[mcmp22]

My wife and I will likely be moving to NZ from the USA in early 2008. We have begun to prepare our three cats for importation, but are concerned about the effects of flying and quarantine. Our eldest cat, female age 9, does not travel well, even in a 5 minute car ride to the vet she salivates so much it reaches the floor of her carrier. Our large male (7 years) traves OK but is scared to death of anyone new. The third cat does well on almost all accounts. I have heard that flying can really screw up an animal, and with the condition of our pets I wonder what is in their best interest. We love them so much, and they are sooo attached to us, that we worry about the trauma of them moving in with my mother. But we worry transporting may be worse. We already have a carrier that has provided a quote and I have all the vet visits planned out. Any information good or bad is greatly appreciated.

[BkyMonster]

I only have dogs, so this may not work with cats...

Have you tried crate training them?
As in getting them the crate they will travel in and playing with them in it, giving them treats, doing soothing things while they are in the crates?

Even though they are cats you may want to experiment with getting them used to being in the crate for periods of time. (My dogs sleep at night in their crates and stay in them when we are away so they stay out of trouble. They looove their crates :) )

Then take them for car rides in the crates to see if that improves things. Even take them places (like a park) in the carrier while providing positive reinforcement in the form of treats and soothing noises.

For the flight you will either have to fly you and them to LA(or other port of exit) and have a day or more break between flights while they stay with you or have them boarded at least overnight by the shippers.
The USDA inspector inspects them on the day of flight before 4 pm and the AirNZ flights are in the later evening so they will be crated for nearly a day.
Not what you want to hear I'm sure :(
As for the shy cat I'm sure they are used to dealing with all kinds of nervous animals. He will probably come through better than you think.

They are allowed some small item like a blanket or towel as well. Get the older one used to that now as well so it is just one more comforting thing they can travel with.

In the cattery they will probably settle down fairly quickly and of course you can visit them.

I hope that helps some.

[Jo Jo]

Bkymonster has given some good advice about getting the cats used to their crates, etc.

I have two cats, and had exactly the same worries as you. My two cats were feral cats, and weren't rescued until they were about 9 weeks old. When we first got them they were still very feral - hissy, spitty, bitey and scratchy, and it took months to get to the stage where we could handle them easily and they started acting like normal cats (months during which I did wonder on several occasions why I hadn't just got nice little normal cats instead of two devil cats). However, they grew into lovely cats, but, like your second cat, they are scared of anyone new, and anything out of the ordinary, and getting them into carriers and taking them to the vets is a nightmare (last time it took us an hour to catch them and get them into their carriers, and my husband as covered with scratches and bites - I wasn't hurt because after the first attack I stood to one side, wringing my hands and refusing to do anything!)

I, too, was worried that the flight from the UK to NZ would be too much for them. I thought they would die of fright, or would be so traumatised by the flight that they would not be the same afterwards. But it turns out they were absolutely fine. When we picked them up at the airport they were nervous, but didn't seem traumatised at all. And they hadn't bitten any of the people from MAF, which is a bonus. In the car on the way back to the house, they yowled for the whole journey (3 hours!) and were obviously quite wary when we got to our new home, but they settled down really quickly, and are completely unscathed by their ordeal. In fact, if anything, they are more affectionate now than they were before, and they seem happier than they were before as well.

As for the quarantine, as Bkymonster says, your cats will probably settle in quite quickly, and you will be able to visit them. As we came from the UK our cats didn't have to go into quarantine, so I can't offer any first-hand reassurances about that, but if you do a search you will find other threads on the subject I'm sure.

Sorry to write such a long post, but I just wanted to give you a bit of info about my cats, as everytime I read posts on here about people's cats I thought, "Yes, but my cats are far more nervous than other people's - maybe mine won't cope well". But they did, and are absolutely fine, and none the worse for their flights.

I hope this helps reassure you somewhat.

[Lara Croft]

We are flying 7 cats with us, and one of them is a terrible traveller. Like mcmp22's cat, he froths at the mouth when he is scared, and when we take him to the vet he is a nervous wreck.

We've been advised to get him used to going in the car, and being boxed up for short journeys, also to try the Feliway pheromone spray to calm him, and Rescue Remedy. With around 8 weeks until we move, we are planning to start taking him out, and see whether the Feliway or RR drops will help, so I'll let you know how we get on.

I am also going to box him with another of our cats, in the hope that if he is not alone he might not get so nervous.

JoJo I had to smile at your description of boxing your cats. We have 2 like that, almost feral, and my husband had the job of boxing them when they had to go and be spayed. After chasing Treacle all around the house, he finally cornered her on the curtain rail in the kitchen, where she nearly dragged the curtains down with her! His arms were scratched and he bled all over the car on the way there.

We have yet to decide who gets the pleasure of boxing her this time... :-)

Jane

[BkyMonster]

Here are a few more tips for crate training an animal.
Leave the crates lying around -open- for them to examine at their leisure. When they go in, reward them with nice pets, soothing noises and treats.
If you want to put them in for practice pick them up when they are sleepy or relaxed and put them in, then give pets and treats.
Don't try to get them to be comfortable in the crates for more than 5 minutes at a time unless they seem happy. If they are scared, just leave it and try again later.
Practice closing the door for short periods of time, but do it playfully and open it if they seem nervous. Work up to longer times.

Then once they are very comfortable with the crate and see it as a happy place try taking them places, a car ride or similar and see if the behavior has changed.
:cheers

[Pip]

its always a hard one - this topic. Our cat/was is very nervous as an ex-rescue cat and hates travelling in cars, so I had huge guilt trips and visions of her dying of shock on the plane on the journey from the UK. Needless to say she was absolutely fine and her quality of life like ours has improved dramatically.

In the UK she was an indoor cat living in a 2 bed flat. here, she has a four bed house set in four acres and has learnt to use a cat flap (at the age of 3!) and comes and goes as she pleases. Now i'm sure it was a horrible 36 hrs for her to get here, but when I see her lying around in the sun, chasing moths in the early evening or rolling around on the parsley in my herb garden - she looks so content, it was definitely worth it. the other day she climbed her first tree. Thankfully she hasn't caught any little creatures yet, but she's having fun trying!

again - sorry, can't comment on the quarantine issue, just to echo others, in that they are probably more resiliant than we realise..

best of luck..