Conference misery::feline_v1

	Might be worth trying if you can get your cat to take it...
	but I think you might have trouble there.

	In my experience, when cats come into contact with alcohol they
	sniff it and back away sharpish, particularly when the drink has
	a strong alcohol smell.  They recognise that it's a poison, so
	they won't touch it.

	Ali

	.-1

	I meant to add that I would be reluctant to make a cat take
	anything they judge to be poisonous.

	Ali

    RE:  kittys and booz
    
    I d'know about that.  I always have a tough time keeping The Bicket
    away from my beer!
    
    Marion

A vet can prescribe a carefully planned dosage of medication, suitable for
your cat's weight and health....no way can you get as careful a dosage by
administering alcohol!!  You run a real risk of over-medicating and hurting
the cat...AND you run a real danger of causing the cat to
vomit from the alcohol and then have to live with it until you finish the
trip or get somewhere you can deal with it.  Any attempt to tranquilize
an animal should be under the supervision of a vet.  Period.

    I have to watch my Sheena when ever I have a drink, she's crazy over
    Frozen Strawberry Daiquiri's, and Bud's!
    
    Corine

    >  Should I send her to AAA?  <
    
    I only call AAA 
                    when my CAR won't START
    
      ... not ...   when my CAT won't STOP  ...
                                                   (drinking, that is)

    I travel with my cats under the seat of the plane quite frequently
    and haven't found it necessary to tranquilize them.  I did administer
    acepromazine to Kyrielle once (her first under the seat trip) at
    the vet's strong suggestion, and I think it made her even more afraid.
    She has never had a bad trip (pun intended) except the time that
    she was drugged.  I have not drugged a cat for travel since.  One
    thing I do tho is cover the carrier.  I use a very small Kennel
    Cab with the metal grill door on the front, I made a cover for the
    carrier out of cotton material.  It slides down over the top of
    the carrier with a slit in it for the handle.  It seems to help
    keep them calm.  They also can't see you so they don't spend the
    whole trip calling for you to let them out.
    
    Good Luck,
    
    Jo
    

There are cats and there are cats....if I had to travel with Hannah any
length of time, I would have to tranquilize her to protect her from
hurting herself...she is absolutely frantic when placed in a carrier.
I have used tranquilizers on a friend's cat when I had to ship him to
Minneapolis and the cat was not afraid, he was calm and very sleepy
once the drug took effect, but then I had pre-tested the medication
a week before the flight to make sure it had the desired effect.
Some cats will need different types of drugs and my vet always recommends
a "trial" tranquilization to make sure the drug does indeed calm the
cat, and not produce paranoia and hyperactivity.  A properly tranquilized
cat should be very sleepy and calm...VERY "mellow" as we say in
California (sorry, I couldn't resist). 8^}

    Jo,
    
    How in the world do you fit even the smallest Kennel Cab under
    an airline seat?  Don't you have to use those awful "squished"
    looking carriers?
    
    My daughter is taking one of my babies (sniff!) back to Seattle
    in 2 weeks, so this is of much more than casual interest!  I
    HATE the thought of a little 3-month old having to deal with the
    trip, and, to be honest, I am not all that happy about confining
    it to that tiny carrier (wellllll....it *is* a little kitten...
    probably could almost stand up, but what about a litter box?).
    But I do not want it going in baggage!  At least my daughter can
    whisper sweet nothings to it, and probably hold it in her lap
    for sneak appearances.  Uh oh...is *that* where it will pee???

    If the carrier is covered, I guess you have to be careful to be
    sure oxygen can get in....
    

    Re:  .9
    
    When I took Amelia with me to D.C. I used one of those "squished
    looking carriers".  Now, Amelia is not a small cat, she's been 
    weighing in at 12-13 lbs.  She did fine on the trip.  My carrier
    is wire on top as opposed to the all plastic kind.  It has a little
    door in the wire that slides open so I could put my hand in and
    pet her.  I borrowed a couple of newborn Pampers (or some other
    brand of diaper and put those in the bottom of the carrier in case
    there was an accident.  
    
       (I was also concerned about her having to use the litter 
        box so I carried a plastic kitchen garbage bag with some
        litter in it in my carry-on bag.  I tried to give her the
        opportunity to use the litter during my excessively long
        layover but she wasn't interested and ended up holding it
        from 9:00pm the night I took the "red-eye" flight until
        2:00pm the following afternoon when we finally got into
        the hotel room  - if interested in this story see note
        titled "Traveling with Kitty", I believe its the last
        reply.)
    
    I doubt your daughter will be allowed to hold her in her lap during
    the flight.  I moved the carrier out from under the seat in front
    of me a few inches so Amelia could see me and a very stern flight
    attendent request I scoot it back under the seat and leave it there
    for the duration of the flight.  I did put my foot up on the edge
    of the carrier so she would know I was there.
    
    I have to admit though that travel with Amelia was quite and
    ice-breaker.  I talked to so many people on that trip.
    
    Jan  

    When Holly-the-cat goes to the vet, I always put a towel in the
    bottom of the carrying case.  she always goes to the potty about
    two minutes after the car starts, poor baby.  The towel minimizes
    the mess and keeps her more comfortable, I think.  I put in a towel
    when I take Sweetie, too, but just for his comfort.  Maybe a towel
    with your scent on it would serve to reassure the puss as well.
    

    Karen,
    
    A suggestion for you that I learned from our dear friend Penelope.
    Take one of those cardboard disposable litterboxes and rip it in
    half.  Then put one half inside the other half to make the litterbox
    half the size so that it will fit into the carrier nicely.  Fill
    it with litter and Holly-the-cat will be all set.
    
    Holly-the-person
    

    Holly,
    
    There's not even enough room for one of those in those under the
    seat carriers.  
    
    I found the pampers worked the best, kept kitty's bottom drier!
    :-)
    
    cin
    

    Pennie,
    
    I haven't had a problem with the small kennel cab.  Yes it is the
    kind with the grill door on the front *side* of the carrier.  I
    measured it and it was 10 1/2 inches high.  I called the airlines
    (United) and they said it must be no greater than 11 inches in order
    to fit.  I have found that it fits best under the middle seat on
    the plane.  This is really hard to explain, but here goes...in order
    to get the carrier under the seat, you must put it on the floor
    of the plane while in the aisle and then slide it under the seat
    from there.  It will not fit between the front of your seat and
    the back of the seat in front of you (from the top).
    
    More on plane carriers...
    
    I also have a luggage type cat carrier (made out of vinyl and looks
    like a carry on bag instead of a cat carrier).  I was almost kicked
    off the plane in Chicago when I tried to get on my connecting flight
    because of it.  I had already come all the way from California with
    no problems and only needed to take a half hour connecting flight
    to reach my destination.  They had overbooked the flight and were
    looking for excuses to get people off.  I stood my ground and refused
    to exit (since I was in a wheelchair at the time, they wisely decided
    to let me alone - would have looked too much like descrimination
    towards the handicapped had they physically tried to remove me
    themselves! 8^})  I hadn't used that carrier again since that incident
    (I am not in the wheelchair anymore 8^}).  Recently had to go to
    Seattle and was taking so many cats that I was forced to use it
    again (ran out of the others).  I called United and was given the
    definitive word on carriers:
    
       Carrier can be hard rigid plastic or SOFTSIDED.  Must have adequate
    ventilation, and have an absorbent bottom.  
    
       The rules for carriers in the cargo are different.
    
    I took my softsided carrier to Seattle and back and had not one
    problem.  It is actually even bigger than the small kennel cab.
    But since it is softsided, it will squish under the seat, it becomes
    wider in the squished position.  I plan on using it to take Kalliste
    to Washington D.C. next week.
    
    I also use a pampers in the bottom of the carrier, but so far they
    haven't needed it.  I sometimes put stud pants on Kalliste when
    we fly since he likes to spray in his carrier.
    
    By the way, how noisey are Russian Blues?
    
    Jo