Not every journey is easy for a pet, and a pet cannot tell us how it feels. Looking after its welfare is both the right and the duty of everyone who loves animals. This page covers the risks, the pet’s health and the preparation that makes a journey safer.
Careful preparation is essential to any pet’s journey.
Risk does not appear only on flight day. It begins during preparation.
Not every pet is suited to flying. A veterinarian makes that call.
The vet, the owner and the transport company each have a role in the journey.
The greatest risk is rarely the flight itself, as many assume. Most of it builds up before take-off.
Away from its owner, in a place it does not know, a pet may bark, howl, pant hard or scratch and chew at the crate door. A panicking pet can injure its paws, teeth or nose on the door. See how pets travel in the hold.
Much of the risk is on the ground: loading, the tarmac, and delays with the doors shut. A crate waiting beside an aircraft has no climate control around it. Airlines set temperature limits for this reason.
A crate that is too small, poorly ventilated or weakly assembled can put a pet’s life at risk. It can restrict breathing, cause injury, or come apart in handling and let the pet escape near the aircraft.
Owners sometimes sedate a pet out of kindness. Sedation can slow breathing and weaken the body’s response to heat and stress, and airlines can refuse a sedated pet. See why sedatives are avoided.
A missing date, a microchip number that differs between documents, or a vaccine given in the wrong order can stop a pet at check-in or on arrival. The pet may then be held in quarantine or sent back on a return flight.
Stress can stop a cat eating after arrival. A cat that stops eating can develop hepatic lipidosis, a liver disease that can be fatal (Cornell). Overweight cats are more at risk. See the first 48 hours.
Three groups of factors decide it. A veterinarian assesses each one before the flight is booked.
Short-nosed (brachycephalic) dogs and cats have narrow airways that heat and stress narrow further. About half the purebred dogs that died on US flights in 2005 to 2010 were short-nosed (US DOT). Some breeds also carry inherited heart disease (Seo et al., 2024). See flat-faced breeds and breed restrictions.
Airlines refuse unweaned puppies and kittens, and generally refuse pregnant animals. A pet that is ill or recovering is treated before it flies. A senior pet, or one with a heart or breathing condition, needs a vet’s assessment first. See puppies and kittens, pregnant pets and falling ill before departure.
Anxiety, panic in the crate and fear-driven aggression all add stress to a long journey, for the pet and for the people handling it. Calm comes from weeks of practice in the crate, not from sedatives. Where medicine is needed, a vet prescribes it and the airline is told. See managing anxiety.
Five areas of preparation. Most of the work is done in the weeks before the flight.
Veterinary Care
A vet examines the pet, brings vaccinations up to date and treats internal and external parasites, then follows its health until departure. For Daisy Pet clients in Ho Chi Minh City, this is done at Belwee International Animal Hospital.
Health Documents
A fit-to-fly certificate and, for short-nosed breeds, a breathing (BOAS) assessment by a vet. These papers are not there to complete a file or to get a pet onto a plane. They record whether the pet is fit to travel, and a “not yet” is acted on.
The Travel Crate
The crate is the pet’s protection for the whole journey. It must meet IATA standards, fit the pet’s measurements, ventilate on several sides and let water be added from outside. See the IATA-standard crate and the crate checklist.
Crate Training
About six weeks of daily practice turn the crate into a familiar place, so the pet travels in a space it already knows. See crate training and preparing a cat.
Transport Planning
The route, departure hour, connections and document timing are planned together, so nothing is left to the day of travel. See cabin, baggage or cargo, layovers and delays and cancellations.
Four parties share the work. Each one covers a part the others cannot.
Examines the pet, assesses whether it is fit to fly, and sets a treatment plan when it is not ready yet. The vet’s decision comes before any booking.
Cares for the pet day to day, practises with the crate, follows the vet’s advice, and watches the pet closely after arrival. See feeding before a flight.
Carries the pet and holds it from check-in to arrival; no one opens the crate in flight. That is why airlines set breed restrictions, crate standards and temperature limits.
Connects every party: plans the route, schedules the vet checks, prepares the documents and works with partner agents abroad, so each step happens in the right order.
Not a promise that every pet will fly, but the knowledge to find the option that suits the pet, even when that option is not to fly yet.
If no direct flight suits the pet, a route is built. Hoa Hoa, a teacup Poodle, flew in the cabin from Hanoi to Abu Dhabi via Bangkok, as no direct flight from Vietnam took pets in the cabin. See Hoa Hoa’s route.
The company arranges the tests the pet needs on the owner’s behalf: the fit-to-fly exam, a breathing assessment for short-nosed breeds, and any test the destination requires, in the order the deadlines allow.
The owner should understand the veterinary and IATA standards behind each step, and why they matter, rather than receive a checklist. A rule that is understood is a rule that is followed at home.
Experience shortens waits, reduces avoidable errors in the file, and keeps hand-overs calm for the pet and the owner. Many travel-day problems start as a detail missed weeks earlier.
They apply to every case. None of them is decided on the day.
None are used. Anti-anxiety medicine is the vet’s call, and the airline is told.
Departures are chosen around the heat at every airport on the route.
A veterinarian assesses the breathing of short-nosed breeds before booking.
The crate is fitted and familiar before the flight is booked.
A licensed veterinary clinic examines the pet and confirms it is fit to fly.
A pet that falls ill is treated first, and the flight is rebooked.
Tell us about your pet and destination. Our team will review your case and provide a clear, tailored quotation.