If you're flying in February I wouldn't even consider moving them by air as there've been well documented issues with airlines messing up the transport with animals being left out on the tarmac with the baggage in the middle of winter and fun stuff like that.
When we were looking into a potential move recently, both my wife and I decided we'll deal with the yodelling rather than putting our three cats on a plane.
Mine got used to the car when they were little - I put them up front with the carrier facing me so I could periodically stick my fingers through the wire. If every trip doesn't end up with the dreaded vet... eventually, they learned it was no big deal, and stopped associating it with something awful.
Last time i took my cats to the vet, they had very different reactions.
Lilah (Egyptian Mau) squeaked and panted like a dog.
Mr. Peach (Huge orange tabby) screamed the whole way. Didn't yowl, didn't meow, didn't whimper or hiss. Just screamed. Like a child.
Unfortunately, the screaming didn't stop once we got out of the car. I received many strange looks in the waiting area.
I always hate hearing myself on camera, but whatever. Here's a panting Mau.
http://youtu.be/wyWS-T3o1fg
mndsm wrote:yamaha wrote: In reply to mndsm: Fill it with catnip......problem solved.Catnip makes my cats all bonkers. I don't wanna deal with that.
Yea... that...
N Sperlo wrote:mndsm wrote:Yea... that...yamaha wrote: In reply to mndsm: Fill it with catnip......problem solved.Catnip makes my cats all bonkers. I don't wanna deal with that.
They mellow out after awhile.....
There are very few reasons I can think of good enough for us to even consider shipping our animals anywhere. When we moved from Wisconsin to Washington, I first drove our two cats out in my Miata then flew back to drive my wife and two dogs out in her Elantra.
Our cats very much dislike car rides, and typically howl incessantly when going to the vet, but ended up not being too bad for most of the trip. I had a mild sedative for them, which I gave them before we left...But since they weren't very interested in eating for the rest of the day I was not able to re-dose them. Ultimately I didn't end up giving them any more for the rest of the trip, as they more-or-less accepted defeat after a certain point with only occasional outbursts. The most disconcerting thing was their refusal to go to the bathroom for the first two days of travel...But by the time we arrived at the hotel the second night, their willpower had waned. A blanket to put over their crate seemed to help quiet/calm them too. No, it wasn't the most enjoyable trip I've ever made, but it did spur me on to put in longer days and make better time and I believe it was FAR better for their physical and mental well being.
La Quinta is always a safe bet for a pretty reasonably priced hotel that does not charge any extra pet fees. There are 'pet friendly' web sites that can help find other pet friendly hotels and let you know what (if any) pet fees they have.
I am going to suggest the Baroness try getting the cat more used to car rides. Maybe see if my dad would be ableto fly them aacross country. Although that would be a lot of travel for him and he typically goes cross country at altitudes that require him to use oxygen.
USPS large flat rate box maybe? 
Yea, go ahead and ship that cat...
I'm not going to mention "air mail" or "dead cat bounce" or "Schrodinger's Cat" I'm just not going to do that. It would be wildly inappropriate.
eastsidemav wrote: TBH, if you are having to have the cat shipped via airline, I'd suggest seeing if you can find it a new home in the town you are moving from. It sucks to give up pets, but whats been said about transporting pets by air makes it sound like an already easily-scared cat could be very traumatized.
I hate cats(for the most part) and I think I'd rather go out back and put a round of currently very precious .22LR in its head than hand it to an airline.
Erm.... how about Orvillecopter? Then they can fly themselves!
In reply to Kenny_McCormic:
Way to contribute to the thread. Next time, read your post out loud, and consider hitting "back" instead of "post".
Something, something, if you don't have anything nice to say.....
On topic, I 2nd the sedative idea. Also consider putting their small carrier inside a bigger plastic dog carrier plastic tote with high sides, so if they do decide to make a mess, it's contained and not on your car seats. My friend learned that the hard way.
I patented the snake shipping container.
Beer Baron wrote: I am going to suggest the Baroness try getting the cat more used to car rides.
This can't hurt. Our cat alternates panting and screaming when she's in the car. When we had to take her on a longer trip, we took her for a 1 hour round trip in the car for 5 consecutive days before the trip. Tried to make everything as close to the way it would be on the trip. Used the same vehicle, both of us went, let the cat out of her carrier after she settled down. Even had a litter box she could get to and use. With each day she stopped freaking out a bit earlier.
On our actual trip, she stopped screaming after about 1/2 hour and settled down. A couple of hours after we let her out of the carrier, she pooped in her litter box while we were driving down the interstate. The stench was so powerful that we had to pull over and empty the litter box within a couple of minutes. Whenever we drive that stretch of highway we note it is "kitty crap hill."
some combination of bubble wrap, shipping peanuts, and expanding foam in a well sealed double walled cardboard box would seem to be the best way to ship something fragile like a living animal.
We've tranqed more than one cat and let it ride cross country in the cat carrier. Sometimes they would still yowl, but it was much more a stoner yowl. If it got to be too much, more drugs!
Seriously though, use a carrier, so said pet doesn't escape.
And add me to the list of don't fly it people.
Where's Mitt Romney when you need him?
M2Pilot wrote: Where's Mitt Romney when you need him?
Clark Griswold also knew a thing or two about transporting pets..
In reply to novaderrik:
Also had some experience with transporting elderly female relatives IIRC.
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