Afy, more on the long haul flight for your Dane.

[Miggimeggi]

Hi Afy,

Did not want to further hi-jack Skye's posting so I have opened a new one.  Please, consider very carefully before you use anesthesia when you transport your Dane.  To begin with, I am not sure how long an anesthetic will  last, but if you take 12 hours for the flight and then add the time which will elspse between you handing your anesthetised dog to the cargo loaders at the airport and the actual departure of the plane you could end up with 18 hours or more.  I doubt that a safely administered anesthetic would last that long and of course, you do not want to allow the cargo handlers administer it so unless you can arrange for a vet to do it just before the flight your dog will surely come around during the flight anyway.  I seem to remember that we had to hand our dog  over about 5 hours before the departure time but I could be mistaken.  Our flight from South Africa was 14 hours.   There is also, of course, the problem of the potential damage a large heavy dog can suffer if she is not awake to be able to cope with a rough flight. I mentioned this in my previous post on the other thread.

Our pet relocation company told us that he would be in a properly pressurised hold that would be warm and dark and that he would probably sleep for much of the flight.

If you are planning to make all the arrangements yourself,  another tip from our pet relocators was that the box should not be high enough for the dog to stand very comfortably.  Ours I think was about 5ft long by about 3 foot high.  The plan I think is to discourage standing and to encourage lying down.  Of course, some soft comfortable bedding should be provided but, it should be disposable - it will be in an ung*ly mess when it arrives.

There was a thread on long haul flights for dogs on this forum which included information on our experiences and also a most excellent  and thoughtful post from someone who had transported a dog from the USA but after about 3 years it may not be still there.

Anne

[Christine Animal]

I am no expert, but I agree with Anne that anaesthetic seems a rather unreasonable solution, after all if our pets have an anaesthetic for an operation a good vet will never return the animal to you until it has fully regained its faculties.  Here there would be noone to survey for twelve hours and the body temperature drops under anaesthetic. 

I remember my boss in Paris years ago came back to France from Washington by boat so as not to put their dog in a plane.

A milder remedy as Anne suggested may be better, but can't your vet advise you on this.  I cannot understand that today animals still travel as "luggage".  There should be something done about it.  Even if the larger pets cannot be with the other passengers, surely they should have a compartment on the same level.

 

 

[Miggimeggi]

I am not sure that they actually go as "luggage", more as live cargo and in a specialised cargo bay, or so we were told.  For sure they do not go as cheaply as luggage.  Ours cost 20 000 Rand to the pet relocators whilst our own tickets were just over 3 500 Rand each.

Anne

[Christine Animal]

... then that seems to be even more reason why they should travel first class!  Perhaps when we have time, we should do a "survey" on this...

 

[Christine Animal]

You have obviously studied this inside out.  I have just had a quick look.

Here they mention sedation

http://www.morganthedog.com/dogs/airplane.html

and here they mention the difference between a dog as luggage or cargo (makes you wonder what day and age we are living in)

http://www.urbanhound.com/houndPlay/airTravel.html

 

[Afy]

I actually am paying a fortune to the vet to bring the dog here. You dont want to know how much....

 

But yes I do have the dane in good hands... and thank you for the help. I will reach out if I need more help on this...