Disclaimer: This post has affiliate links! I am super honest about my opinion on the links and only put in ones on which I can speak with authority. It also contains many precious pictures of my cat to make it more interesting.

When Seth and I moved from Asia to the US and got cats, that was basically us saying “we’re totally not moving back to Asia.”

Three years later, we took three planes to China with Two backpacks, four suitcases, and two cats.

And one year later, we are very happy with our decision. But traveling with my fur baby was one of the most stressful experiences of my life. Through it, however, I learned a metric poop-load in both the months leading up to the big day, and throughout the experience itself.

In any case, I have gotten a LOT of comments and emails since writing the post about our experience, and I thought I’d follow up on some here in nice, convenient bullet points.

First, some general information about pets in airplanes:

• If you read nothing else, read this: never, EVER let a flight attendant put your pet in an overhead compartment. That is where they suffocate and die. If the animal won’t fit under the seat in front of you and the flight attendant wants you to do this, just calmly announce that you’re happy to leave the plane and get on a different flight. You do pay to get your animals on the plane; you are not paying for the airline to kill your pet. OK. Rant over.
• Different airlines have different requirements. Do not book your flight online and then try to add in your animal later. Call the airline and book it directly through them. In many cases, there is a limit on the number of animals allowed in the cabin or the cargo (the temperature-controlled area of the plane separate from the cabin, but not the luggage area). Somebody might have already taken your animal’s spot and you’ll need to book a different flight.
• Drugging animals: some airlines say that they won’t allow drugged animals on their flights, although realistically, they have no way to control this. They say this because altitude can potentially mess with an animal’s body regulation. All animals are different. One of our cats was drugged because if she wasn’t, she would have been a total nightmare — we know this from test runs in the car. Our vet was not worried about how the altitude would affect her. He just wanted us to try out the drugs on them first. 
• Some people recommended cat pheromone spray like Rescue Remedy in place of drugs. I tried it and didn’t find it particularly useful, but some people swear by it.
• If you’re looking for the perfect carrier, I highly recommend an expandable, airline-approved one like this. You can expand one side in the plane (sometimes, depending on the leg room situation) so your pet can stretch out if they want, and then zip it up for more room. We also expanded a side while we were sitting and waiting at layovers. I do NOT recommend a kitty backpack. We got one to try before we settled on the carriers, and it was way too cramped. Our cats are about 7-8 pounds, so they’re not very big — but they didn’t have any wiggle room in the backpack.
• This is more general travel with pets, but I am so, so glad we got this portable kitty box that zips up. We still use it all the time when we go out of town and leave our cats with someone. We just load it up with litter, bring it to their place, and drop it off with the pets. Naturally, it’s also great for staying for a short period of time somewhere with your cat.
• Watch out for animal jetlag. It’s actually a thing, and it’s hilarious — except for the fact that your animal will be hungry at very odd hours for a while. Don’t worry, this will pass.

When moving to a different country:

• Thoroughly research all the information about your destination’s requirements on your specific animal traveling from your specific country. Different countries have different requirements. If you can’t find the information, call your government. With enough badgering, someone will know. In our case from the US, it was the USDA.
• On vaccines: 
  • In some countries (often in Europe), the rabies vaccine required might differ, i.e. a “live” or “killed” strain. China didn’t specify, and we didn’t know we had a choice. In the end, the only thing that mattered to us was the timing of the vaccine (at the time, between 30 days and one year). But be sure to check for this.
  • The timing of the vaccine, microchip requirement, and medical check all matter — often, the microchip must be given before the vaccines. Make sure you check these requirements as well and plan accordingly. 
  • Often, pets require a pet passport (but not for China). Also check for this.
• Watch out for import restrictions on their food or litter. We found out later that if we had flown into Hong Kong and then crossed the border into Shenzhen, we might not have been able to bring their food in legally. Then we really would have been royally screwed, knowing nothing about getting it for them on arrival. Luckily, we flew into Guangzhou and this was not an issue.

For more information, check out episode 36 of our podcast on traveling with pets, or go to my 3-part series where I document our journey.