The small nasal passages of pets with short heads and flat noses, such as Pugs, Boxers, Bulldogs or Persian cats make them susceptible to oxygen deprivation and stroke. | REUTERS Mike Segar
Larger pets require a lot more preparation than smaller creatures, who are less difficult to travel with.
More importantly, have you considered how your pet will handle the journey experience and what you can do to emotionally prepare them?
Let’s examine some of the various modes of transportation and the corresponding advice that pet parents may employ to make their pets more comfortable throughout the trip.
Considering taking your pet on a flight?
While larger pets must be placed in the cargo hold, smaller pets can be transported as accompanying baggage.
Since your smaller pets will be travelling with you, they are likely to experience less worry.
It’s crucial to pack your pets’ necessities adequately so you can provide them with food and water as needed.
Additionally, check with the airline employees to see where your pet can go potty before boarding the trip, and make plans to have a poop mat on hand in case your pet needs to go potty while the flight is in progress.
You could be required to sedate the animals for the flight if they are large pets that need to travel in cargo.
You should attempt to avoid sedating your pets as much as you can, as any veterinarian would advise you.
If necessary, speak with your veterinarian about the appropriate sedatives for your particular pet’s needs.
Pet owners must also make sure to mentally prepare their animals for being taken away from them and handled by airport workers, as will happen in the case of cargo transit.
One can start doing this by training the pet to spend time by themselves for at least one to two months before travel.
Start by gradually putting your pet in a separate room from you for 15-20 minutes. Over a few weeks increase this time to up to 4-6 hours.
One could also leave the pet to spend time with someone they’re less familiar with, like a close friend or family member.
This will help the pet in getting used to being alone and with a handler, greatly contributing to reduce separation anxiety.
One must also ensure that the cage provided for the pet is well ventilated and roomy so the pet has some space to move around and stretch their legs for long journeys.
Another trick that really helps is to leave a cloth or blanket with the pet that smells of you – to keep the pet reassured while they're alone.
The same should be done for international travel, where flight times are much longer.
On the basis of how often your pet eats, ensure to plan their meal before or after landing. In most cases, pets should not be fed for 4-6 hours before travelling.
When travelling internationally by air, it is key to consider some more factors.
Pet vaccination requirements are different globally.
You must speak to your travel agent or local embassies as well as your vet to ensure that you’ve given or start the vaccination requirements well in advance before you travel in accordance with the requirements of the specific country you're travelling to.
Other factors that help reduce anxiety are to travel in less busy seasons.
This will ensure more room in the cargo holds as well as less chaos at airports. Travelling during holiday seasons is generally a bad idea.
You should also only take direct flights as this will reduce the travel time as well as avoid transfer from one plane to another.
Do also check with airlines about temperature control in cargo holds.
Most airlines do not have temperature control and may even restrict travel with pets during extreme weather months of both summer and winter.
The last, but by no means the least, tip for flying and quite frankly one of the most important is to attach identification details to your pet’s collar.
The fear of losing your pet in travel is a very real one, and so you must ensure to provide an extra amount of detail which may include your name, your final destination, any relevant addresses (from and to), and your phone number.
You may even attach a digital tracker to your pet’s collar so you can see their location through your phone.
It is also key to communicate with the airline and have a point of contact to handle your pet-related queries.
Given any sudden or unwanted incidents, you don’t want to be in a position where you’re struggling to find the correct person to communicate within the airline.
Pets should generally not travel internationally unless they are moving. Even perilous, flying can be for some animals.
The small nasal passages of pets with short heads and flat noses, such as Pugs, Boxers, Bulldogs or Persian cats make them susceptible to oxygen deprivation and stroke.
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