Shipping Caesar to Florida

Oh, hey again!

Life has been annoyingly hectic, so in turn this blog has suffered. #sorrynotsorry #wellmaybealittlesorry

Anyway, I just finished up cleaning a bathroom! Exciting, I know! I wanted to get to that particular bathroom done now, so that once our carpets get shampooed, we won’t have to go back there to clean. We move out TOMORROW, and that means that’s one less item on my to-do list.

The carpet guy just started, which will give me an opportunity to focus on the hard-floor area. I’ve vacuumed approximately a gazillion times, but I’m still constantly finding particles scattered about. Caesar has been gone for a day and I’ve vacuumed twice, but I’m still finding his fur all over as well!

We decided to send Caesar back to Florida yesterday, so that cleaning and moving out would go a little easier. We’ll fly to Florida from here, to visit family before making the drive up to Kentucky.

 

If you’ve been reading for a while, you might remember that Caesar had some pretty severe separation anxiety. He was on medication for a while, which helped tremendously, but I still worry about my big guy being all on his own for 16ish hours. He’s chewed through  couple of kennels and the thought of him doing so on an airplane is slightly terrifying.

To help make this transition as stress-free as possible for both Caesar and myself, I did a bit of preparing for this trip. Take a look at how I did it!

Preparation is key

Book early

I got an early start on just about everything related to Caesar’s trip! I began researching carriers and prices long before we had orders. I booked his flight through United Pet Safe, as soon as I knew when we’d be leaving. And we went and tested out kennel sizes with plenty of time to spare.

You’ll want to book your pet’s flight as early as possible, to ensure availability. You’ll also want to make sure you can get a vet appointment no more than 10 days before the flight, as airline require a health certificate dated within 10 days of the pet’s trip.

Get them comfortable with their crate

After all of his household destruction, Caesar is required to stay in a crate anytime we leave the house. However, his usual box (which he loves to hang out in) is not the box he flew home in.

We made sure to buy the airline-approved crate early, and leave it in a neutral area of the house with the door open, so that he could use test it out when he was comfortable. Since my monster is flying in a giant-sized kennel, I made sure to crawl in there with him to just hang out.

Give your pet an opportunity to become familiar with the container in which they’ll be flying in.

Provide a comfort item

Aside from the absorbent material on the bottom of his crate, Caesar was not allowed to have anything else in the crate with him while flying. So, I improvised.

In the bottom of the crate, I placed a giant absorbent puppy pad-like material. Then on top of that went a bed sheet that his mama had slept in. The sheet was an item that I planned on getting rid of during the move anyway, so it worked out perfectly.

Caesar is basically my shadow, so I’m sure having my scent there along his travels helped calm some anxiety. I had even planned to do a drop or two of lavendar essential oil, but I completely forgot. I’m actually not sure where my oils are.

Place an item or article of clothing that smells like you inside of the crate with your pet.

Before traveling, be sure to review your airline guidelines as well as consult your vet! Each airline may have slight variations of their policy. Your vet will be able to let you know what works best for your pet!