Many of you know that Shindy cat can be a bit ... vocal ... when riding in a cat carrier in my car. "yaaaaaaaaaaaaaoooooowr!" "raaaaooo!" "YOWR!!!!" I've not found anything to comfort her. I've tried putting the carrier up high enough so she can see out the window. I've talked to her like a therapist: "oh, really? And then what happened?" "how did that make you feel?" I've even tried speaking her language, or my best shot at it, anyway: "YAAAAAAOOOO!" "mmrrrrrppph."
Well, she's LOUD in the car. Sometimes hurts my ears. And she never stops. When I took her up to see my Mom after my Dad ran over Mom's foot (long story), she yowled the entire way to Syracuse, and the entire trip back, too. So I'm thinking there's no way I can bring her onto a plane and let this happen. I'd be far less popular than someone with a crying child. I've never been fond of the idea of drugging others to make my own travels more pleasant, but those are some loooonnnnggg flights to Denver from NY. And moreover, it's not just me that would be disturbed, but the entire plane.
When you bring pets on a plane, besides needing to make a special reservation and get an appropriate carrier, you're supposed to have a certificate from a vet stating your pet has been examined and found in good health within 10 days of travel. So clearly, I bring up this problem with my vet. Her first reaction was "oh, you won't need to drug her." "No, wait. This is how she behaves in a car." "But a plane is different." "No, wait. You don't know how loud she is. And that she never stops."
So reluctantly, my vet gave me some tranqs for Shindy. And we discussed doing a trial run, because the occasional feline gets wound up on the drugs, instead of calmed down -- just like human psychotropic pharmaceuticals. I briefly consider handing out earplugs to everyone on the plane.
When I was at Phoebe and Thorsten's, I did the trial. Drug is supposed to take up to an hour to kick in. I gave a half pill to Shindy upstairs, then went down to the living room and did internet stuff. After a bit, I hear: "thud. thud. thump." Shindy is feeling unsteady on her pins - walking like a drunkard. I'm thrilled that the drugs are working. I feel bad for Shindy - she looks like the floor is unsteady for her. But of course, it's also hilarious. "ha ha ha ha ha poor dear ha ha ha ha"
Does she just curl up and fall asleep? noooOOOOOOOooo. She actually proceeds to walk around and tries to play.
Again, on the excellent advice of my vet, I take Shindy for a car ride while she was under the influence. "yowr" "rao" -- same behavior, but instead of an 11 on a scale of 1 to 10, it's now a 3. Hmmmmm. Might be okay, what with the plane noise.
Well, travel day came, and had it's own "hunt for Delilah" entertainment. Shindy is drugged before ride to Syracuse airport. A little vocalizing in the car. A little helpful ignorance from the people manning the American airlines counter - no examination of pet carriers, documents, or collection of $80 per cat fee.
Unhappy kitties going through security. Mike, who was sweet enough to accompany me for the second under-the-seat spot for the cats, had a squirming Shindy cat as he got manually searched ... but we all made it through. Cat carriers are black and not so obvious, so they were not as much of a spectacle as I feared.
Once on the planes - quiet as lambs. Delilah is in a safe, enclosed space, and just endures. Shindy cat is ... blissfully! ... silent. I didn't even give her the second dose of tranqs.
The airplane rides freaked them out so much that they were silent for the whole car ride up to Greeley. I luuuuuuurv my kitties.
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