Just thought that I would let you know how Amy did on her recent airplane trip: I decided not to sedate her for many of the above reasons mentioned. She did quite a bit of crying for the hour drive to the airport and I was feeling rather guilty and deeply concerned as she was clearly unhappy. Once inside the airport she was very quiet as she was probably overwhelmed with the sights and sounds. Yes, I did have to take her out of her carrier to go through security. There was a very nice gentleman who let us walk through the security "hoop" rather than stand in the plexiglass square that does a scan. Amy is a cat that is very figgity when held for long but she did great! Didn't try to get out of my arms at all and went back into her carrier after it "slowly" came through the xray machine. First stop was the bathroom where I hung her on the back of the door rather than on the dirty floor. She looked a bit smooshed but was ok. We didn't wait anymore than 30 minutes and then we boarded the plane, quietly. All was fine until take-off as she must have been feeling alot of motion...we both were! So I was bent over during the take-off try to comfort my little girl who definitely was crying then. I'm not sure that anybody heard her and the very nice lady next to me didn't mind that I had a cat. (She traded with the first lady who definitely did mind...very much so) She was restless for the first half hour but then slept for the remainder of the flight. That is, until our very hard landing. Oh, my! She calmed down again as we were leaving the plane and she slept the whole car ride from Boston to Cape Cod. She was peeing, pooping and eating shortly she arrived and has settled in pretty well in her new surroundings. She has been skittish at times and cold at night. Her fur is all puffed up from the cold I guess, since we came from a much warmer climate. Yup, little Amy did pretty well and even though I worried about her I'm glad that she was not sedated. She seemed scared of course, but was never in a frenzy or in real distress. The flight on Jetblue was great...my first time with them...and I wouldn't hesitate to fly her again. I'm supposed to drive back but (shhhhh!) we may fly back instead. Thanks for all your good advice!
