From: bron@iastate.edu (bronwyn)
Subject: Re: kitty travel
Originator: bron@aviator.cc.iastate.edu
Organization: Iowa State University, Ames, IA (I think)
Date: Mon, 4 Jan 1993 12:06:24 GMT

In article <72771@cup.portal.com> Nervid@cup.portal.com (Dave Dave Luke) writes:
>I'd like to know if anyone has good advice for international kitty
>travel.  

Advice point #1.  Have a certificate of disease-free status issued
*in the city of origination* on or before the date of departure, valid 
for at least two weeks *after* the landing date, specifying that the
animal is current on rabies, etc.  IF customs suspects a disease, Egypt
(in this case) will quarantine the animal for 15 days. (Far shorter than
in some countries, but it's not a picnic, either.)  The pet should 
probably be seen by an egyptian vet, just to see if there are any local
health concerns.

>My mother is taking our cat from Delaware, USA to Cairo,
>Egypt.  Once she gets to Egypt, she'll be staying in a hotel for a
>month before she moves to an apartment.  Are there any kennels or
>companies that could safely and easily ship "Minki" after my mother
>has secured an apartment?  Or should she take her on the plane herself
>and drag her around Cairo until she finds an apartment? 

Gak.  I've flown this before.  It's not pretty.  My total travelling time
(flight time + layover time) was supposed to be 12 hours.  It turned out
to be over 18.   

I would strongly advise your mother to take Minki with her as *carry on*.
Why?  The flight (TWA style) is about 15 hours. American style, the flight
is 21 hours.  That's 15 to 21 hours in a pet carrier, not allowing for any
problems at all in the flight schedule. You can't exactly count on water
staying in the pet carrier (Turbulence, kids).  The pets are shipped all 
alone in an area of the plane that really isn't very hospitable.  I don't 
know who the biggest offenders are, but there have been reports of animals 
dying in the pet cargo areas.  (I do suspect that a *few* of these deaths
could be owner attributable.)  While they may say that the climate is 
controlled, they screw up royally when they screw up.  (Anyone heard the 
one about putting hand soap in the tanks instead of aviation fuel?  Saw 
that one in the paper not too long ago.  What a confidence builder.)  
While the cargo people I talked to said that their time limit for shipping 
pets was 24 hours in transit time, please consider problems.  If a flight 
is cancelled for any reason, the next connecting flight could be up to 24 
hours later.  If a flight is delayed again, you could have a frazzled kitty
that's been in transit for over 36 hours.

However, if your mother took minky as carry-on, she could attend to it's
needs (food, water, etc) and watch for distress signals.  While there 
isn't much she could do (Excuse me, captain, please land the plane so my
cat can get off?) I'm sure it would be easier on the cat to have a familiar
person along.  You might look into getting a sedative for the trip.
(Please remember to try it out first.  *during* the trip is *not* a good
time to find out that Little SnoBall isn't affected by MondoValium.)

>Any other creative ideas for this transit?  

Do you know anyone else going to Cairo within an acceptable time frame?

Concerns: Will the hotel in Egypt accept pets?  If indeed the pet is
quarantined for 15 days, does that cause a big problem?  *is* the animal
current on all vaccines? Is it likely that she will find an apartment
in which cats aren't a problem?  (Hum.  Wonder what rules are common in
Cairo..)

Oh, and remind her to haggle.

--
Bronwyn J Scrutton                                          bron@iastate.edu
Project Vincent                                               (515) 294-4994
                    If it's not one thing, it's Bronwyn. 
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats