Traveling With My Cat Overseas

I traveled overseas from Washington Dulles to Frankfurt with my cat as my carry on.

Eva goes international!

Planning for it was more stressful than the actual flight. My cat made it easy for me. She did so well and got some deserved sleep.

Here are the most important steps for bringing Eva to Germany:

My first step was finding a great airline that allows pets to be in the cabin with me. I usually fly United, so I went with them. My cat, Eva, was an additional $125 to carry her in the cabin. (I made this reservation over the phone because United only allows a certain number of pets in each cabin at a time. So, I called to make sure she would be one of the few cats on the plane before purchasing our tickets.)
United requires a pet health certificate, basically just making sure her rabies vaccine was up to date and was given 28 days before the flight. Their only other requirement was that her carrier was a certain size or smaller. I had a soft-sided carrier that was the exact measurements as they have online.
Health Certificate for not only United, but also for entry into Germany. Eva needed her rabies up to date, along with a working and specific type of microchip. I went through Banfield pet hospital for a health certificate. She was taken into the vet for a whole day while they worked on this paperwork. The USDA has to sign and approve the certificate, so Banfield sent it to them that day. This all also had to be done within 10 days of travel. I received the certificate from the USDA about a week before the flight since her appointment was 9 days before the flight. It was about $300.
I think I was supposed to show Eva’s health certificate to the customs worker once we enter Germany. I had her in her carrier, but they must not have noticed and didn’t ask about it. I did tell him that I have my cat here and handed him her certificate. I don’t think he looked at it. Anyway, we must have passed because she’s sitting next to me in our Germany apartment.

The experience of traveling with my cat, Eva:

Tips:

I have been told to not feed your pet in the morning or during the flight so they don’t need to use the bathroom. Just base it on your own pet.
- Eva ate in the morning, but did not go to the bathroom during our travels. I tried to feed her a snack during the flight, but she refused. I had a feeling she would hold her bladder until we arrived to the apartment, and she did just that.
- Our entire travel day was a 2 hour drive to the airport, time spent going through security and at the gate, a 8.5 hour flight, and 1 hour for customs and bus ride to my apartment. 12 or so hours in total.
Pee Pads are a good idea
- I did buy pee pads for her carrier, which annoyed her so much that she moved them to the side of the carrier.
Collar in case she escapes
- I bought Eva her first collar with my information on it. I was so nervous she was going to run around the airport
Calming Spray, Drops, & Collar in place of Medication
- I wasn’t allowed to give her anxiety medication because the flight was apparently too long, so we tried these alternatives
  - Eva couldn’t care less about the spray, but I think the drops helped.
Eva has asthma, which didn’t effect her receiving a travel certificate. I wasn’t sure if she wouldn’t be “cleared for travel,” but they only looked at rabies vaccines and her microchip.

When I was checking into the flight at the airport, I had to go to a special counter for in cabin pets. The United worker did not even look at Eva, might have glanced at her carrier, and didn’t ask for the health certificate. He asked me when her last rabies vaccine was and wrote it on her ticket.

The Stories of Traveling with Eva:

Eva’s first time through security could have been a nightmare. Security was one of the slowest I have ever seen, just to add to the stress. They told me to take Eva out of her carrier and just wait. I pull Eva out of her carrier like a wet noodle. She had a quick change of attitude once she looked around and became scared. So here I am, standing in the middle of security with my cat scratching my arms so hard I am bleeding. I held onto her for dear life, as all I could picture is Eva running across the airport and everyone chasing her.

We were taken through the metal detector and to the corner of security to wipe down and test my hands for illegal substances. It was so loud in there that I couldn’t hear and thought they asked for Eva’s hands, so I gave them Eva’s paws. I couldn’t stop laughing when TSA said, “NO. Your hands. Not her paws.” They really expected me to hold her with one arm while I gave them my hands.

She goes back into her carrier like a little angel and we board the plane. Turns out, the whole plane wants to say hi to Eva when we walk on.

Eva sleeps for most of the 8.5 hour flight. She was getting restless towards the end of the flight, and let out her first meows. I put her carrier on my lap, zipped my arm in and pet her, since I was not allowed to take her out. I was surprised she slept for so long because I was not allowed to give her medication for the flight. The vet told me it was too long of a flight, even though I wanted her to have some.