10 Travel Tips with Pets for the Holidays

Hitting the road with your pet this howliday season? You’re not alone, more people than ever are traveling with their best pals with four legs. Watch HERE as I offer handy tips….all beginning with the same way get to Carnegie Hall: Practice, Practice, Practice.

Here’s the way to do it:

1. Get the pet acclimated to the carrier….make the carrier a “happy place.”
2. Use Adaptil (a pheromone product for dogs) or Feliway (a pheromone product for cats) to help pets feel more comfortable in their own surroundings.
3. Leave the carrier out all the time, as if it is a piece of furniture. Periodically drop treats inside it, so it becomes an automatic treat dispenser.
   

   Not the suggested way for cats to travel

4. Begin to carry the pet around the house in the carrier. After the “house tour,” feed the pet so there’s a positive association with being carried about inside the carrier. The pet will associate the meal with the carrier ride, however brief.
5. As a training tool, use Solliquin (a natural product that reduces stress/anxiety) for all pets. Even pets that don’t appear to be stressed might be.
6.  For pets who previously have been car sick, see your veterinarian, and ask about an anti nausea drug, such as Cerenia.
   

   Funny but dangerous, as objects can blow into the pets eyes and nose, and some pets have been known to fall out of the window

7. Use the same pheromone products (Adaptil and Feliway) in the car.
8. Practice the car travel, first with just turning on the motor but going nowhere. After the experience, the pet gets fed and/or played with – to associate a positive result.
9. At first only travel around the block, and the same – feed after or play, so the pet associates the travel with a positive outcome. For dogs, you can also visit a dog park or a canine friend.
10. Small dogs and cats are safest in a carrier or small dogs in a safety seat made for small dogs. Pets should never travel on laps of passengers in the front seat.