Moving to Canada with cats

jesus smith

Hi all, I'm moving to Toronto soon with my girlfriend, we both have two cats and the expenses for their travel is starting to mount up like crazy!

So far I've been quoted between €700 - €1000 to move them NOT including shots and pet passports.

I contacted Aerlingus (whom I'm fying with) and they have said that they can ship them for €160 per crate, with two cats per crate, which means €320 instead of €700 which would be amazing. So I was wondering if anyone had any idea where I could buy the crates myself?

Also does anyone have any experience moving pets with AerLingus or one of the pet moving companies?

Thanks!

Quality

Hi Jesus.


Your Flight from Dublin to Toronto is 7 hours.

They will be unattended for the whole flight and will be stuck in the crates for up to 9 hours. So make sure you have some sort of grooming facility available for when you take them out, because they will be covered in piss and sh!t.

The Sweeper

Contact aer lingus and query what they consider to be an airline approved crate, and if it's something like a PP20 with a grid floor you can put some paper towel under the grid and a thick folded towel or vet bed over it. The towel over and the paper towel under will absorb the pee. The grid floor will also allow your cat's pee to wick away from the cat instead of being held against them.

Then you can fast your cats for 12 hours before they fly, ensuring they get a chance at their normal routine before being collected and boxed in the hope they empty their bowels.

That way you have a chance of collecting a vaguely disgruntled kitty who's been separated from a couple of dry turds by a towel, who hasn't been sitting in their own pee, and who needs a quick wipe down with a piece of damp kitchen towel and they're good to rock n roll.

I wouldn't ship two adult cats in one crate. When badly frightened or upset by the travel they may lash out at each other and there's nowhere for either of them to go.

Toulouse

Am I reading correctly, is it 4 cats travelling, 2 each?

Once you get confirmation from the airline about the type of crates you are required to have then you'll be able to source them online, in good pet-shops or I know that my own vet sources them for clients if needed so perhaps yours might as well.

I would echo what was said about not putting them in together. It will be very stressful and animals can be unpredictable when stressed so despite the fact that they get along great now, it might be a different story when they are stuck in a crate together in a plane. For the sake of €320 I know what I'd be doing.

Also great advice about the tissue and vet bed.

Get them used to their crates well in advance and you can use products like Feliway spray to make them feel more relaxed. Preparation is everything when it comes to travelling with pets.

RICH KID

That is an excellent price from Air Lingus, GO FOR IT before someone ropes you into paying 1K, piss n **** will wash off

larrlin24

Is there no way you can bring them on the flight as a carry on? I know people who fly with their cats all the time and simply put them in a carrier under the seat. Not sure if this is allowed on Aer Lingus though. I'd look into it if I were you. As I'm sure you know, cats get stressed very easily. I can't imagine what they'd be like after a 7+ hour flight in a crate.

sdssarah

Heya Jesus

Have you made your trip yet? We actually did something very similar just recently except in the opposite direction - moving 2 cats from Montreal to Dublin.

First of all let me say this - it's cruel for you to put both your cats in 1 crate for you to save money. Trust me on this, it is a very distressful trip for your cats and they will thank you for spending a little bit more for them to have the space they need to both sit / sleep and go to the toilet. The crates we had were huge - and had enough room for the cats to have a small litter tray each in the back in case they needed to go. When we met them in Dublin at the vet I have to say they both looked awful, they had not slept and they were quite upset. The cats will not just be in transit for the 6/7 hr plane ride. They are taken to the airport much earlier than if they were humans having to check into a flight - our cats were stuck in those cages from 8am (Montreal time) until 8am (Dublin time, so 3am Montreal time) which is a whopping 19 hours, so their comfort is really important.

We used a service in Montreal called Manoir Kanisha and we could NOT have done it without them. There is a lot of paperwork involved - a lot - believe me I tried to look into all of the semantics myself and do it but in the end it was just way too much work and if you get a single piece of paperwork wrong they will hold your cats in quarantine for months if it's wrong, or worse still, deport them back to where they came from. So I highly recommend you hire someone to help.

The carriers themselves need to follow very strict guidelines from airlines. We initially bought one in our local pet store which said on it "approved for airlines" and that was complete bull****. They need to have metal doors on the front, vents on the sides, metal locks, access to feed them from outside the cage, and need to be very specific dimensions based on your actual cat (so that they have enough room to stand and walk around in it too). So don't be too hasty in picking a carrier.

Some information on carriers here:
http://www.iata.org/whatwedo/cargo/live-animals/Documents/container-requirements-cats-and-dogs-lar-cr1.pdf

We still have both of ours if you're interested. They are very spacious: 65cm L x 52cm W x 51cm H and look like this:



More images here:
http://www.sarahgleeson.com/cats/IMAG1299.jpg
http://www.sarahgleeson.com/cats/IMAG1301.jpg

Like I said there is a small litter box inside and the relocation company also put in a nice carpet for the kitties to sleep on. They are incredibly sturdy which you would want them to be too.

The other thing to mention is that moving the cats cost more than moving my boyfriend to Ireland, however, in the end it was totally worth every single penny to ensure that they are happy and healthy on arrival. No matter what you're going to have to spend a lot of money moving your pets internationally, and that extra amount you need to pay for their comfort is just negligible at the end of the day - at least thought so.

Having been through this process my advice is:
- definitely use a pet relocation specialist to help you with the paperwork and final vet checks
- have 1 carrier per cat
- if there's enough time get the cats introduced to the carriers and let them sleep in them etc before the day of travel (we had ours for 2 months before we left and the cats slept in them all the time)

I hope the above info was of some help, I know it costs a lot but I think it's worth it. Just to give you a ballpark it cost all in all, between initial booster vaccinations (which have to be done a few months before), final vet visits, all paperwork, cat carriers and flight about €1900 for the 2 cats to move. Yikes - when I add it up it's scary but it was definitely worth it!


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EDIT:

Holy ****, I just realised you said 2 cats EACH! Feck that's a lot of cats to move internationally.... if you need anymore info or advice from our experience do let me know. There is no way you'll move 4 cats internationall for less than 1k, sorry to be the bearer of bad news!