Taking Cat On Domestic Tg Flight.

[MartinBKK]

I am taking my cat on Thai airways from BKK to Chiang Mai this week.

I am a little apprehensive about the journey. My cat is blind and does not take kindly to being put in a travel box with constant meowing. Although TG have told me that i could take her on board i really think this would be a mistake as she makes so much noise. I have decided to put her in the cargo area but i have to admit about being very worried about her care on board. I love Thailand however Thai people generally dont seem to care for animals in the same way as farangs do.

I would be grateful if anyone who has done this journey with a cat could report their experiences of TG. Can you put my mind at rest?

Thank you for any advice.

Edited September 23, 2007 by MartinBKK

[Yumiko]

I am taking my cat on Thai airways from BKK to Chiang Mai this week.

I am a little apprehensive about the journey. My cat is blind and does not take kindly to being put in a travel box with constant meowing. Although TG have told me that i could take her on board i really think this would be a mistake as she makes so much noise. I have decided to put her in the cargo area but i have to admit about being very worried about her care on board. I love Thailand however Thai people generally dont seem to care for animals in the same way as farangs do.

I would be grateful if anyone who has done this journey with a cat could report their experiences of TG. Can you put my mind at rest?

Thank you for any advice.

I just flew with my cat (and medium/large dog) from California to Bangkok last Sunday using EVA airways, a 24 hour trip! We checked both animals as "excess baggage," and they were put in a special cargo hold in the bulk of our plane. ("Excess baggage is not to be confused with "flying cargo" which is a completely different & more expensive service in which your animal is put on a DIFFERENT plane.) We also could have brought our cat in the cabin BUT he meows and yowls VERY loudly, worse than a crying baby. When he gets mad it's sounds like a cross between a cat in heat & a cat getting a bath, add a hardy pair of lungs and that's our boy. Not very pleasant. That is why we chose to put him under with the baggage, all the other passengers would have hated us otherwise. It worked out just fine!! The baggage area is preasurized and climate controlled, you really have nothing to worry about.

On a side note, Do Not sedate your cat to calm the meowing. Our cat is very sensitive to medication and would die if given ketamine, so we even put a note on his kennel with warning symbols that said "NO Ketamine," so that nobody else would make the mistake of sedating him if by the loud meowing they thought he was in too much distress.

[Nienke]

Happy to see all went well with your animals, Yumiko.

Nienke

[Major Major]

Brought my cat to Thailand from Hong Kong last year (Bangkok Airways). Would not allow him to travel in the cabin but travelled as EXCESS BAGGAGE......checked him in and cat goes in a pressurised, climate controlled part of the hold. I would not recommend sending as 'cargo'....much more expensive and not so good for the cat. His carry box came through with the luggage therefore very quick and no need to go to the cargo section of airport to retrieve him. No problems, he was quite calm on arrival even though he hates his carry box and yowls like crazy. It's a good idea to try and get the cat used to the carry box in advance if possible as then it is more of a safe place and will settle better. Do not sedate as this can be fatal.

[Sheryl]

I take my cat with me on TG flights all the time. She, too, hates flying and meows. However I find that the background noise of the plane effectively drowns out the sound except to me (I'm ultra-sensitive to her cries anyhow) and maybe whoever is sitting immediately next to me, but the airline usually makes a point of seating anyone with a pet in the far back of the plane and if possible without an immediate seat mate. Even an immediate seatmate barely hears her...planes in fact are pretty noisy places. Also, cats tend to meow a little more softly when in insecure territory, I think it is instinctive to avoid attracting possible predators. Mostly she'll just be crying to you.

I always put the pajamas I wore the night before in the bottom of the carrying case so that she is surrounded by a familiar and reassuring smell. Also reach down my hand into or next to the case at intervals and place the case under the seat near my legs, so she knows I am nearby. All of this helps reduce the anxiety.

I think the anxiety will be many fold worse without such measures, i,.e. if you let the cat go into the hold. So I never do.

Of course, even with anxiety relieved, the cat will still dislike the experience of flying. This is because cats are very sensitive to motion and vibration; the hum of the plane that to us is just background static is very unpleasant to them, but about that you can do nothing.

They are especially unhappy during ascent and descent (take off and landing) which they feel acutely; again nothing can be done about that. Fortunately it also noisier in the plane at that time so any accelerated meowing passes unnoticed.

In between ascent and descent, if you have taken the steps I mentioned to reassure the cat with familiar smell and your presence, many cats will calm down enough to go to sleep.

I think TG is trustworthy with respect to how they would handle a pet going into the hold (they have staff personally carry them on board and put them in a temperature-controlled area) but I would not personally subject a cat to that emotional trauma if I could avoid it by having her in the cabin with me. In the hold they are likely to be outright terrified.