Celebrating our area's four-legged, feathered and finned friends

By Patience Renzulli

September 19, 2010

Traveling Pets!

The hot summer is over and folks are going to be travelling to friends and family for the holidays, so you don’t want to leave your pet home, do you? No!

Here are some tips for safe travel.

I travel a lot with my waggle of whippets. It occurred to me as I was heading home from Minnesota last week that not everyone knows how easy it is to take your pet along. First some basics. A closed car is a death trap; even in mild temperatures, that car can become an oven in a matter of minutes. Take a copy of your rabies vaccination certificate, as some states require them. Have your pet microchipped, and have a collar with tags that include your cell phone number. Make sure that your pet can’t slip out of the collar.

Nowadays, no one would dream of plunking a baby on a back seat and hitting the highway. Well, a dog or cat is every bit as vulnerable. Many sweet pets are killed in minor accidents because they aren’t secured and they become airborne when the vehicle stops or swerves. A nicely ventillated pet carrier, held in place with safety straps works like a charm! Include a snap on water bucket, and cushy blankets or kitty litter and you’re set to go.

Take some practice runs before your trip. Talk to your vet about some anti-carsick medicine if your pet is drooling or panting or doing the hurka-hurka on your short trial runs. Don’t feed your pet before travel. Maybe a little something three hours before you depart, but save the meals for arrival. Take water from home, and pet’s regular food. This is not the time to be changing things around.

Please be considerate! Most hotels welcome pets. Clean up after your dog and don’t let your noisy pet disturb other guests. Never leave your pet in a hotel room unattended. Check ahead of time to see if pets are allowed, and let them know when you reserve your room that you will be bringing your pet along. Often if you have, oh, say, four whippets with you, the clerk will be nice and give you a ground floor room right next to an exit! And do tip the housekeeping staff.

If you have a slobber-er or a shedder, bring some old sheets from home to cover the hotel furniture. You can bring a lightweight canvas collapsible crate for the hotel room for sleeping; it’s handy to have one at your destination, too.

So have fun and don’t pine for your pet! Take them along!