"I daresay some of us stress more than animals do in airport transport situations"  I do; I do.  Loved to fly as a kid.  Going into LaGuardia back when you could listen to your pilot on (free) head phones talking to ATC and looking out the window while circling, dropping through the holding pattern; I saw a plane pass us circling in the other direction.  We suddenly lurched up and I heard our pilot calmly say: "Control, what was that wide body off my wingtip?"  Control was silent for several seconds and then instructed a climb of 500 feet (half a level).  Our pilot confirmed already at that level.

It was years later before I found out there's a standard procedure executed during these near misses, including that one plane goes up a half level and one goes down and they do it automatically depending on which way they are circling which is why evey other plane circles in holding right and the others left.

And that isn't even the incident that made me afraid to fly :)

I can't understand flying pets in cargo. I simply won't do it - if potential owners can't pick their puppy up in person, then they're not getting a puppy from us. I need to meet the new owners in person, and I need to see them make that degree of comittment to their new family members. 

I compare it to babies - if you wouldn't stick your 3 month old baby in a cargo hold, why would you put your puppy there?

The cabin is just fine. Sure, we'd rather not stress any animal but I daresay some of us stress more than animals do in airport transport situations. After all, fear of flying can be extreme for some humans. But we all make do when we have to. And I find that most pets travel much better than my clients expect them to. 

Thanks PJB.  It was stressful even in the cabin, but it was the only way.

Dr. K, Sorry, know that's the way it's portrayed in the media and just know there's always someone who grieves too.*  And, I oh so agree it is a miracle there aren't more.

*Every time an elder pet is up for adoption and hits one of the lists I'm on, someone says "I can't imagine any circumstances that would make me give up a pet."  It always hits a chord with me because I can.  This topic generally hits a similar chord.

Stefani, I think we were talking about shipping them cargo rather than accompanied in coach :)

Is it ALWAYS numbskully to transport kittens, even if they are in the cabin with you?  Even if transporting them is the only way to save them?

The cats that I have that I rescued from a colony in Italy (two I adopted out, two I kept) obviously were transported here to the US on a plane.  In the cabin, with me.  The only time I ever got to fly business class, thanks to my company.  Sabena air.  The stewardesses were charmed by the fact that kittens were on the plane and offered me anything to help. 

It was horribly stressful for the wee ones (about 8 weeks old) and they already were just fighting off URIs, so the minute I got home I had to rush one of them to the ER -- dehydration from the flight and stress had caused a flare up of the disease.

All the same, all four survived, all four got good homes, otherwise at LEAST three of them would have died within a week or two on the streets, and the only one healthy enough to probably make it through kittenhood would have had the life of a sickly street cat on the truly mean streets of Naples.  It was the only way  . . . .

Personally, I could never "order a pet on the internet."  The whole thing,  seems sketchy and a little irresponsible to me.  Besides, I just would not feel right about the animal being unattended in cargo, not knowing what it might be subjected to.  If I had my heart set on a dog or cat from a breeder, I would try to arrange a caravan.   Fortunately, I like my cats unpedigreed.    The ones I have from streetcat stock are my smartest cats, and I don't think it's by coincidence.

PJB: Consider me chastised. A handful is way too many. But considering the numbskulls willing to fly baby kittens cross-country, it's a miracle more don't succumb. 

"only a "handful" of pets die in plane trips"  That's a handful too many if one of mine is in there.  Besides, they never want to cough up the details of how it happened!

"Cargo areas are temperature and pressure controlled"  Nope.  Most modern civilian planes are equipped for it but it is done per the airlines SOPs and at pilot option.  Pressurizing is more common than temperature control.  Most cargo holds run temp from 30-70 degrees F during flight so are more often equipped with heating capability (same rules as pressurizing, SOP and pilot option) but rarely with A/C.  If you're stuck on the tarmac for 3 hours, the heat can be extraordinary in a cargo hold, especially if the plane was on the ground for a while before being loaded.  Heat is usually to 45 degrees F and pressurization is often nominal.  If the pilot encounters power losses, these will be at the top of his/her list of places to steal power from.  Many aircraft have multiple cargo holds and pressurization and temperature control is set for them individually to save energy, fuel and costs.  There have been accidents involving cargo placed in the incorrect cargo hold although those have been reduced over the years.

Find pilots who are in training and need flight hours.  Their puddle jumpers will take longer to get you there but you can have your critters up top and what you pay them defrays their cost for getting needed flight time.

Mine are either going to be in the seats adjacent to me or ditto in my vehicle. Then I know what pressures and temps they're being subjected to.

My mom's been feeding a feral, or perhaps semi-feral, up here in the DC area for over a year.  After all this time, he will let her get close enough to scratch his head a bit while he's eating, but any rapid movements and he bolts. He will not come in, and he disappears if other humans are around.

You are probably aware that before Christmas DC got 16 inches of snow dumped.  The cat, who my mom calls "The Grey Ghost," was not to be seen.  Anywhere.  She was sure he was dead.

Lousy timing, since I'd bought her a Feral Villa as a Christmas gift.

All is well . . . for now.  He showed up on Christmas Eve.  However, he shows no interest in entering his insulated Feral Villa and we are already dipping into the 20s here . . .

Patricia: I can't understand why your approach isn't considered the norm. A family member you'll live with for the next 15 years deserves no less...IMO. 

Linda H: I agree. The new 3-hour times are a boon to us pet people. The important thing to know is this: Unless you're waiting on the tarmac for long times, temps are not a problem since the cargo hold is temp controlled for almost all airlines. For airlines who consider themselves "pet friendly," their cargo holds are also heated/cooled while the plane is on the tarmac. The efficiency of this heating/cooling, however, may not be up to human standards, though.

It bears mentioning, however, that only a "handful" of pets die in plane trips in the US (according to surveyed carriers in an Associated Press study from 2008). It's also worth noting that carriers will tell you if their cargo areas are cooled or heated during tarmac waits. Still, I'd worry mightily about poor body conditioned and very young, old or sick pets. 

I have a friend on the east coast that just purchased a Sealyham from Australia. It was last Spring, the 4 1/2 mo. puppy flew into LAX, which she flew out to meet the pup and have her under the seat for the rest of the flights back east.

I did not want to even ask how much all the plane fare cost, but probably far more than the puppy!

I bought a Tibetan Spaniel off the internet.  I made sure the breeder was a member of the TSCA and I got references from those people.  I also talked to the breeder a lot before I made the purchase.  She was uncomfortable letting the dog go North in December because of the weather, and I was not comfortable shipping the dog in cargo.  So I got the dog in the middle of January, still cold weather in the north.  Actually it was easy and only a bit more expensive to fly myself to Texas to meet the breeder and dog, and fly back on the same day with the dog beneath the seat in a Sherpa bag. That way if anything happened on the flight with weather, the dog was with me and I could attend to the dog.  To me this was the most humane way to get my dog.

Cargo areas are temperature and pressure controlled when flying. If they wren't they would never allow an animal to travel in cargo since the temperature at the height planes fly is extremely cold and the air is lacking in oxygen. It's the wait on the tarmac that can be dangerous in the cases where planes get delayed for hours. The new rules that give big fines for waits over three hours will help.

I've always been more concerned about high temperatures than low ones. A mostly solid crate (as they must be for shipping) with good bedding will allow an animal to burrow down and curl up for heat retention, if necessary.

I've always been surprised at how well my dogs (50 lbs and lean) handle cold temperatures. It's getting down near freezing now at night and even my old guy with the sparse coat doesn't want to come in from the yard (in the summer he only wants to go out to do his business). Inside at night it is mid-50's (colder near the floor) and they still sleep sprawled out. The only difference is they sleep on the rugs, not the bare floor but they still only rarely seek out the beds provided.

Dr. K., were you able to impress, at all, on the owners of that kitten, that any cat, let alone a single 8 wk old baby, is going to be scared crapless by flying and the temp problems certainly won't help?  Or did they not see anything wrong with the whole concept because they've done it before and the breeder(s) think it's perfectly normal to scare their products in transit?

With the new idiotic regulations from TSA that are sure to come after this incident on Christmas, I'd bet no animals, even little ones, will be allowed to fly as carry-ons really soon.  Hmmm, are Amtrac freight cars temperature controlled? 

As others have said, I would never have a pet fly in cargo, and I highly doubt I'll fly anywhere ever again.  Unless I have the $$$ to charter a private plane and get around the TSA's ideas of sensible (HA!) security regulations.

Gotta go with Sonya on this one.  A pet is a member of the family, and a member of my family isn't "cargo" regardless of temperature.

I could never fly an animal in cargo.  Ever.  I would drive or not go.

I agree that heat is far worse. Which is why cold is such an insidious problem--so much harder to argue the point that x is too cold to be humane.

As to hot weather and pads the rule of thumb is this: If it's too hot for your feet it's too hot for your pet's. Period. 

I myself don't tolerate heat or cold very well, so the furkids follow my lead. :O) If I'm too hot, they go out, do their business and I call them in. When it's cold, the younger ones get to play outside longer than the oldsters. Being shelties, they do like the cooler weather. This morning it was 18 degrees with a wind chill in the single digits - and I had three that wanted to race around outside and chase each other. Brrr! I brought the old ladies (12 and 106 at best estimate) in and let the young'uns run for 5 minutes. Then they got called in. Yeah - too cold for me, too cold for them!

Posey, I'm also in Dallas, and I have to tell you, my guys have been LOVING this weather. :P It probably depends on your individual dog's tolerance. Lizzie and Kaylee (German Spitz and Rough Collie) both are equipped with coats that were adapted to deal with a MUCH cooler climate.

Hi Posey

I have them out in temps of -10 celcius so I think your temps are likely not as cold. Depends on  their pads, I  trust that the hair on their paws and between their toes protects a bit. Extreme heat would be just as bad I think.  I still take them out as they need the exercise, but we don't walk for more than 45 minutes in extreme heat or cold.

I've wondered the same as Andrea about exposing their pads to extreme temperatures.  It doesn't often get frigidly cold in Dallas, but it does get extremely hot.  In the summer, I figure if I wouldn't run around barefoot, the dog probably shouldn't either.  It's the cold that's harder to gauge.  For example, we just had a Christmas "blizzard" (by Texas standards).  I haven't walked my dog since the 23rd because of the cold and ice, but now that it's thawing, I'm guessing it's okay during the day.  What about at night, though, when the temp drops?  Any thoughts?

Oh, and I can't find booties to fit her massive feet.  : )

I simply hope never to have to fly with my dogs in cargo. My boston (who is not a typical boston, in this rare case his puppy mill breeding - he's a shelter boy- benefits him. No pushed in face, no breathing problems, great heat tolerance) could only be snuck into the cabin by squishing him into a carrier designed for a smaller dog. My frenchie would fit under a seat, but would drive everyone nuts with his complaints.

There's Pet Airways now, and I might consider that, but honestly, for years now we've limited our options to either getting a trusted housesitter to care for the dogs, or driving with the dogs.

Having worked briefly for the FAA, I would simply never be able to put an animal in a cargo hold and I'm not a fan of flying either.

What about obese dogs?

I'd wager that a lot more obese dogs are shipped when it is too hot than emaciated dogs shipped when it is too cold.

I mean, seriously, who ships a dog with a body score of 1?

Same problem with brachycephalic dogs.

I don't have cats at the moment but a small kitten in the hold of a airplane, I can't imagine that would be good.

My dog Riley, like Cindy's, would stay out in all kinds of weather. He's a Golden Retriever/Standard Poodle cross and his coat is heavy and quite dense. Our female is the cross but doesn't like the cold nearly as much.

My bigget worry is the pads of their feet in winter. I live in Canada and we get lots of snow and really cold temps. I love to walk the dogs but worry about the pads of their feet in the snow and ice. Since they have lots of hair on their feet, this stuff sticks like glue. Is there any recommendation as to how long you can have your dog out walking in winter before you are doing damage to their pads. They just won't tolerate booties - I don't blame them. Silly looking things.

My lord, I was worried about my own kittens in my bedroom when they first got home since I usually leave a window cracked a 1/2 inch to let some fresh air come through and it was a bit chilly at night.  I can't even imagine an 8 week old kitten all alone and cold in a cargo hold for any length of time.  (OK, just the idea of a kitten all alone makes me want to cry anyway.)  My kittens are big enough and smart enough now to have figured out if they're a bit cold at night, they can burrow under the covers and snuggle with me.  (And they happily do!)

And then you have my dog.  He thinks he is the wild dog of the north.  As best we can tell, he's a Tibetan Terrier mix and has a lovely thick coat, but trying to get him inside on a cold and windy day is like pulling teeth.  He would stay out on the deck for hours if I let him do it and not be the worse for wear.  There have been more than a few nights where I have been chasing him about the backyard after we supposedly "agreed" that it was his last trip out and it would be a quickie.

There are just so many variables involved, I can see how it would be incredibly difficult to say with any certaintly what temps an animal can be content in and for how long.

EEEKK! Eight week , less than 2 lb. kitten shipped in cargo? Was it on an airline with controlled temperature section of the hold?

Weather exposure has to be tied to common sense. I don't let my elderly dogs stay out as long as the same weight younger dogs, Baby animals? Same as elderly!