Kittens on a plane

[Pam Flachs]

If I couldn't come and view a kitten and see how they were being raised, I highly doubt I would buy from that breeder unless they had an amazing reputation. Just like a breeder can choose us as a future owner and home to their babies. I think it should be a two way street.

I agree on both counts, though I have bought one adult and four kittens basically sight unseen, through pics only and meeting them for the first time when I picked them up. I do admit it is a tad scary that the kitten will not be what I expected, but so far I have not been disappointed In fact, all have exceeded my mental image of how they really look and how nice their personalities are.

I welcome any prospective kitten owner to my home, once the babies have had their first vet visit and vaccines, are healthy, and I have developed an online and phone rapport with the customer and am comfortable that they will be great kitten parents and not just coming to "see real-live Savannahs", and I feel the babies are mature enough for visitors; some just seem to need an extra week or two. Visitors to my home can see all of my cats and every room in my house; I have nothing to hide. Well, except for the dirty dishes in the oven

 

[Trish Allearz]

Um- my point is that the people behind the counter at the cargo desk will not know what that little doohickey is and since they are required to ensure no bombs or other scary devices are placed upon aircrafts, they would immediately turn you away at the counter. That's my point- my only point in regard to your camera idea.

An animal is ONLY permitted bedding and food/water bowl within a crate when they are flown. I've even had some complain if you put a toy or two in there with the babies. And yep, I've had to remove toys on occasion (I usually throw Kitty Boinks in with them- which are as innocent of an item as one could imagine).

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

Have we ever actually seen what goes on with a kitten in cargo? I wonder if I could put a GoPro in there....

Hypothetical situation,..
If you were my breeder, and I mailed you a GoPro, would you put it in with the kitten and turn it on?
Is there a reason you wouldn't be willing to do this?
Do you know if the airlines have any restrictions against this?
Would you "accidentally" forget to turn it on?
Would you find this request inappropriate or offensive?

I've yet to find a cattery with a webcam or something similar and I'm wondering why. Any ideas? My guess on this one is cats are unpredictable and there are animal rights people hunting for a scrap of anything they can use as a weapon, including normal cat behavior that can look violent or dangerous. Any other reasons?

If you were getting a kitten from me and wanted to send that, I would be happy to put it in the kitten room, although if it had sound I would then have to leave the room when on the phone as I don't think it appropriate for anyone to listen in on my Rescue conversations or Breed business stuff (breeder disputes etc). Usually I spend most my time in the kitten room... I'd probably have to not sit in there in my pajamas anymore...

I use a webcam with my cats when they are due to give birth and when the kittens are young, so that I don't have to sleep on the floor in their room so much, the baby video monitor I use works in low lighting and is remotely controlled so I can find the queen wherever she is and monitor her behavior. And have a remote screen that I can carry with me around the house too. I don't have cameras on in my house as my breeding cats are my pets and frankly don't want people watching ME all day long! My house is pretty big so the camera network to watch my cats all the time would be really a lot of cameras! Maybe if they were confined to cages you could do that... but as you say, footage of cats in cages would fuel AR fire :-(

I don't think you could put the GoPro in the crate in cargo, I would think the airline would not allow it in the crate for "safety reasons". They have restrictions on most things that you can put in the crate...

 

[Trish Allearz]

Oh- now that I think of it- Christine with Exotictails often has a webcam up and running of her kittens. I don't know if it's only for kitten buyers or not, but I've peeked in on her F2s before to see them grow

I wouldn't so much have an issue with a webcam, but um- sorry- I can only imagine I'd end up flashing the world in my pajamas or you'd end up hearing my kids' big old mouths every time you signed on. In a more sterile environment- like a caged cattery- I could see it working much, much better.

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

I didn't know that a GoPro would get the cat refused. Do you know specifically why it would? I've never even flown before myself. I have no experience of any variety with airlines. This is exactly the kind of information I'm looking for.

Do mean dangerous for the cat or dangerous for the airplane?
My experience with GoPros involves mounting them in, on, under, and getting run over by rally cars. I've never had one break,.... ever. I'm not sure it's even possible. I did some googling and found GoPros getting eaten by sharks and grizzly bears, stolen by hawks and sea gulls and falling 12,500ft out of an airplane, ALL without being destroyed. I also found these and wanted to share.]


I'd suggest calling an airline, something like Delta or United Cargo and asking them if this would be allowed. I doubt it is, but they'd be the best people to know why they wouldn't...what the "official" reason is...

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

Last time I shipped a cat (two cats for Rescue, not my own), they made me go buy smaller crates for them than the ones I had for them, as they said it was "dangerous" to the cat to have so much room. Apparently the crates can get thrown around and then the cat would be flung further? Made me very nervous about the procedure the way they said it, but I have to assume that is the worst case scenario like in the case of turbulence or rough landing etc... still, if they are that restrictive on crates, and bedding etc...adding a camera is likely a NO.

Do the airlines want the potential bad publicity of footage showing a rough trip? I think not!

 

[Trish Allearz]

Last time I shipped a cat (two cats for Rescue, not my own), they made me go buy smaller crates for them than the ones I had for them, as they said it was "dangerous" to the cat to have so much room. Apparently the crates can get thrown around and then the cat would be flung further? Made me very nervous about the procedure the way they said it, but I have to assume that is the worst case scenario like in the case of turbulence or rough landing etc... still, if they are that restrictive on crates, and bedding etc...adding a camera is likely a NO.

That's odd- B- I was told by Continental here that they'd prefer a bigger cage then a smaller one. I have went super big by accident before (I have a hard time guestimating crate sizes for F2s in particular).

 

[Tort518]

United has their restrictions and requirements online. If you google PetSafe you can locate it.

They definitely would not permit the camera inside the crate, however if it can be secured to the outside and film through an opening, that might be something to see if they would allow.

 

[admin]

I didn't know that a GoPro would get the cat refused. Do you know specifically why it would? I've never even flown before myself. I have no experience of any variety with airlines. This is exactly the kind of information I'm looking for.

Do mean dangerous for the cat or dangerous for the airplane?
My experience with GoPros involves mounting them in, on, under, and getting run over by rally cars. I've never had one break,.... ever. I'm not sure it's even possible. I did some googling and found GoPros getting eaten by sharks and grizzly bears, stolen by hawks and sea gulls and falling 12,500ft out of an airplane, ALL without being destroyed. I also found these and wanted to share.

You've probably seen this one before, but it's still great.

The Go pro is very cool - thanks for posting about it...I would love to wear it on my head and record all types of things Used to wear a camera on my mountain bike helmet, so am used to that sort of thing...

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

That's odd- B- I was told by Continental here that they'd prefer a bigger cage then a smaller one. I have went super big by accident before (I have a hard time guestimating crate sizes for F2s in particular).

Continental is now United though, and it was United that made me go and buy smaller crates. I thought roomier was better too...sigh... but then I rarely ship cats. It was really only because we had so many rescues to place quickly that we considered shipping some...