Gayla
Jul 24, 2007, 10:01 AM
Post #2 of 4
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Re: [martham] Planning for a Four-Month Visit: Advice?
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With regard to your cats...
How are you planning to arrive in Mexico? By car? By plane? Other? The easiest way to get them there and back will be by car. You will need whatever health certificate is issued by your home state, all vaccinations must be current and they will probably need a rabies shot even though they will be indoors. The health certificate must be current within 3 days of crossing the border. Most people crossing with animals report that they are never asked for the paperwork, but of course, if you don't have it you will be asked.
If you are driving, then you will need a hard sided carrier such as a Vari-Kennel or Kennel Kab, the size of which will be dependent upon the size of your cats. A Vari-Kennel 100 is suitable for almost all cats and is the smallest airline approved size for shipping underneath (i.e. in cargo) on a plane. If your cats are large, such as a Maine Coon or Ragdoll, then a Vari-Kennel 200 might be more useful to you. In most U.S. drugstores you can find chair (and bed) liners in the aisle that also sells incontinence pads (i.e. Depends). Chair pads make great liners for the bottom of the kennels because they are absorbant and make cleaning up most accidents much easier. If you have to overnight somewhere en route, a kennel provides a safe haven for your cats while you're out of the hotel room. And speaking of hotel rooms, when you check in - and before you let your cats out of their cage - inspect the room for possible problems. Look under beds for holes in mattress bottoms, rat traps, insects, syringes, whatever. Look behind furniture and dressers. Check the bathroom as well. What you want to do is make sure there aren't any hidden surprises that could endanger your animals.
Most cats will be fine in a hotel room, especially when their "people" are with them. But they are also inquisitive and tend to explore their surroundings in order to ensure their safety. I promise you, cats in hotels just seem to have a way of finding the things you don't want them to find. You can save yourself a huge amount of heartache, worry and frustration by taking a few extra minutes to inspect any hotel rooms for problems before turning your pets loose in it. Closing them in a bathroom is also an option, though you need to make sure there is not way they could get out, get hurt, or get into the wall (the latter happened to a friend of mine).
Driving with cats also mandates some extra supplies, such as food, water and litter. Disposable litter boxes are easily available at most major pet supply stores and on-line through Drs. Foster & Smith. You'll need one for the floor of your car and as many extra for as many nights you'll be on the road. Buy a small bag of the litter your cats normally use for the drive and for the first few days or so in their new location. Cat can be very particular about their litter habits and have not so subtle ways of letting you know they don't like new litter. And they don't need voluminous amounts of litter in a box while traveling. With food, you'll need to pack whatever food you're currently feeding, both wet and dry along with paper plates and plastic spoons for feeding. Pack enough extra food to transition your cats from their current diet to whatever you end up purchasing in Mexico; most major brands of cat food are available in Mexico, btw. You will find your cats have fewer digestive problems if they can continue on their current diet once you're in Mexico for a week or so. Buy the new (dry) cat food and begin adding it to the food you brought, gradually increasing the amount of the new food and decreasing the amount of the stuff you brought with you until they reach the point where they're eating only the Mexican brand. This could take a few days to a week to accomplish. Sudden dietary changes can cause excessive vomiting and loose stool, not something you or your cats probably would want to deal with. Pack a couple bottles of your local water for the trip and then provide them with bottled water for the first few weeks your in Mexico to give their systems a chance to adjust. Make sure they are hydrated well. Road trips with cats aren't particularly difficult, they tend to sleep a lot, you may notice that their appetites drop and they use the litter box less frequently. Disposable, collapsable litter boxes, paper plates, plastic spoons, small cans of wet food and zip lock bags of dry food can all be packed into a small tote bag for easy transport, it's the litter that's the problem, though you can use a 1-gallon ziplock filled with litter for about 3 days.
If your cats are not used to driving in a car you can start now by getting them acclimated to being confined in a kennel and riding in a car. Take them on short trips you might make around town (do not do this if it is really hot, of course). Some cats will throw up, pee or poop at the beginning of a car trip, but once they've gotten everything out fo their system and get used to the motion of the car, they're fine. Some also like to talk to you.. at the top of their lungs. Some will plead for you to let them out. Don't do it, it can be a danger to you and the cat. Do not medicate your cats for the trip. Drugging them up can cause problems when the drug wears off and they don't realize or understand where they are. Cats are nothing if not adaptive and travel much better when fully alert.
It is getting harder and harder to fly with animals. Once again you will need the requisite health certificates and if you fly into D.F. you will have a secondary inspection when clearing customs and immigration and your paperwork will be inspected (or at least it was when I did it). The airline will also request to see your paperwork when you depart the U.S. and again when you fly back. Regulations on animals varies from airline to airline. Some will allow animals on board, usually 1 or 2 per cabin. You will be charged $70-100 for the priviledge of having your animals ride on the floor underneath the seat in front of you. There are pretty stringent temperature regulations for when animals are allowed to be flown underneath in cargo. Because the animals may spend time on the tarmack or in cargo holding buildings they may be exposed to the elements for longer periods of time than you realize. The cargo holds for large planes are both presurized and temperature controlled to about 50* +/-. If the weather on the day you wish to fly (in either direction) is above or below the allowed temperature limits your animals will not be allowed to fly. If you live in an area of the U.S. that is subject to temperature extremes at the time you want to leve for Mexico, shipping underneath may not be an option for you. More and more airlines are trying not to ship animals because of the hassels involved.
You mentioned Morelia; there are some direct flights into Morelia on big planes from several ports of entry in the U.S., notably, LAX, CHI and IAH. There are smaller airlines that also service Morelia but with smaller planes and jets that are not suitable for shipping animals in cargo. SMA and Dolores Hidalgo, as you probably know, do not have airport service nearby and usually entails a bus ride in order to get there. I am not sure of the animal reguations for the Mexican bus system, but I seem to recall that pets are not allowed in the bus, but must ride underneath in the cargo area. But like all things Mexican, this may vary from Mexican bus line to bus line. I, however, wouldn't not particularly want to put my cats in cargo on a Mexican (first class) bus.
I bred and showed pedigree cats for 18 years and traveled all over the U.S. with my cats by car and plane. Most of the above is based on my experiences showing and traveling with cats. It's easier than you think - though the airlines are truly making it harder and harder each year - I've just been very detailed and tried to give you as realistic an idea of what might be entailed as possible. If I were going to Mexico to live for 4 months (and don't I wish I could!!) in the areas you mentioned, I would definitely drive, even if I didn't need my car most of the time I was there. Flying with cats internationally isn't easy and 2 of the 3 places you've listed as preferences would not be easily accessible by air with pets, though once you're there I think you'd have no problems.
Glad you enjoyed your recent trip and good luck with your new adventure.
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