Relocating Pets

[yayspace]

23 hours ago, ihatechoosingusernames said:

My dog does great in the car. I agree with @rising_star about using La Quintas. They're usually great, you get a free breakfast, and they're always pet friendly. I've read too many stories about dogs dying in the cargo holds of airplanes to even consider it, and I have a big ole doggy who would be way to expensive to fly anyways  

@yayspace - My cats fight sedation too, and it makes them awful to drive with. I found that if I don't sedate them they'll start to settle down about an hour into the drive. If you can make it through that first hour with music/podcasts/selective hearing, you may be fine. I restrict their food the night before and the day of so they're not pooping all over the place, but if I stop for a lunch break I'll give them some water. I'm also doing my longest drive this time around and am going to invest in a Sleepypod carrier that can be buckled in to the seats for safety. One of my cats really likes to be able to see what's going on, so the mesh top is helpful. They're also waterproof and come with a washable liner which I hope will contain any accidents. Like I said above with the dogs, there have been instances where pets have accidentally died or been let loose at the airports. Also, I don't know how the relocation services work, but not only do airlines sometimes restrict whether or not pets can fly in the cargo hold (because of extreme high temps that might be a factor in Louisiana summers!) but sometimes they only fly to the closest major airport. The one time I flew my cats because I didn't have a car, the closest airport I could fly in to with pets in the cargo hold was New Orleans. Then I had to have someone pick me up and drive me and the cats the remaining three hours to my destination. It was a pain! 

Yeah, I have these concerns. The companies I've been speaking with assure me that the airlines they work with are used to flying pets and pets are the last thing on the plane and the first thing off when they land. But they can't really control what goes on at the airport. And, sadly. as it turns out... I may just fly with my remaining cat. We had to put Steve down on Monday. He was the one who had such trouble traveling. With one cat who is more calm, I think I can fly with him under my seat or take him in the car. I'm heartbroken but it was for the best. He had cancer and was in a lot of pain. I miss him so much. Sorry to bring everyone down. 

[ETRXRock]

I am traveling 2k miles with two dogs, a huge goldfish, and a husband. I am not comfortable taking my dogs, fish, or husband on a plane haha. We are traveling with everyone in our two vehicles. As a former vet tech, there are "railroads" across the country in which vet techs and other animal lovers volunteer their time to get pets safely to their new home. This could be another option for you but it can take longer.

[Eigen]

It's nice to hear all the options. 

I've done long trips with dogs before, but only ever short trips with cats- and am currently looking at two possible Visiting positions 2k+ miles away, so it will be a several day road trip to either of them. 

Our cats have done OK on shorter moves before, so I'm hoping it won't be an overly traumatic experience for any of us.

[yayspace]

4 hours ago, ETRXRock said:

I am traveling 2k miles with two dogs, a huge goldfish, and a husband. I am not comfortable taking my dogs, fish, or husband on a plane haha. We are traveling with everyone in our two vehicles. As a former vet tech, there are "railroads" across the country in which vet techs and other animal lovers volunteer their time to get pets safely to their new home. This could be another option for you but it can take longer.

That is so awesome. I love the idea of animal lovers banding together to safely transport pets long distances. Someone needs to write a book about this if there's not one written already. 

[Humulus_lupulus]

On 4/17/2016 at 0:18 AM, rising_star said:

Amtrak has recently changed its policies to allow dogs 20 lbs and under on all trains. I've never done this but it seems like a great option!

Curious about where you saw this--I have seen a couple of routes in Illinois (maybe? somewhere midwest...) running pilot programs to allow pets, but I have not actually seen a system-wide reform on this matter.

[rising_star]

49 minutes ago, Humulus_lupulus said:

Curious about where you saw this--I have seen a couple of routes in Illinois (maybe? somewhere midwest...) running pilot programs to allow pets, but I have not actually seen a system-wide reform on this matter.

http://www.latimes.com/travel/california/la-trb-amtrak-pets-allowed-20160202-story.html

https://www.amtrak.com/carry-on-pets

[Humulus_lupulus]

20 hours ago, rising_star said:

http://www.latimes.com/travel/california/la-trb-amtrak-pets-allowed-20160202-story.html

https://www.amtrak.com/carry-on-pets

It's still only some trains, not all of them. Just clarifying so nobody gets stuck when trying to get on a train!

[juilletmercredi]

When I moved from New York to Seattle last August my company contracted a pet relocation service as part of my relocation package to move my 60 lb. Lab/Boxer mix (Zelda) to Seattle. I was nervous about it because I had not heard good things about flying dogs and Zelda does not like to travel at all. But honestly, she hated the car too (she's stopped hating it so much in the past 9 months), and as much as a 6-hour plane flight would've stressed her out being in a car for 4 days driving cross-country would've been worse. Plus my experience with the relocation company was super-positive and I'd definitely do it again if I had to move across country more than a several hours' drive.

Before the big day, the pet relocation company contacted me and gave me a very detailed list of everything I would need to do to prepare Zelda for the trip. I took some measurements so they could purchase a crate for her (that was included in the service). They instructed me to give her a Ziploc baggie of food and to include one of my T-shirts along with her so she had something that smelled like me for the ride. The coordinator also called me on the phone and explained the process to me - probably best of all was that they were flying with a carrier that does pets all the time and had a climate-controlled cargo compartment. Chatting with the coordinator put me more at ease and I felt a bit less apprehensive about it.

They sent someone to pick up Zelda the day before the move, and the rep was sweet and Zelda went right with her (impressive, since Zelda's a little wary of new people sometimes). Zelda was waiting for me on the other end when I touched down in Seattle! There was a bit of a snafu and the company had her arrive at my residence 3 hours earlier than I was supposed to arrive, but the rep on the Seattle end stayed with her until I got there. She was obviously very relieved to not be traveling anymore but no worse for the wear. She was anxious for a few days after we arrived, but that could've been for any variety of factors - we were in a brand new apartment in a totally different space, she'd just finished traveling (regardless of the mode), there was a three hour time difference and I had a different schedule. She settled in and adapted pretty quickly.

[Cat_Robutt]

@juilletmercredi I'm glad everything went well, and am also glad you have a dog named Zelda! The geeky part of me is hoping she's named after the Legend of Zelda...

[juilletmercredi]

@Cat_Robutt  She is absolutely named after Princess Zelda from The Legend of Zelda.

Edited May 1, 2016 by juilletmercredi

[Cat_Robutt]

@juilletmercredi 

[Guest SIPA_MPA18]

On April 15, 2016 at 8:17 AM, lauracol said:

Does anyone have experience travelling with dogs? For the relocation I'm almost certain I will be driving with my dog with me (no problem--she loves the car!), but I'm a little worried about things like going home to visit for Christmas. Ideally if I'm going to be gone more than a few days I'd like to bring her with me rather than leave her with a kennel. 

 

My family lives in upstate New York and I'm moving to Chicago, so it's feasible that I can drive home whenever I need to visit. My dog is twenty pounds so I'm not sure how bringing her on a plane would work. She's probably too large to fit under the seat to travel in the cabin with me, but I'm really worried about the cargo hold thing. I also have no experience bringing pets on trains--does anyone have experience with this? My dog is friendly but energetic and excitable. Any advice or personal anecdotes is appreciated! 

I've moved cross country (coast to coast) with multiple dogs multiple times and this time the wife is moving birds and dogs and I'm flying dogs with a commercial airline. 

I just recently (end of March) flew cross country on Alaska Airlines and we put one dog in cargo from Seattle to DC. We got an airline-approved carrier from Petco and started crating her in it about 2 weeks before the flight. Day of, she got put in the crate with her bed, toys and one of my t-shirts at the airport (note: K9 Cops do NOT appreciate you walking your dog out of the crate in the airport). We started checking her in 2 hours prior to the flight (tape a quart sized bag of food to the top). TSA screened her crate in our presence, then they zip tied the crate door shut. They took her and once she was safely loaded underneath, the flight attendants brought us a confirmation ticket to our seat. Alaska Airlines has a very quick 20-minute baggage claim guarantee and by the time I made it to the claim area, Bella was waiting for me happy and excited to see me. We did give her an extra dose of her anxiety medicine to help calm her...she seemed just fine.

I'm flying my other dog SEA to JFK in July on Alaska. They will fly pets as cargo only on red-eye flights during the warmer summer months to avoid any potential hazards to the pet.  I was happy with their service and prompt attention paid to my dog. 

[Kleio_77]

On 14 April, 2016 at 2:24 PM, Citizen of Night Vale said:

I have a large foldable pet pen that I have used to foster kittens and will probably buy a second one for the move. When my bf and I stop at a hotel midway through our move, I plan to keep each cat in their own pen with their own litter boxes and food because I don't want them to be super scared and hard to find/grab in a hotel room. These pens will also be useful when movers remove our stuff from our current apartment and load our stuff into our new apartment.

I have a big pet pen and actually use it when travelling by car. My cats freak out when they are in their individual carriers when driving so I let them into their big pen together and they can move around freely, see outside, and sleep by each other. I have learned that cats need to be able to see what is going on and where they are going while driving and they need a bit of room to move. Now I drive all the time with my cats. My cats also have free range in hotel rooms, it take them a couple hours to explore and smell around the room but then they settle in fine.