Travel Safely with A Pet

Pet Travel Tips – How to best travel with a dog or cat.

The travel season is approaching and most of us wish Fido or Fluffy could come along on our vacation. Besides, kennels can get expensive! Traveling with your pet can be safe, if you take the proper precautions, says Robert L. Ridgway, DVM.

Remember these three rules to traveling with a pet: Prepare, start without treatment, treat as needed along the way.

1.  Prepare your pet for travel by starting with short trips in the car so the animal gets used to the movement.

Many pets will tolerate trips in a car or a plane just fine. Help your pet prepare for your travel well ahead of time by letting him in the car with you (properly restrained for your safety and his) on short trips around the neighborhood or to the drive-thru bank teller or ATM.

Just remember: never leave a pet unattended in a vehicle. Temperatures can rise to dangerous levels much more quickly than you realize.

2.  Once it is time to leave for your vacation, start your trip without any treatment and use it along the way only if you need it.

If properly prepared (see step 1), your pet could be just fine. Bring along some water and be conscious of how long your pet is cooped up; if you need to stop, then he probably does, too.  Most animals won’t need any sort of sedation or anti-nausea medicine.If, however, your animal is getting motion sickness, then over-the-counter Benadryl will work just fine, given in the proper dose. Give 1-2 mg per pound of body weight.

If your trip is a long one – a flight to Hawaii or overseas – no sedative or medication on the planet will treat the animal for the duration of travel or vacation, so just don’t do it.

“I was assigned to one duty station when dogs were sedated for a flight,” Dr. Ridgway says. “While they were on the tarmac waiting to be loaded onto the aircraft, the dogs died from the heat and depressed central nervous systems due to drugs.”

3.  It is impossible to overdose a pet with over-the-counter medicine. WRONG.

This is a common misconception, Dr. Ridgway says. Overdosing with OTC medicine has resulted in many trips to the animal ER for toxicity – or the death of a beloved pet. If you don’t know the proper dose for your animal’s size, then don’t give the drug, even if it’s available over the counter.

With a little care and a lot of love, you can take care of many of your pet’s ailments at home. But always err on the side of caution and safety. If you are really not sure what to do, then take your pet to a vet for a second opinion.

 

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Robert L. Ridgway, DVM, is the veterinarian at the Orange County Animal Services in Orlando and author of the just-released “How to Treat Your Pets with Over-the-Counter Drugs.” He earned his bachelor’s and DVM degrees at Kansas State University, then attended the University of Maryland University College Masters of Internal Management; he did his residency in internal medicine at the University of California UC Davis College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Ridgway enjoys flying his Cessna 182 and Tampico, as well as collecting coins and new stamps. He is married and has one daughter and one cat.