for a passenger, but just imagine how long it is for a 14 LB cairn terrier.  This week I had a client’s dog depart Hawaii on Sunday and arrive into Germany on Wednesday.  Some real team work that goes into a pet’s journey like this one.  The owner or person shipping the pet must be sure that the paperwork is in perfect order and that the dog is prepared correctly for shipment.  Finding a crate in Hawaii was difficult so we had one sent to her from the mainland.  It is always advisable for the pet to become somewhat familiar with the crate before departure.  IATA shipping standards dictate that a pet can only travel so many hours and miles  consecutively.  The flight from Honolulu was almost ten hours to New York.  On arrival into New York we had a pet handler-another great member of the ‘team’- claim the dog and respite care it for 24 hours.  The dog was then rechecked in with the airline and forwarded on to Frankfurt; another 8 hours.  Total miles traveled: 8,817!  What a trooper.  When the dog arrived into Frankfurt, mom was waiting to claim her.  That is always the best part.

As a pet travel agent I get calls daily about putting pets in the ‘hold’ of the aircraft.  I know it sounds really awful, but actually if you plan well and use the right carriers, the experience is not too horrible.  Most pets just sleep through it.  No, you not sedate your pet. Sedation is the worst thing you can do for a traveling pet and the airlines will not accept a sedated pet.  It makes them feel funny and many times they panic and overheat which actually can be fatal.  Pets are more adapting that we give them credit for.  My advice: let mom and dad take the sedatives and ship the pet!

PET TRAVEL AGENT ADVICE FOR DUMMIES:

Never sedate a traveling pet.  The airlines will not knowingly accept a sedated pet for shipment.  A sedated pet can begin to feel strange and start to panic.  Sometimes they try and escape the crate and overheat trying.  If they get too hot and have no immediate water to drink they  can dehydrate and in the worst instance die.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 21st, 2007 at 4:42 pm and is filed under Pet Travel Agent Advice for Dummies, A Pet Travel Experience. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.