[Music]
give me a ticket for an airplane i ain't got time to take a fast train
lonely days are gone i'm going home my baby just a roman letter
oh yeah what's up everybody it is your ever loving troubadorial cat daddy jackson galaxy
here to sing my guts out for you why because today we are going to be talking a little bit
about traveling with your cat talking to a friend of ours here named tony who's got a question so
let's get to it right now all right hi jackson um my name is tony and this is my baby bear cat basil
and we are actually getting ready to move now we're actually getting ready to move
across the pacific ocean uh to the island of oahu and it's pretty exciting we had to get him a whole
bunch of vaccinations and all that sort of stuff and he took it like a champ but the deal is now we
have to travel we're going to do two cross-country trips we have to do one oh he's off we have to do
one trip to montana and then we're going to be eventually flying from montana into honolulu
hawaii and so i just wanted to know um could you give us some tips for traveling with a cat uh that
would be very very helpful both long road trips as well as long plane trips all right thanks so
much jackson bye all right so this is uh a lot of travel so tony i'm glad you asked and it sounds
like you and basil are peas in a pod and you're about to be peas in an airplane two times over
first things first let's deal with the carrier because we've talked about this in other videos
check this one out right above my head uh if you want a little bit more uh in depth about it
but the idea is that we want your cat to be as comfortable as they possibly can in their carrier
thinking about their carrier is sort of their portable base camp their panic room the place
that they will go when they're feeling a little bit insecure so then by the time that you go
on a trip like this they're not associating that carrier with bad things happening like oh here it
comes i gotta go to the vet but this is the place they go uh when good things happen their blankets
are in there things that smell like you they get their favorite treats in there you might want to
put this carrier near your bed if he tends to want to sleep in bed with you near bed whatever this
gives him that sense of belonging with you in your main space if at first he's just really not into
the carrier take the door off it take the top off it just make it into a bed make it into a dent so
that you're putting again his favorite blanket goes in there if he doesn't have one yet make
one for him put that blanket on your bed he sleeps on it an old t-shirt of yours yeah i know it might
sound a little ranky but take that t-shirt that's off you right now it's a nice t-shirt take it off
right now put that in his bed uh so it has your smell and that it he can compliment it uh with
his and uh and then his favorite treats whatever that jackpot treat is that basil likes the best
only gets it in that bed in that den in that carrier that kind of thing um but one little
piece of advice for you here well this is all one big piece of advice but but subset a paragraph 17
is make sure that the carrier that you're using is airline approved that's really important
because you could get him all psyched about his carrier and then ba-bang you get to the
airport they're like that is not going under your seat buddy and then you're really stuck
because you do want him traveling under the seat and not in cargo ever okay you don't want your
cat in cargo that's not the place for him to be he will freak so please make sure that ahead of time
now one thing that i think is important for you specifically tony is that you're saying
that you guys are moving moving and this is a very common mistake that that a lot of folks
moving don't really think about which is that your cats are very hip to the fact that you're moving
suitcases are out rooms are emptying out the place is suddenly echoing where it never did before it
is devoid of all territorial signposts that say to them that everything is cool don't forget cats
derive so much of their mojo from that territory and what's in that territory so here you go
when you are going to move out establish base camp check out this video here right here on base camp
and and really follow it to the letter man because i can't give you a stronger piece of
advice set up base camp on your way out and your way in so all of the good stuff that your cat
associates with home and anything that doesn't have to be thrown into a moving truck or whatever
so whether that's cat beds cat blankets food litter box things like that man just keep it
keep it and move it at the very last minute so it just don't expose them to the the mayhem that is
moving don't forget man that that when we move it has been shown that from stress levels in humans
moving house is second only to a death in the family that's the truth so if that's your stress
level just imagine what basil's is going to be so try to keep him safe from that and then as soon
as you get to montana and then as soon as you get to oahu you break out all of his good stuff
and there you go he's he's home wherever he is and i know that it's not possible to do the perfect
iteration of base camp coming and going you're going to be flying stuff over to oahu it's going
to be a little bit of mayhem for you guys not perfect it's okay if it's if it's not perfect
it's still something it use things that are scent soakers things where his scent is strong in them
it'll really help him go okay no matter what these four walls are i'm cool so that's the carrier part
of things make sure as you already have he's already gotten his vaccinations but you know
you want to make sure that his vaccination records are handy you want to make sure that you've got
the health certificate most airlines will not let you fly fly without that health certificate
just make sure that whatever airline that you're dealing with you have dealt with every little
you know thing that could go wrong when you're standing at that ticket counter okay and that
also goes for the airports that you're traveling so whether you're going let's say you're going
new york to butte montana so you want to make sure that at jfk and butte international airport
both of those places that that you're meeting all of the standards that they want you to meet there
and then once you get to hawaii that in oahu same thing okay so you just want to make sure that you
have your bases covered another thing i'd like you to consider is when you're doing airline travel
with your cat and this is there's no exception to this when you're going through tsa they're
going to make you take your cat out of the carrier that's a thing now you can request a private room
for that to happen they have to take you into that private room that that's something they
have to do but if for some reason you're rushed or whatever you might want to think about harness
training your cat now uh get just getting him comfortable in a harness because that way you can
if for some reason you have to take him out in the airport or along the way he's not going to
get away from you if you have the time to prep ahead of time and get him trained into a harness
that's really a great thing to do and i wish i would have known that the first couple of times i
traveled with my cats because it's hairy you know and you're already stressed and they're stressed
you know so knowing that you're not going to lose them in jfk and it's happened is a plus
you know have an emergency kit that you travel with with basil so if he's on any medications
you don't just want to have a couple of days worth you want a couple of weeks worth just in
case you get to montana then get uh to oahu and you're just having trouble finding a pharmacy
that will fill the prescriptions don't forget you're going interstate so you're going to need
to find a vet once you land in your new home that will re-prescribe basil's meds if he does have any
those favorite treats i told you about yeah make sure you got them wet wipes oh my god i can't tell
you how bad you might need those you know extra towels just in case he pees or poops or throws up
in his carrier which let's you know i got to be 100 forthcoming on this i would say the majority
of cats especially in a long trip like this are prone to just a little bit of throw up a little
bit of peer poop it just happens so being able to clean them up and then getting rid of it what's
in that carrier bring a towel that you don't care about to put in the bottom of that carrier because
you may want to just boop you know just get rid of it have garbage bags with you puppy pee pads are
also really nice to have on board but those wet wipes they go a long way make sure that
they are pet approved there are a number of them hypoallergenic unscented really that those are the
things that i wish somebody would have told me you know so i'm not sitting there with like a bag full
of poop or a towel full of poop trying to figure out and everybody else on the plane or in the
airport is running away from me yeah that happened so it happened to me and while you're gathering up
towels or blankets or something like that make sure that you have something that you can use
during the flight to cover the carrier because some cats respond differently some want to see
what's going on and some would rather just be in their cave and not see anything so being able to
restrict sight lines while your cat is traveling is a great option to have again this is you
knowing your cat and if your cat responds better if they're just left in the dark by themselves
as long as they can breathe properly then that's what you want to do for them and then during the
flight you peek in there it's like hey chester how you doing leave me alone right on you know
and on we go but again this is all about options all about choices making sure that in that moment
you can say chester needs a little time out when you get to montana and when you get to oahu basil
is a little out of sorts it's okay he will get back in sorts and and just trying to just adhere
to your normal everyday routines within the chaos of moving goes a long way with cats again it's not
even a matter of being slaves to routine kind of all are to whatever degree which is why moving is
so stressful for us but if you can keep mealtimes somewhat sacred if you can travel with the same
bowls that he would usually eat out of all of these things tony uh are things to consider
it seems like you're already ahead of the game you got all his vaccinations uh checked off uh before
he moves but it's okay it's knocking like i said before whether he's got medication on board or not
it's not gonna be his best couple of days but hey he's got a whole lifetime of living in paradise
by the way uh to make up for it and he's got a great person in you as well uh so i think
everything should be just dandy and we'll talk about car travel some other time man that was
a whole lot just for air travel but you know the principles are still the same right [Music]
so another question that i get asked a lot when it comes to airline travel is about sedation if your
cats aren't the ones who tend to really flip out when they're in their carrier or when they're in
the car for short trips or whatever then just don't do it it's not gonna be the best day of
their life but you know unless they're that cat that freaks out a lot then it's not gonna
be the worst either don't forget they're going to be with you they're going to be under your
seat you can check on them as the flight goes and like i said it's not the best but it's not
the worst start with something like this these are flower essence remedies they're completely
non-toxic non-harmful and and they're not as strong as prescriptions and it's a good place
to start these come with spray tops on them so you can miss the carrier itself give them a few drops
uh that you pet on them during the trip if they're freaking out but that way it's something that you
can just sort of you know keep tabs on and give more as needed as opposed to sort of proactively
you know conking them out now with the guidance of your veterinarian try a few different types
of medications and see how your cats do we all react differently to different types of meds so
this way you can use a smaller dose you can try it out first see what their reaction is and you can
do that in the comfort of your own home with the guidance of your vet before it all happens okay
i'd also be remiss if i didn't brag about this just a little bit this is the
jackson galaxy convertible backpack here's the thing i love about that well i love a lot about
this but when we talk about this becoming his sort of panic room his his sort of this is the place i
go it doesn't just it's not just a backpack where you put it on your back clearly and walk with it
uh which is great in an airport where you've got other bags and everything else but also
this thing is convertible it turns into a carrier okay just like this carrier like that cat in here
and also it is compliant with most airlines of course you have to check with the airline
that you're traveling with but this can go right under your seat this bubble piece gets replaced
with a flat piece and it is a wonderful carrier and it goes under the seat of most airlines it
is airline compliant but again i will have you check with your airline but this i found to be
just a great travel buddy for cats and small dogs by the way so check it out all right now hopefully
hopefully tony that gets you guys off on the good foot going to montana and then to paradise
in oahu i hope you guys have a wonderful life together i know you will in the meantime we'll
talk about car travel some other time let's just get you to oahu in the first place and then we'll
take it from there right okay and for the rest of you guys who want your questions answered
you know the drill by now zoop this address right here just send in the questions just like tony
did show me some cute footage of your cat or your cat doing what you don't want them to do
and hopefully i will be able to answer it for you okay all right don't forget subscribe hit
the bell make sure that you see these wonderful i mean you would have just saw me sing a song by
the wonderful iconic alex chilton in the box tops back in 1960 i don't know what the hell that was
anyhow until next time you guys all light and all love and all mojo to you let's go man let's go
[Music]
give me a ticket for an airplane i ain't got time to take a fast train lonely disney