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Flying a Cat

bpattonsoa

bpattonsoa

Well Known Member
My wife, cat and I will be building a house in Independence, Or. starting in the next couple of weeks. We might end up moving soon to a rental because our house is on the market and we have had a couple of offers.

Since this plan came about, my wife has been more worried about moving the cat than building the house! Since it is a two day drive to Independence from our current location, I have been thinking about flying him in my RV-6A. Unless there are very bad headwinds, it is a nonstop flight, about 3.5 hours.

He is older, inside/outside type, about 12.5 years and mostly mellow. He does not like to travel in his cat carrier, trips to the vet are a real pain. I mostly worry about the noise level and altitude. I like to fly high unless the winds prevent it.

So, what advice does anyone have on this very big problem!

Thanks

Bruce Patton
RV-6A 596S flying
RV-10 start upon moving
 
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Or, fly really high. You use oxygen and let the cat enjoy the hypoxia.

Just kidding ... :)
 
Bruce - Our 10 year old Abby, "Mooney" (who in their right mind names a cat after their plane...?) has flown with us many times with no ill effects. We just put him in a cat carrier with a towel. The doc recommended not to tranq him. He yowls for a while but eventually calms down (exactly like he does in the car so I'm not too concerned) and is usually quiet until we land, unless it's a bumpy day. Usually fly 6-8000' but have been higher. I keep the climbs and descents at 500 fpm or less so his ears equalize. Once we're at our destination and he's out of the carrier it's like nuthin' ever happened - feed me, pet me, where's the sunny spot...

We make doubly sure he does his 'business' before heading to the hangar...

I've since sold the Mooney (not the cat) so we're thinking about renaming him "Arvee". His cat carrier should fit nicely on the top of the RV-12 fuel tank. I'm just not sure he's worth 12 pounds of baggage payload!

Good luck!
ram
 
Most RVs are really super noisy aircraft inside, while in cruise flight.

I can't help but think that this has got to be incredibly hard on a cat or dog's sensitive ears, knowing how rough it is on my own ears if I ever take my headset off.
 
I don't recommend taking a loose cat flying (not that you intend to). When I was 19 and invincible my first passenger (human passengers weren't legal for me to take yet) was the airport cat. What I learned:

1. A cat can orbit a fabric airplane cockpit (a Champ) on a nearly horizontal plane. At least until it gets tired.

2. Yaw control forces are higher when a (tired) cat is lodged under the rudder pedals.

Thankfully the cat and I both survived relatively unscathed. We both learned something too.
 
I tried the kitty cat tranq's on a move from NM to Dallas - boy was that a mistake. Not enough juice to really put them to sleep but enough to roll their eyes up in their head and scream all the way for 10 hours. Yelp, this stuff came from my vet...

Cat's have sensitive hearing for such a noisy environment. There are no easy choices there. Maybe the vets have a better solution than when I tried years ago. I'm just not sure how you could protect thier hearing.

I'll be curious to hear about your decisions and experiences though!
Bob
 
My sister and I got my dad a Bengal kitten for a present and I flew from Ashville, NC to Knoxville, TN with the cat in a carrier in the back seat of a Cessna 172. ten minutes after lift off the cat was asleep and stayed that way for the short trip over the mountains.

Later on, my sister sent me a link to a video of a guy that flies around with his Bengal. I'm amazed how calm the cat was and how brave the pilot was, but apparantly this is the coolest cat a pilot could own. Check it out yourself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nheqDASt7bg

I guess people complained about the noise, so later on in subsequent videos, the cat has ear muffs.

Anyhow, I say go for it and use a carrier. Also, who says ya gotta be blasting along. Pull the power back and see if the cat will tolerate it better. Good luck!
 
Years ago we made a similar move and definitely didn't want to listen to our cat scream for two long days of driving. We finally had the Vet board her and then ship her Air Freight after we got there. He tranquilized her with some really good stuff and shipped her off. We had to pick her up in ABQ (no pet flights into Durango). When we picked her up I thought she was DOA, but the freight guy said they often came in completely zonked out. We drove to Durango, a four hour drive, and she finally woke up just as we were driving into town.

I'll bet you could fly her in your aircraft if the Vet gives her some of that good sleeping medication, but she should be in a small crate just in case she wakes up early!

Good luck.

Jim
 
We have transported several cats as part of a rescue program that they need relocation. We have always put them in their carrying cage but none had any issues. One was transported from Oregon to CA that we had to go over the mountains and fairly high and the cat seemed to be OK with no ill affect afterwards.
 
Flying a cat? Easy....

Use a Cat-a-pult. They do always land on their feet, right? :D

This came from an old Popsicle stick joke - it's just as bad now as it was then.
 
Once you get the gear up they fly pretty well...

lolcats-flying-cat.jpg
 
All good suggestions here...medication from Vet, use a pet carrier, lower power settings to reduce noise, visit the grass/sand before boarding, etc.

You DEFINITELY don't won't Kitty spraying your interior to mark his territory. Bad smell plus probable corrosion on aluminum.

My animal transports so far have only been dogs. I have noticed some requests for turtles (over 100 pounds :eek: ) and some iguanas but I haven't volunteered for them. I don't have any experience with transporting cats.

However, I do have a cat story: There used to be a little male cat at our airport named "Beacon." When I learned he had been neutered, I told the cat's owner he should be re-named "Non Directional Beacon!" (Rim Shot!)

I thought it was funny. ;)
 
ROFL!!

The one rescue we did put 4 kittens and a Mama cat ,in her own container, and they all did as well as the 18 dogs in their cages at 7,500'. I also limited descents to 500 FPM.

Best
 
We have flown cats in carriers with no tranquilizers. They are pretty much as easy as dogs. Most are asleep or lying quietly soon after takeoff, even if they don't like getting into the carrier. I doubt that a one time exposure to the noise is going to significantly affect them. But, I am no expert on that issue. I did not stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night, either!:D
 
Not a problem

Flew a young sanannah cat in a carrier on the lap of another guy in the back of my RV-8A for just a little over a hour with no problems.
 
Took two passengers...

I found myself needing to transport a bunch of junk plus two cats. This was unplanned, but it worked out fine. Normally, we transport the cats by car each weekend for about 2.5 hours each way.

The flight was only about 50 minutes, but I had to fly low and the air was quite turbulent. High dewpoint of about 70 made for a warm ride.

The cats did fine, although with each change I could hear them meowing. I.e., engine start, takeoff power, etc. When I got them home, they acted like nothing happened. Maybe they won't meow so much with the car trips any more...

Here is the plane packed with stuff. The second cat carrier is not visible, but is on the floor of the baggage area. I took the right seat back out.

97kBW-plTd0sxYW3YDXo41s75ERZ0qG_9wuUn_STKt49cXUO_WC-IzEUO0YOLtjmGHeavpwfC-RyZ1S3eHIjHMxMORzgdi1bO33LCO24Kf1aJ1MFJez5wpvB_1GOfO_7dy8cuGIrMrYCkPhxt9wPTJq7rS2GcF0cr_X6Mfq4VwXZkfk0_SJ3KUVqzPt_gNIkVXVB6HAqryCuXlfzlMyZijRArivbhjGFYIJV7sywoLax3Ji5DEzrN5O9yFYnRSx_w9VenAi3gAum6CyBFGPBuYknWc5jwBxZsAT6hOa8tDetRzZv-OHvlQUaYuqwfWxsP4yAsZHGBDmbk1YoqXKzXou9TkLmYaXZe05DuH7bCYIhk072hkmDbycmNs0SHHCrw8w7CopnVYyjIQ7yn48RM0fbr0XoYibsXr1vKSXIcQnPsH9TweMOv5jgTF749p5tvn0_pZk_ojS7F6WsA8CFbE0yCVfLmW0UeNpxhgB9g52iwg002qgYiG0zphkS5xZv-Urdvb0CO3vJVS3Ambfzaz08RESCxIyqb9OpMhtp4h3CTJps7Y5A9hc9WxKtJAgWQQUsR7t5Bj7HJ-YtFco1YXRkbax0bb2cWvYiLNmqyI3NpqZ9=w600-h450-no


Here's the cargo on display after landing:

2FTV1prjRwV_Y6wasKJQroL2SMiRgK_tGfTkeN_zwp8aDO4hgPrNLMSzrtt3K0CeJb5LhkrNh964VdrU7GmCoQQLAs2a6wVPBX6dw0dZfWhtkyyUayUMr4tD21Bl8a0tNwQgpp7ml8IXOJMzgt5Iiht6mUiNLvcC-ZUruH6rwgi3j8VzoCVVn6E1rzNASFSKLPcLGcwpLI-3Ty-kM0nKiaLYkW0cp6BhUzpTJ8wruxYOS5cGIb6cHx2Sm0nZXAcg1CUXzfrh62p4VC8aSBHucznavdkdU3Gli3I5Up9m6iGMY9KimClhsCe_hQLJA74RJg9ilU8VjhnCqhaOMX0WrIFtXklfb5NPpLJmavEqDXwcpa_gnwpD1p4qKqa1webiCHCq_s0dfgXW5RigIXWmEJ8fC_C7wqSzDUhV8PrSp6GVxth7_zIsuVpnevY-BuHleR1wlQORsYb7R7JeoK-hARvxHWLx5m1mSmvs__wq7yEvo6lyKjb4nIP15M4e5RJE2YablUkJnYRTezC5iPoP7adqJiQrnM3smshHLtbF6ZZdOGj-BE79CbUf-p-r240AEwnHz6Dge-2hqfEc30xHfvcJ1C_2cfnsqcHxIgWdxcaA0HE8=w600-h450-no
 
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