Moving With Pets?

[lazyjayn]

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I think its more the drive for twelve hours over 90 and still be in the same state part that bothers me.... or the part where I get accosted by religious types every time I stop for gas. At the gas station. At three in the morning.

And unlike NE, where I can pretend I'm getting somewhere when the interstate splits, or when I pass under that lame bridge/ arch/ tourist trap, there's no break to show actual progress. Unless you count the change from humid to red desert. To feedlot/ chicken truck.

 

[Rebeki]

Anyone have any advice on how to move fish?

 

[Mylez]

TCVM...

I was terrified to fly my dog too. I did a lot of research before flying her and made my decisions on how I wanted it to go. I was prescribed Ace before we left as she is hyper, but decided against it. I'd rather she be frightened than dead!

If you ask, the airline will let you sit with your dog until 1/2 hour before the flight. In that time, you can play with your dog, walk them, etc. until your final kennel check and the wave goodbye. It is a huge comfort to get the pass saying your animal has been loaded, as not putting them on the right plane is a somewhat common occurrence!

I would highly recommend letting your dog have his/her own bed in the crate they fly in, spraying DAP and/or using a DAP collar (which worked surprisingly well for Loki). I also froze some treats in a kong and gave it to her shortly before she boarded the plane.

Last, but I think most important, get some bungee cords and stretch them across the door. If the crate falls or gets dropped, the door can pop open and your dog will be gone onto the tarmac or inside the plane. If you stretch one or two across the front of the crate it might pop open but it shouldn't enough to where the dog can escape. Great method and made me feel safe. When I flew out of Portland, they had zip ties to close the door too, but flying out of Salt Lake I was not given the luxury.

My .02 cents. I was never so happy as to see my girl when we got into the airport! I think the majority of airline deaths are due to people flying unhealthy/not sound animals with heart problems and so on--but there are freak accidents like crate doors flying open so take the steps to prevent it and you should be ok.

 

[twelvetigers]

No kidding! I'll be the dork still wearing my coat during class. 😎

Hey, I wear my coat in class sometimes. Hah.

Are you gonna learn to ski? Lol. It's warm in the summer, obviously. It's not exactly Alaska. I'm just poking fun and pointing out stereotypes. Will you miss the pineapple? 😀

 

[Saffronownsme]

I fly with one of my cats frequently--she does very well with a 1/2 of a .25mg alprazolam prescribed by her vet. I've also seen cats that get very vocal from the same drug, so definitely give whatever sedative is recommended to you by your vet a test run at home and in the car or carrier before the real trip. For people flying with their pet in the cabin, know that you will have to take it out of the carrier when you go through security so they can x-ray the carrier. The challenge isn't only getting them into the carrier once at home and keeping them mellow the whole trip, but also pulling them out in a bustling airport terminal, keeping them cool once they are out, and then getting them happily back into the carrier. I've been terrified that my kitty will freak out and wrangle herself loose during security screening, but it hasn't happened, and she stays remarkably relaxed. Cross your fingers that you don't get pegged for additional screening when you fly with your cat; it happened to me, and was a somewhat unsettling experience.

I'm driving to California from Texas with my kitty this summer. I'm planning to set her up in a huge dog crate in the back seat for most of the trip, and let her roam in the car off and on (with the child-window locks on!) while I drive. I'm going to also have her small, soft carrier on hand for transporting her in and out of motels, gas station bathrooms, etc. I think the soft carrier that sort of looks like a duffel bag will keep me out of "you can't have a cat in here!" confrontations. Depending on my digs at night, I may keep her in the crate--cats can crawl into a/c vents and into ceiling tiles if they aren't properly secured. I know it kind of sucks for her for the two nights we'll be on the road, but she did have a 5-day hospital stay once, so it shouldn't be the end of the world.

If you do leave a pet in the car (with the a/c on of course) for a split second, have a spare set of keys to take with you. I think we all know or have seen dogs accidentally lock the car from the inside, and what a drag that would be!

 

[TCVM808]

Mylez - Thank you for sharing your experience. Your comments helped me feel a bit more relaxed about it. My carrier has holes for zip ties and I'm pretty sure United strongly recommends using them. I like the bungee cord idea. I might do that too - it can't hurt! He doesn't normally sleep on a bed, but I'll definitely have to use some type of bedding and I can spray the DAP on that.

I agree with you about airline deaths. Thank goodness he is not brachiocephalic. I guess my main worry is injury because of his history. I will be soooo happy once it's over and he's made it there safely.

twelvetigers - I will miss so much more than just pineapple. But I'm glad you didn't ask if I surf to school or comment that my English is so good, LOL. 🙄 I've lived in cold climates before (WI most recently), so while Colorado will be a shock to my system, I'm pretty sure I can handle it. 😉

 

[twelvetigers]

Well, that's ind of like people asking if we have Indians running around and living in teepees here, or conestoga wagons... or if uhh... if I live on a farm? Oh well.

I've had Hawaii pineapple and I would miss it.

Okay, I'm done hijacking this thread!

 

[clawsbeatskin]

Anyone have any advice on how to move fish?

I have a nano reef tank, and I've successfully moved it twice now, about 4 hours in the car each way. If you have a freshwater, then I think you could probably follow the same steps.

First, I collected all of the live rocks/structures in the tank and placed them in a closed tupperware box with about an inch of tank water. Next, I caught out my fish and placed him in a small lunchbox sized igloo cooler that was about 1/2 filled with tank water. I did the same thing with any inverts, including my coral frags, but in a separate cooler. I then moved all but about an inch of the remaining water from the tank to gallon jugs. I left the sand/gravel in the tank with the inch of water.

I moved the tupperware box, the coolers, the jugs, and the tank to the car, and placed the fish cooler on the floorboard of the front seat. I left the sliding lid open just enough for me to squeeze in an airline attached to a little air pump. I plugged the pump into one of those converters you can use in your car...the converter has a normal plug at one end and then the other end fits into a car's power source, like this one..

When we arrived at our destination, I put all of the live rock back in the tank but didn't waste time rearranging it. I then added all of the water from the jugs and then acclimated the inverts and fish.

I'm planning to do all of this again when I move over the summer. I'm thinking that it might be better to take my fish to an aquarium shop and ask them to put him in a plastic bag with oxygen and then put the bag in a closed, confined box since we're going to be on such a long trip. That's how we always shipped fish when I worked at the aquarium. Since the trip will be over multiple days, I'm thinking we can stop at various Petsmarts along the way or something if he needs a refill. But the above steps worked for our 4 hour trip, and everybody made it ok. Another little tip is don't feed your tank the day of the move. It's another thing I picked up from working at the zoo...we would never feed animals in transit.

Hope my long post helps! 😳