5 Things to Know When Flying with a Cat

Recently, I flew to Dallas, Texas, and then to Minneapolis, Minnesota – with a cat.

I wanted to bring her home for Christmas, so I packed up all her stuff and off we went! Simple, right? I’ll let you decide.

In all, my cat and I spent 18 HOURS traveling together (we were delayed 6 hours for the first flight). In case you don’t realize this, that’s a LOT of time for a cat to be cooped up in a carrier.

She actually took it quite well – she only freaked out when we first left the house and when we took off and landed for both flights (we had a connecting flight).

Since I have officially flown on 3 flights with a cat (once on the way to California, and 2 flights back), I have deemed myself an expert in the area of pet travel (not actually).

Expert or not (but we’re leaning towards not), here are 5 tips for flying across the country with a cat:

1. Check a bag – You’re going to have to transport a lot of the cat’s stuff, and checking a bag is so much easier than carrying it everywhere. Trust me. In addition, the cat actually counts as your personal item, so you won’t be able to pack as many things for yourself in your carry-on, making it even more necessary to check at least one bag.
2. Pack a few treats – the cat is likely to get hungry, but you don’t want to feed her too much. Try to feed her the treats in between flights and any other times when she happens to be calm. She will not eat when she’s freaking out.
3. Buy one of those flexible carriers that looks like a duffel bag – they are easier to carry around airports (and pretty much anywhere), and they have a top opening. This is very convenient because then you can open up the carrier slightly and pet the cat during the flight (which is a bonus tip – pet your cat to lower stress).
4. Bring LOTS of paper towels or napkins – During take-off and landing, the cat is required to go under your seat (like a regular personal item). This is sure to scare the cat, and she may start foaming at the mouth (at least, mine did). The paper towels will come in handy once you’re in the air and the cat can come up on your lap again. Gotta wipe all that foam off 🙁
5. Embrace the awkwardness – Everyone will be staring at you (either in annoyance, or admiration). People are often very curious, so get used to people staring, smiling, and asking you a bunch of questions.

There you have it! My personal advice for flying with a cat, based off of my limited experience.

But hey – every experience is one step closer to mastery, no matter what skill you’re trying to learn 😉

Until next time,

Hope Frances