The Problems of Flying with a Cat: A Purrsonal Account
When it comes to booking a faraway vacation with a pet, there are some great benefits, but taking them into a flying aircraft is certainly not one of them. The process can be confusing, inconsistent, costly, and just all around stressful. If you're truly set on bringing along your cat for the ride, I've prepared a list to get you prepared for the challenges ahead. Here's my list on why it sucks to fly with a cat:
It can be stressful and confusing for your cat
You can’t explain to them what’s happening
Other passengers may glare at you if your cat meows
You lose most of your leg space unless you can afford business class
You can’t enjoy the flight because of the first four points
It’s expensive, especially for international flights
It takes more time to plan trips and book flights
You have to arrive even earlier at the airport and can’t do self check-in
Going through security is usually more complicated
It’s challenging to give your cat calming meds if they need them
Cats are heavy to carry
Packing cat supplies takes up a lot of space and usually forces you to have checked luggage
Solo travelers will have a harder time as they may be limited in where they can go in the airport
Using the plane washroom can be extra annoying and gross
Cats that are stressed may rub their nose raw when attempting to escape their carrier
Some flight attendants will not let you move your cat once seated on the plane
Long lines for customs become even more bothersome
Some airport taxi/rideshare drivers will refuse to serve you
Keep in mind that there are also extra hurdles to overcome before even getting to the airport and that you will have additional challenges once actually traveling.
For a better understanding of what you may have to experience when flying with a cat, I’ll share a breakdown of our time flying from Lisbon to Madeira below. Fair warning that this will be a long one, and it’s an example of our worst time flying, so it’s not necessarily reflective of how most of our flights with the cats go.
Arriving at the Airport
Cat Displeasure Levels - Mild to Moderate; Human Embarrassment Levels - Low
To start the trip, we had to return our rental car at the airport. We stacked our bags and the cats in their carriers onto a rickety trolley that had a real talent for drifting around corners and started following the entry signs. The cats were fairly calm at this point but became alert once we entered the lobby of the airport. It was early in the morning, but there were still quite a few people wandering around and even a few sleeping on benches, no doubt waiting for a connecting flight. The airport was laid out in a way that made it difficult to use the cart, so we ditched it and started lugging the cats and our other bags. Cue the start of our shoulder, arm, and back pain.
We made our way to the self check-in counter knowing full well that the machine would flash an error sign and then redirect us to one of the manned check-in counters. The cats were still alright at this point, but Reinhardt had issued a warning meow which we assumed was to let us know that he didn’t appreciate the increasing noise levels (this was cutting into his usual sleep schedule after all).
Once at the check-in counter, we were asked to line up behind a lady who had her dog leashed and out of the carrier. Unfortunately, the dog was very curious and kept coming towards me. I tried to distance the cats from the dog by actively backing away, but the woman kept allowing him to walk up to us and even loosened his leash. I started shielding the carriers from the dog with my body only for him to start barking and frantically jumping at the carriers. Perseus seemed to be mostly oblivious to all of this, but Reinhardt was visibly threatened and I could hear him growling from inside the bag. From this point on, Reinhardt remained on edge and wasn’t happy.
Airport Security with the Cats
Cat Displeasure Levels - Mild; Human Embarrassment Levels - Mild
After checking our main luggage, we continued to lug our carry-on bags (mostly filled with the cats’ stuff) to security. Signs along the way warned that it would take 10-20 minutes, and we found that this was one of the few airports that didn’t underestimate waiting times as the process took around 15 minutes in total.
The stop and go movement of the queue along with the many people and loud noises usually trigger Perseus, and this time was no different. He would complain everytime we needed to lift up his carrier and shuffle forward a few steps. While stress inducing for me, his meows were apparently cute to others nearby as we got many “awws” and had several people point, smile, and then nod excitedly in our direction. A few even tried to snap photos. Having this attention focused on us increased my stress as I worried some of the onlookers would be judging us. Thankfully, Reinhardt was mostly quiet here, although I could feel him shifting inside the bag to keep an eye on everything.
Surprisingly one of the better parts of being in the airport (and this won’t be for everyone) is getting to take the cats out of their carrier and walking through the scanner. Both cats are generally fine with being carried for this part, and we’ve done it many times so we feel confident enough to do it without having them harnessed. At this particular airport, we were actually requested to remove the harness which doesn’t always happen.
After walking through the main scanner with Tony, Perseus seemed to think the security person was there for his entertainment as he took a couple swipes at her handheld swabbing device. She seemed less than amused and commented that she was more of a dog person before letting Tony proceed forward to retrieve our scanned bags. Reinhardt patiently waited in my arms to go through the scanning machine and then was happy to retreat back to his carrier (Perseus had been less excited to go back inside his carrier and putting up a bit of a fight).
What was nice about this security experience was that our bags didn’t get extra attention as is very common in North American airports. In Canada, we’ve been asked to discard our cat litter while in the US we had to wait for security to conduct some tests on a sample of litter. In Portugal, we quickly repacked what we needed to and then went on our way.
Litter Box Attempt
Cat Displeasure Levels - Mild; Human Embarrassment Levels - Low
By the time we made it through security, we’d been at the airport for just over an hour. We started heading towards the gate but then decided to detour to a family restroom since we had a bit of time before boarding. After making sure no one else needed the room, we went in and set up our portable litter box.
We allowed each cat to come out of their carrier to inspect the box. Reinhardt gave it a sniff and then immediately turned away, so we knew he wasn’t interested. Unfortunately, we also knew this was around the time when he usually needed the washroom so we were worried he’d have to go on the plane (spoiler: he absolutely needed to go). Being freed from the carrier for a second time was also enough to set Reinhardt off as he seemed to think it was time for a walk, and he started meowing in complaint once we forced him back inside. Next up was Percy, and we felt relief when he decided he needed to go. We let him do his business before scooping everything and cleaning the space with some sanitizing wipes. Percy also didn’t want to return to the bag as he also seemed much more keen to explore around.
Boarding the Airplane
Cat Displeasure Levels - Moderate and rising; Human Embarrassment Levels - High
We took longer than we’d hoped in the washroom, so we had to quickly make our way to gate B21. People were already boarding, but we were lucky to make it onto the first shuttle to the airplane. The shuttle was cramped, loud, and hot, and the cats seemed very displeased to be there. Once the shuttle parked near the plane and the air conditioning turned off, both cats started to meow (not in the cute way) and attracted the stares of fellow passengers, many of whom I’m sure were silently praying not to be seated near us. I tried to fan the cats through the bag, but this didn’t help too much.
We got stuck on the shuttle for about 10 minutes before they had us board from the back of the plane, thankfully right where our seats were located. We snagged some of the last overhead bin space in our area and then proceeded to struggle with fitting the carriers under the seat without completely blocking the flow of other passengers. Things seemed to be going quite well, but then I made the mistake of sitting in someone else’s seat, and I ended up jostling the cats more than necessary when I got up to switch. Getting bumped around prompted many complaints from Percy who then started wailing which then triggered some confused meows from Reinhardt in response. The two then started echoing off each other with some nice high-pitched meows of complaint.
Passengers around us got to listen to the cat choir for an extra 40 minutes as we were told the flight was delayed due to too many planes trying to takeoff. During takeoff, Percy decided he’d complained enough and remained silent for nearly the whole flight minus the few times I accidentally nudged his carrier while trying to stretch my legs.
In the Air: The Washroom Arc
Cat Displeasure Levels - Low & Moderate; Human Embarrassment Levels - Moderately High
Unlike Perseus, Reinhardt decided that he’d really rather not be on this flight at all. He tends to be hit or miss when we fly, sometimes napping so silently we think he’s dead or he’ll meow sporadically to let us know when he’s even the slightest bit displeased. I spent the first 30 minutes of the flight trying my best to calm him down with some valerian calming treats before I started to suspect that he just needed to use the washroom. Unfortunately, snack service was about to start, so I really didn’t want to get up at that moment. As his attempts to escape became more frenzied, I silently cursed him for not going earlier and then went to grab the necessary supplies from the overhead bin.
When taking a cat to do its business on a plane, you’ll want to try and ensure the washroom isn’t occupied as shifting your cat and trying to maneuver the carrier while walking down the aisle will likely start a new round of meows. If you’re like me, you’ll feel your face start to burn up as everyone whips their head in your direction to see what’s meowing and then your arms will also burn as you use one arm to carry the cat and the other to drag a bag of supplies. Most likely the aisle will be narrow and you’ll end up bumping into someone’s overhanging limbs with the carrier and then when you shift to awkwardly apologize to them you’ll also smack into someone else. Sometimes people will even physically block you in hopes of seeing your cat better, and in this scenario I tend to just smile awkwardly while pushing past them. Just remember: the faster you walk down the aisle, the sooner so you can hide away in the washroom!
The washroom on this particular plane was thankfully large enough that I could maneuver around even with two extra bags. To start, I pulled down the baby changing station, set up the litter box on top, and then placed the cat carrier beside it. If you do this with your cat, then I’d recommend only opening the carrier when you’re ready or else you’ll have to hold back your cat from jumping down to the dirty floor. Letting your cat out too soon may also cause your cat to start peeing before the litter box is fully prepared if they are truly desperate to go (this happened once and it was horrific).
My hunch that Reinhardt needed to use the washroom was correct, and he immediately hopped out of the carrier and into the litter box. He made sure to give me a look of disdain, no doubt wondering what took so long, before conducting his business. I made sure to give him a bit of a wipe with some pet-friendly wet wipes as he screams whenever he can smell cat pee and sometimes he has little pee droplets lingering on his hind fur (doesn’t this all sound great?), and then I scooped what was in the box and disposed of it in one of the paper bags I’d packed.
Thankfully, Reinhardt was very content after this and easily climbed back into his carrier!
Just kidding. He had absolutely zero intention of re-entering the carrier (on previous flights he was always fine to just hop back in) and as I tried to push him towards the bag he started howling. I stopped trying to force him out of fear that people would think I was murdering my cat inside the washroom, and then we had a nice little stare down while he sat on top of the litter box. I gave him some head pats while softly speaking to him about the number of germs I was enduring all for his sake because, unlike someone, I certainly made sure to use the washroom before boarding. After about a minute of this, he had the audacity to slow blink me.
I was starting to worry that someone else was waiting for the washroom, so I tried to bribe him back into the carrier with some treats. He seemed content to trade his freedom for some snacks, and so I packed everything up and then quickly sanitized the area.
In the Air: The Poorly Timed Snack Cart
Cat Displeasure Levels - Low & High; Human Embarrassment Levels - Extreme
Of course, I timed my exit perfectly and ended up walking straight into the snack cart that was finished making its rounds. In the process, I’d accidentally hit the carrier into the cart which led to a new round of meows from Reinhardt who undoubtedly was NOT going to leave me a five star Uber review for this trip. I retreated back into the washroom to let the cart pass only to have the flight attendant gesture for me to follow her to the back of the plane.
I started sweating immediately as I assumed she was about to reprimand me and my mind questioned what problem she’d bring up. Were cats allowed in the washroom? Had the seatbelt sign been on and I didn’t see it? Was I even allowed to get up during snack service? Did she realize the carrier was way over the maximum size limit? Had I somehow broken the cart when I bumped into it? Did another passenger complain after I smacked them with the bag earlier? And even through all of these thoughts I couldn’t help but also wonder if I could still get my in-flight snack…
I was relieved to find out the flight attendant was just a fellow cat lover and wanted to know if I could open the carrier so she could pet Reinhardt. Knowing Reinhardt was being moody, I was hesitant to provide him with the slightest chance of freedom, but I also wanted to get on the good side of the attendant after being caught with the carrier out. As I began to unzip the carrier, I realized a second snack cart was heading down the aisle and I was directly blocking it. I tried to move my stuff and shift closer to the back wall to make space only for Reinhardt to take advantage of this distraction by jumping out of the bag. The flight attendant caught him and was shocked by his size (I should mention that he’s also over the weight limit for most flights). The second snack cart finally arrived and.. well, it was a bit chaotic to say the least.
After a long struggle and a tense conversation between the flight attendants in Portuguese, Reinhardt eventually got back into his carrier and the snack cart made it past me. I alternated between apologizing and thanking the flight attendants on my way back to my seat, trying to avoid the gaze of curious passengers who had undoubtedly heard all the commotion. It’s also safe to say that I didn’t bother asking if I could get my snack.
Reinhardt was thoroughly displeased by all the disruptions at this point, and so he spent the rest of the flight letting me know with meows that could even penetrate through noise cancelling headphones. To help appease him, I opened up a liquid tube treat and slowly started feeding it to him throughout the last hour of the flight. He begrudgingly snacked while also emitting a few meows in between. I kept him in his carrier on my lap until it was time to descend, thankfully the flight attendants didn’t seem to mind, and he seemed to like it when I stuck my hand in the carrier to hold his paw. He meowed a few more times when I had to jam his carrier back under the seat, but then he fell silent until we got into the airport.
Up until this point, Perseus had been napping in his carrier. Once we got up to exit the plane, Percy perked up and started meowing in hopes of being let free. Both cats were pretty quiet and calm as we went through the airport, although they were disturbed momentarily by another dog at the baggage carousel. I told Tony to go wait for our suitcase while I stood in a less busy part of the airport which helped significantly. By the time we had our luggage, both cats were napping and we were grateful that they remained asleep while we went to pick up our rental car.
This is just one example of what it might look like to fly with a cat. Some people will have better experiences while others may have an even more stressful time. Obviously it will be different for everyone, but keep in mind that flying with a pet isn’t something to be taken lightly and definitely shouldn’t be seen as something trendy to try just for fun. Even with tons of travel experience, Reinhardt and Perseus still have days like with this flight where they’re much less tolerant of being transported. Thankfully, this flight was actually our worst flying experience to date, and usually the cats are calmer in the airport and sleep for most of the flight.
Here is a parting message from Reinhardt: ]]]]]]]]]]\
