Travel comfortably with your pet the easy
way!
Written
by Dr. Laxmi Iyer
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Perspiration
dripping off your face by the buckets! The sun glaring
down! Your restless kids raising the roof with their
shouts and yells! Your pet howling at the top of his
or her lungs or meowing pathetically while you concentrate
on the road traffic and pedestrians at traffic signals
give you a mean look!
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Has
this happened to you? If it has then you need help while
on the move with your pets on a travel.
Have
you sworn that never again are you going to travel with
your pet cat, dog etc. this
way? Take heart! There's a brave, new way to travel with
your pets. Easily.
Comfortably and most important - Happily!
The
way to get your cat or dog get used to long distance traveling
is to start off by traveling short distances.
Depending
on how you decide to travel with your pet cat or dog - by car bus, train or ship
or plane, you can start off with short rounds in such vehicles.
Then,
if you find your pet looking disturbed try other things
to distract attention.
For
example, you can play soothing music - the melodies and
rhythms that your pets are fond of.
Otherwise,
you can also let your pet sit very close to you in case
that makes your pet feel comfortable.
You
can also carry your pet's favorite toy with you. Fragrances
too can sometimes help. If you are travelling with your
cat, you can hide a whiff of catnip close to where your
cat is sitting.
Possibly,
for the rest of the journey your cat may be sniffing around
trying to discover the hidden source of catnip.
Another
technique that you can follow is to try getting one of your
kids or family members to play with your pets. Another effective
way to distract and draw attention away from the vehicular
movement.
If
nothing works, just search for the nearest boarding place
and leave your pets there. It may be kinder for you and
your pet to wait till you come back rather than undergo
the torture and stress of travelling.
Ten things to do while traveling with your pet.
-
Carry
anti-emetics and sedatives. If you can a small first aid
kit with you.
-
Have
your vet's emergency contact number.
-
Make
sure that you have the numbers of the nearest vet or animal
hospital in case of an emergency in the place that you
are visiting.
-
Take
care that your pet does not get dehydrated. If you are
travelling by road or rail, ensure that every few hours
you can give your pet a breather by letting your pet out
of the box or basket and walking around.
-
Ensure
that the compartment where your pet is travelling is well
ventilated.
-
Also,
try to make sure that none of the pets travelling with
your pet has an illness - like a cough or gastroenteritis.
-
Take
care to see that your pet has already had his or her vaccination
shots at least two months or a month before travelling.
-
If
you have more than pet, try to arrange so that they are
travelling more or less together - in the sense in the
same compartment, but of course not placed in the same
basket. They may end up fighting with one another.
-
Watch
out for the walls! Make sure that there's a lot of good
padding around so that they do not injure themselves.
-
If
you can, do keep some of your pet's toys in the basket
so that they feel comfortable and not anxious while travelling.