Flying with your cat:
If you will be traveling by air, you will need a harness, because they will ask you to take your cat out of the carrier at airport security. You may ask for a private room when you go through security, but you will need to get to the airport ahead of time. We would also recommend bringing pee pads with you for the trip, putting a couple in the carrier and having some outside of the carrier as well.
Many airlines require a health certificate within 10 days of flying, while others don’t require them at all. Check with the airline you are flying with in advance to determine when the health certificate should be written, if needed.
Please note that we cannot write health certificates to Hawai'i or to foreign countries (with the exception of Canada), and we cannot perform a rabies titer test.
Transporting Your Cat:
Cats are most comfortable with the familiar, and need time to adjust to the unfamiliar. The following advice may make the transportation less difficult:
What Type of Carriers are Best?
The best carriers are hard- sided ones that don’t collapse inward on the cat. Scrunch up a medium-sized towel and place it in the carrier so that your cat can burrow under the towel. We recommend also covering the carrier with a towel, but leaving a small window so that your cat can look out of the carrier, if she would like to. A lot of cats, however, feel less anxious if they do not see out of the carrier.
Helping Your Cat Become Comfortable with the Carrier
The goal is for your cat to learn to associate the carrier with positive experiences and think of their carrier as a safe place.
Make the carrier a familiar place by leaving it in a room where your cat spends a lot of time. This should be done months ahead of time, if possible. Place a towel or other material in the carrier to make it comfortable for them. Routinely place treats, catnip, and toys inside the carrier to encourage her to spend time in the carrier.
It may take days or weeks before your cat starts to trust the carrier. Give rewards to encourage positive behavior. For example, if your cat is sitting in or near the carrier, reward them with a treat, affection, or play.
Getting an Unwilling Cat into the Carrier
If your cat will not accept the carrier, the following may help:
Start by putting the carrier in a small room with few hiding places, such as a bathroom. Bring the cat into the room and close the door. Move slowly and calmly. Cats can sense our anxiety or frustrations, which may cause them to become fearful or anxious. Encourage the cat with treats or toys to walk into the carrier.
If your cannot get your cat into the carrier facing forward, turn them around so they're facing away from the carrier and you can gently push them in, back end first.
If your carrier has an opening on the top, try wrapping your cat with a towel and lowering them into the carrier. If it has a side opening, tip the carrier on end so that the opening is facing upward and drop them in butt-first.
If the above techniques have failed, is try putting your cat gently in a pillowcase before placing them in the carrier, leaving the end of the pillowcase open so that she can get out of the pillowcase once in the carrier.
Sedation for Travel:
Prescription Medication
Consider administering gabapentin for travel, which will take the edge off but not completely sedate the cat. The dosage is 1 to 1 and 1/2 capsules, depending on your cat’s weight, added to canned food 2 hours before the sedation is needed. You will want to pour the powder out of the capsule onto colored paper or a counter top to divide the capsule in half. Separate the powder into two mounds that are about equal in size and mix 1 mound into canned food. Please note that you will want to put the medication in only a small amount of canned food to ensure that the cat eats it all.
You can order 4 or 10 capsules. If you order 10 capsules, you will have enough for a trial run:
http://citycatpharmacy.com/product/gabapentin-100-mg-capsules/
Natural/Alternative Sedatives:
