When travelling you leave behind all your worries at home, but one thing we all can’t leave behind is our four legged companion. For most of us, it’s not just a cat, or it’s not just the dog. They are part of family, and family never part away. While travelling has its own planning mess and not leaving behind your pet can make it overwhelming. This is especially if you are travelling with your pet for the first time, or if you had taken a trip with your pet which turned out to be poopy. Well maybe you didn’t prepared well enough. But for this time, we are here to sort your pets travel.
Some countries see the pet as fairy angels, some as menace, and some as stock of disease. Toleration level is different for all countries. Before travelling check with embassy of your destination about prerequisites which can be quarantine, rabies shot, or Bordetella shot.
Your itinerary will dictate the height of paperwork piles required to travel with your pet. Where you are coming from, or where you are going will matter in carrying your pet! Suppose you are coming from a country with high risk of rabies, to say US, you might have to indulge in lots of pet safety acts.
It’s vital to get made a health certificate for your pet which will be required by the airlines, border security, or hotels. Make sure to enlist all possible aspects of safety parameters laid down by destination embassy, so the vet can certify you on all of those. Also carry an electronic copy if it.
You don’t have to worry about the pet food, which is available around the world though in different brands. To ensure your pet remains with good digestion, look for brands with same ingredients that they eat normally. The only thing you need to take care of.
Travelling with pet has become pretty common, but don’t assume that each of them will entertain you. Also they will have different regulations. Do all the checking beforehand, to cut the hassle.
To make your work even easy, there are many Pet Relocation companies that take care of end to end relocation of your pet. Their contacts can be easily enquired from IATA.
Before boarding the flight take your pet on a long walk, or way better would be short exercise in a nearby park which will tire your pet and the following journey will become peaceful.
Before you put your pets in the crate, fast them for least six hours! This will ensure that your pets don’t have a full stomach. It will make their journey smooth.
A good crate for your pet should be IATA approved. It should be large enough for your pet to sit, stand, and turn around with ease. These are the standard benchmarks which you can check.
Make your pets accustomed to the crate few days before travelling. This will reduce their anxiety levels. On the day of departure they will probably not feel in a whole alien place all of sudden.
Make the crate comfortable for your pet by lining it with pieces of cloth or paper which will also act as a good absorbent. Close the crate properly, but never lock it for case of emergencies.
Also click a picture of your pet before you board it to the plane. This is must, and will help you in crisis like misplacing the pet, and it does happen especially when there are connecting flights.
Finding a pet friendly hotel is a must, you can just talk your way in if they are intolerable to pets. Finding such hotels can be easy by asking to internet or querying with local tourist board.
A good hotel for pets should have, No additional fee for checking in with pets, minimum restrictions for size, no resident pets, additional food service for pets, and easy access to outdoors.
When asking for rooms, request one on the ground floor. This will enable you to talk your pet on outdoor breaks, or poop breaks. On other floors it could get nasty to bring them down.
When you arrive at hotel, don’t immediately leave them alone to go out for anything you wish while travelling. Remember they have been on a long flight that too far from you. Leaving them alone again can get them in anxiety or fear of being abandoned.
While settling in the hotel, with unpacking your luggage, one great way to engage your pets is to give them something to play like a toy. They will instantly connect to one, especially familiar.
