Transporting our cat to the US

About a year ago, our Scottish friends, the Cooneys, moved to Roatan and had to find a home for Jasmine, their cat. We had cared for her for a bit, fallen in love with her, and were happy to take her for our own.

Now we are moving.

Out of all the tasks to break up our household and move back to the states is bringing our cat. There have been a lot of arrangements, so I thought I'd share what is involved for carrying the cat on the plane with us. This is somewhat in order of chronology, but not necessarily.

CARRIER and COLLAR/HARNESS
We needed a collar/harness, and a carrier that will fit under the seat in front of us on the airplane. The carrier needed to be airline-approved, so I did research. We got ours, a soft-side one with 'windows' of mesh, in the US on a recent trip, but there are probably some to be found somewhere down here, even if in the city. The animal must be in the carrier at all times during the flight.

AIRLINE RESERVATION
Each airline has a limit of how many carry-on animals (and what type of animals) it can carry per plane. On American, I believe it is only two animals per plane. We informed them when we made our reservation that we will be carrying on our cat and they checked if there were already any on board, and then they made a reservation for our cat. On American, we will have to pay $200 to carry her on, but we don't pay till we get to the desk to check in.

The cat carrier counts as my carryon item, so I can bring that plus a personal item (backpack, purse).

CERTIFICATE OF HEALTH
This is a little confusing since I've heard/read various things about whether a health certificate is necessary for cats as you enter the US. (For dogs, a certificate of health is absolutely needed.) We decided to get it (from a vet - costly! 1200q plus the vet costs) but after the vet fills it out, she sent to Guatemala City and it was stamped by Guatemala Salud Something, plus the embassy. I am glad we did it.

But it has to be dated within just ten days of travel, so it makes for a last-minute task.

VET
I brought Jasmine to the vet a couple months before travel for a rabies shot (which must be given at least 30 days prior to travel), dewormer and exam, and to make sure she was healthy. She was already neutered. Then I brought her in a few days ago, got a flea treatment and tranquilizing drops (Acedan brand, or acepromazine), and got the certificate (described above) quite quickly - a couple days. But sometimes it can take longer - so don't put that off to the last moment!

PREPARING FOR TRAVEL NEEDS
We have heard that cats are sometimes too anxious about travel to pee/poop, either in their carrier or if there is a break outside - but some may also soil their carriers. So this is our plan:

• Line the carrier with old towels we can throw away if needed. (If you can get 'toallas desechables' from the vet - disposable liners - so much the better.) We will have plastic bags for disposal.
• Bring a 'litter kit' I've constructed, consisting of a cardboard box that is low and wide and disposable, and four baggies of litter, and plastic bags for throwing things away. She may use it, she may not. 

We also got, from the vet, some tranquilizing drops (Acedan brand). Yesterday we tried them out on her, with funny results, as she staggered a bit. But I wanted to know how quickly they take effect, and how many drops are needed, and how long it lasts. Then we added the harness, and she just fell over, but in a relaxed way - we heard that is common! (I don't know if the following short video will work; if not, sorry!)

We were told that creating a light drape to go over her carrier, to keep her from seeing out, can help to keep her calm, like putting blinders on a horse or a cover on a bird cage.

DAY OF TRAVEL
She should not be given anything to eat or drink for 3+ hours before travel, to avoid pee/poop issues. And I will give her the tranquilizer drops, perhaps an hour before the first flight.

I will use the harness during travel. My worst fear is if she somehow panics and gets loose while we're at TSA! I will keep her well-secured.

DURING TRAVEL
I will need to keep her in the carrier, except when going through TSA checks, when I will take her out of the carrier, walk through the detector while the carrier goes through the X-ray. Then, I will put her back into her carrier.

Then we have a connection in Dallas, when we will need to take her through Customs along with all our suitcases, perhaps show a Certificate of Health if they ask, then recheck bags and take her again through TSA.

During our layover in Dallas, we will look for a family bathroom (solo bathroom with a door) and let her out to possibly pee or poop, using the 'litter kit' described above. Then more tranquilizing drops if needed, and back in the carrier.

HOME!
We have pre-ordered a litter box and food for our new place, and our friend will have it all set up. When we get picked up at the airport and go home, she will have a place to call her own. We also ordered a cat tree, so she will be able to climb to her heart's content.

And I can finally relax!