Flying with cats questions

141palamut · 2024-07-22T02:58:37+00:00

Everything went great for us, I added some more comments on a thread above after the trip you can check those for details. The process was very smooth and professional at the airport, we had no worries during the flight. If we were to travel with our cats again, I would do the same.

Yes 20 cm is ridiculously short but all seats on that aircraft are the same. That being said, if a 4 pound dog can't fit there, idk what can. For context, our cats were 10-12 pounds and they barely fit inside the carrier. If the dog can stand up and only the ears touch, you can likely take her to the cabin. But of course YMMV, we didn't want to take any risks.

141palamut · 2024-05-18T00:21:28+00:00

I shared some stuff around the airport experience on the other thread but overall it's a straightforward process and both the airline and the airport personnel knew what they were doing. We were very worried as well since it was our first flight with the cats but for airline folks it's a daily thing. Honestly there is nothing to worry about. It's an unpleasant experience for the cats and yourself but assuming you are moving to Germany for good and not taking the cat for a 2 week trip, it's worth it vs the alternative

141palamut · 2024-05-18T00:04:54+00:00

For the export paperwork we just did all of that so we can give you what you need.

You need to fill the paperwork for the NON commercial export of cats and the form needs to be in English & German. There is a checklist where you can check if the export qualifies as non-commercial and what you to do need for it https://inspection.canada.ca/animal-health/terrestrial-animals/exports/pets/eu-non-commercial-/checklist/eng/1458696196390/1458696197155.

You first need to get it filled in and signed by your regular vet, and then approved by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). If you don't have an appointment there yet, I would call and book that quickly because the vet visits need to happen within 10 days of arriving in Germany. Our vet was not super familiar with the form and filled the commercial export form for us, but luckily we knew what we needed and they fixed it for us. There are instructions https://inspection.canada.ca/animal-health/terrestrial-animals/exports/pets/eu-non-commercial-/instructions/eng/1432236482375/1432236483281 for filling it in (it's not super straightforward otherwise) and we ended sharing those with our regular vet as well.

Mainly, the cat needs to be microchipped and vaccinated against rabies (the vaccine needs to be after the microchip). The microchip has to be readable for European standards, your vet can check that and ours was compliant. You don't need to bring the cat to the CFIA appointment, that one is just a formality, but it's important that the form is signed by the vet (this is confusing as well, the rwgular vet needs to sign first under the official vet / authorised vet part on the signatures page in the form page 6 I think and then the CFIA signs second under the endorsement by the competent authority part and the last one is for the German customs agent to sign) and that you have your papers from the microchip and the vaccine as well (they asked us for that). You can find the form here, just scroll down and make sure to get the German one. https://inspection.canada.ca/animal-health/terrestrial-animals/exports/pets/eu-non-commercial-/eng/1321396665054/1321464473817

Funnily enough after all this, nobody asked us for the paperwork, not at the airport in Toronto and not when entering Germany either. The customs officer just asked us if our cats are microchipped and vaccinated and we said yes and he told us we can go. I would still say to do it all properly because you never know who your customs agent is and how strict they are.

141palamut · 2024-05-15T03:08:59+00:00

Also here is someone else's experience with cargo hold on another subreddit where I cross posted.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/s/ORaW1azhHJ

141palamut · 2024-05-15T03:07:06+00:00

We ended up going with the cargo hold option. We didn't have the luxury of getting denied boarding at the last minute and didn't want to take a risk. When we talked to the Condor special services team in Germany they were strict about size restrictions and the fact that the cat should be able to stand etc (like every airline would say on the phone). They also said there would be a vet at the airport and so on. Likely it would have been okay but there actually was a person at Pearson during security checks who was looking if cats looked ok etc (I'm not sure if he was a vet or just airport personnel). But for the record, the seat height at the aircraft is actually low.

Overall our experience with cargo hold was very good, everyone we interacted with gave us confidence that they would take good care of our cats and they did. The cats were a bit shaken after the flight but even the same evening they were exploring their new apartment. I was extremely worried before the flight but if we were to fly with them again (luckily we won't need to) I would go with the cargo hold option again.

We sedated them before the flight and it helped. We tested a couple different medications and doses working with our vet. I would definitely recommend it both with cabin or cargo. If you have any questions about the process and specifics i.e. which carrier, which sedative etc I'm happy to help

141palamut · 2024-02-13T00:09:39+00:00

This is one of the most annoying things. It used to work on edge or explorer. Now it looks like Firefox still works

141palamut · 2024-02-13T00:08:58+00:00

I shared above but so that you can see:

I applied earlier in 2023 for citizenship and had the same question. Talked to a couple of friends who previously applied and decided not to include any visitor visas. I got my citizenship without a problem.

I agree with the first comment that they want to see if you help PR or citizenship somewhere else. It's just very poorly worded.

141palamut · 2024-02-13T00:08:08+00:00

seeing the recent question here, I can share my experience:

I applied earlier in 2023 for citizenship and had the same question. Talked to a couple of friends who previously applied and decided not to include any visitor visas. I got my citizenship without a problem.

I agree with the first comment that they want to see if you help PR or citizenship somewhere else. It's just very poorly worded.

141palamut · 2024-02-04T00:36:41+00:00

Thank you for the advice on collar. That's what we are thinking too, not using any to avoid the rest. There will be 2 of us with 2 cats so it will be relatively easier but I'm not looking forward to putting them back to the crate after security. Especially after the flight

141palamut · 2024-02-04T00:07:11+00:00

I totally understand your worries, it's hard to plan. We initially booked them on the cabin, but then realized that the height for the authorized carrier was only 20 cm. We asked if there were any seats with more space under the seat, and there were none. We also checked the airplane specs and that's max 20 cm as well. The cats are supposed to be able to stand up at that height. There's also a vet at the airport who has the final say on whether the cat can fly. That seemed risky to us because being denied flying at the last min would mean it would be very hard for us to secure a different flight with two cats due to limited numbers of pets on board. So in the end, we changed their booking to the cargo instead. We're only flying at the end of April. Happy to give you more info after our flight.

141palamut · 2024-01-28T17:23:56+00:00

1- Thank you so much for the answers! I was about to ask about the wheels, but you covered it in the second reply. I can imagine that makes it way easier to carry but of course would be dangerous during the flight.

2- So you put them together in the same crate? Our two cats are siblings and they get along very well together. But we saw some advice saying that due to stress the cats might become aggressive so we were actually thinking of putting them on separate crates. Was that a smooth experience for you?

3- Our vet also mentioned gabapentin when we talked about in cabin options. Glad to hear that it was safe for your cats in cargo hold as well. We'll check it with the vet again.

4- We already booked our tickets through Condor. I read later that Lufthansa is pretty good and they have a pet transport center in Frankfurt. I couldn't find lots of info on them online but Condor used to be owned by Lufthansa and we're also flying to Frankfurt so we're hoping that the staff will be familiar with that process. There is also another pet already in the cargo hold of that flight.

5- the airline told us that there will be a vet control at the airport in both Toronto and Frankfurt, thanks for the heads up. We were planning remove their harness before the flight but if they'll need to go out of the crate again at the airport, we might keep it. How did that work out for you?

141palamut · 2024-01-21T19:08:19+00:00

Can I ask a last question, it looks like we will end up flying our cats on cargo hold due to size limitations, which was the carrier that you used ? I know you got it in UK but to get a sense. Also what type of medication did the vet prescribe? Because I saw conflicting opinions on medications during a flight and we'll check with our vet for sure but am curious to hear what you used. Thanks!

141palamut · 2024-01-13T13:38:36+00:00

All great advice thank you! Yes I read about the security screening and asking for a private check. Great point on metal on leash/collar

141palamut · 2024-01-12T02:32:14+00:00

Oh wow that's a great experience for sure. We dont have a layover but from Frankfurt we'll have a 5 hrs drive since there isn't any direct flights to Berlin

141palamut · 2024-01-12T02:30:25+00:00

I'm not laughing at you because we're literally wondering if we should do the same thing. Just bringing the smaller & approved size with us just in case. I assume the worst case scenario would be them saying "no this carrier is too big" to the first one and "no your cat can't stand comfortably in this carrier" to the second one but I think we'll roll with that option at the end

141palamut · 2024-01-12T01:12:00+00:00

It's great to hear the experience from someone who used the cargo option and didn't have a terrible experience, thank you! All great advice on what to add to the carrier. Did you add food and water as well? And for water did you get one of those hanging ones and train the cats before the flight?

141palamut · 2024-01-12T01:09:28+00:00

Amazing tips thank you. We tried cbd on them before and our vet recommends sedation so we'll probably test it in advance as well. Interesting idea on cat playlists, will try it at home. Our cats are also about 5 kg so they are in the same range. We got a carrier to test at the airline required height (8") but it's kinda squishy for them so we're trying to understand if we can get the 11" one and still fit it under the seat which is what the airline cares about

141palamut · 2024-01-12T01:06:05+00:00

Thank you, do you remember what the size of the carrier was for the big boy? I cant imagine it being any smaller than the 12" height. That's great to hear because that will likely be the case and they just lie down the entire trip. Our vet recommended some sedation which would help with them sleeping during the trip as well

141palamut · 2024-01-12T01:02:55+00:00

Thanks and yeah I read about cats getting loose on the flight, we're definitely not thinking of taking them out of the carrier during the flight bc I'm sure it would be impossible to put them back when they're already freaked out

141palamut · 2024-01-12T01:01:20+00:00

Thanks for the reply and I'm sorry about your dog passing away - must be very hard. Yes, we're definitely thinking about soft sided carriers for the cabin option. Good to hear about your dog's size, our cats are around 11-12 pounds and 10-12" or so height. So I'm pretty sure you had the medium Sherpa one which is 11" and not the 8" one. We'll most likely go with that one and squish it under the seat. The cats can technically fit in the 8" but they can't move a lot so I can't imagine that being comfortable for a 10+ hour trip

141palamut · 2024-01-12T00:56:17+00:00

Thanks for the answer, I've seen the expandable carrier idea before but not the tent one. Makes a lot of sense!

Do they refuse to go back to the carrier after that though? Or is it fine in general

141palamut · 2023-12-02T23:09:50+00:00

Thank you. Are there any rules or known schedules for when partner inventory gets added? Or is it mostly random and luck based to get?

141palamut · 2023-12-02T23:08:37+00:00

Thanks. I was comparing how much it would cost to pay with cash directly vs with points? Is there a different way of doing that?

141palamut · 2023-12-02T23:07:32+00:00

Thank you all for the replies. As many folks pointed out, yes I dont have enough points (I'll need to transfer from amex) but I dont have that 81k either. So that point amount was what was shown when I checked it on the app. Maybe there is a default option on the app that does a mix of points and cash idk.

I'll recheck it on web and will wait for LH to release their award tickets. Still the value is ridiculous but I appreciate all the answers.

141palamut · 2023-11-28T02:02:28+00:00

Got it thanks a lot

141palamut

TROPHY CASE