Feline stress management during air travel: a multimodal approach

Abstract

Practical relevance: More cats are travelling by air every year; however, air travel involves several common causes of stress for cats, such as environmental changes and a lack of control and predictability. The use of a multimodal stress management protocol for all stages of the relocation process, including appropriate and effective anxiolytic medication where necessary, is therefore important in order to safeguard the cat’s welfare while travelling. Clinical challenges: Cats may be presented to veterinarians for the purpose of preparing them and/or their documentation for air travel. Maintaining and protecting a cat’s physical, mental and emotional health in a stressful environment, while subjected to likely unfamiliar sights, noises, smells and the movement of the aircraft, and additionally dealing with international legislation, regulations and documents, can pose a complex challenge to veterinarians. Aims: This review describes the importance of stress management during air travel for cats, aims to raise awareness about the often poorly understood challenges involved, and outlines effective and airline-compliant stress management modalities. While the discussion is focused on air travel specifically, the stress management methods described can be applied to all types of longer distance travel, such as a long road trip or a ferry crossing, as well as a stay in a holiday home. Evidence base: There are currently no studies specifically on air travel in cats and, similarly, there are also limited data on air travel in other species. Many of the recommendations made in this review are therefore based on the authors’ extensive experience of preparing pets for travel, supported by published data when available.

How Well Do Dogs Cope with Air Travel? An Owner-Reported Survey Study

“…This means that there is a great opportunity for veterinarians and pet shippers to be more involved with further education, especially when it comes to safe stress management methods for pet air travel. A recent paper [22] describes a number of safe stress management options for air travel in cats, many of which can be transferred to dogs. Owners and pet care professionals, including pet shippers, may not be aware of these options, and further widespread education on this topic is necessary and should be encouraged and embraced by all professionals in the pet shipping industry.…”

“…One of the most reproducible methods for reducing a pet's stress levels during air transport is for the pet to be acclimatised to the carrier and trained to use it at home [23]. In the home environment, the carrier can become a 'safe' zone and/or a place that the pet associates with pleasant experiences, such as feeding, so that on the day of travel, the pet is less likely to be concerned about being inside the carrier [22]. Enough time must, therefore, be allocated for familiarisation with the carrier.…”

“…Short-acting anxiolytic medications that are commonly used for pet-related anxiety include gabapentin and pregabalin, trazodone, benzodiazepines, and maropitant for motion sickness [22]. There are some potential side effects to using anxiolytic medications, including (but not limited to) ataxia, sedation, and paradoxical hyperactivity [22], all of which are not desired during air travel and, therefore, anxiolytic medications should always be trialled before air travel and should always be used under the guidance of a qualified veterinarian familiar with these medications [22]. Effective anxiolytic supplements include those with the active ingredients alpha-casozepine (Zylkene ® , Vetoquinol-Lure, France) [29] and L-Theanine (Anxitane ® , Virbac -Carros, France, Composure ® , VetriScience-VT, USA, Solliquin ® , Nutramax-SC, USA) [30].…”

“…Effective anxiolytic supplements include those with the active ingredients alpha-casozepine (Zylkene ® , Vetoquinol-Lure, France) [29] and L-Theanine (Anxitane ® , Virbac -Carros, France, Composure ® , VetriScience-VT, USA, Solliquin ® , Nutramax-SC, USA) [30]. Canine appeasing pheromone products such as Adaptil ® (Ceva -Marseille, France), sprayed in all eight corners of the travel crate 10-15 min before putting the dog into the crate prior to travel [22], can also be very useful for managing stress during air travel [30][31][32][33].…”

Human-directed aggression and pica in a 1-year-old cat, which worsened following international relocation

“…Flight preparation recommendations are detailed in Figure 1. 1,2 All recommendations were followed, although there was not much time (2 weeks) for crate familiarisation. Alpha-casozepine (Zylkene, Vetoquinol) was used for 4 weeks upon arrival as recommended and gabapentin was used at the recommended dose twice daily until the follow-up.…”