I'm incredibly impressed with my little girl! My family lives on the East coat and I'm in San Francisco. I was very apprehensive to bring her along on a visit back to Delaware on Mother's day but I felt it was better than boarding her. I double checked with our Vet to make sure she would be okay and they gave me a health certificate. The Vet also gave me a very small dosage of an anxiety medication because it's about a 5 hour trip total.
She loves her carrier and is very calm and quiet in it. On the day of the flight, I packed a bit of kibble and some treats in her carrier also a tiny cup for some water. The flight to Delaware was perfect! I put down a puppy pad in her carrier and she went to the bathroom at the very end. Throughout the flight I kept my hand in the carrier and gave her some treats. I did not feed her before the flight and she had absolutely no problems at all.
On the flight back, however, my mom unknowingly fed her while I was still asleep before we left for the airport and she did in fact, get sick during the flight. Once she got sick, I decided to give her a small bit of the anxiety medication. She did seem a little bit more agitated because she had to go poop and did not feel comfortable doing so in her carrier or even when I took her in the bathroom and put a pad down, she wanted to wait until we landed. As soon as we landed, she went right to the bathroom in the parking garage.
Because she is so calm when traveling, either in the car or flight, I feel at ease when I know we are going to be traveling.
Here's some tips that I found useful:
*When booking your travel, call the airline and place a pet reservation, United is $125.00 and US Airways is $100.00. Each airline is different though. Try to book a direct flight.
*Even though a health certificate isn't necessary on all airlines, it's always good to make sure your pet is in good health for the flight anyway. I carried a health certificate for my own peace of mind.
*On the day of the flight, do not feed 4-6 hours before, a little bit of water is okay but pack up some treats and food for your pet on the side of their carrier.
*Exercise your pet a lot before the flight since they'll be laying down for quite some time.
*Bring a few chew toys (quiet ones) for your dog. Kaia seemed to love her Kong and I put some peanut butter in there for her.
*Be sure to get to the airport about an hour or two before departure. You'll have to check in at the desk and pay for the pet at that time.
*Pack some Nutri-Cal in your luggage, or in your carrier in the approved airline bags. I gave it to Kaia immediately when we landed to prevent any sugar issues from the stress.
*Acclimate your dog to it's carrier well before the flight. Walk around with them in it for awhile and make sure it's small enough to fit underneath the seat in front of you.
Hopefully, my little boy that we'll be getting on Wednesday will be as much of a comfortable flyer/traveller as Kaia is. Not all dog is the same though, so if your dog doesn't enjoy traveling in the car or does not like being confined in a carrier, chances are, the flight will not go so smoothly! |