Come Fly With Me!

TIPS ON NAVIGATING AIRPORT SECURITY WITH YOUR CAT

-  Theresa Gleason

"Smells" celebrated Thanksgiving at his OWN house - and not in Orlando where the bag that he stowed away in was heading before a TSA agent at JFK discovered him in a bag!

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of speaking with Lisa Farbstein, Public Affairs Specialist/Spokesperson for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). For the past 13 years, Lisa has been responsible for communicating about airline travel in the United States; her territory includes Washington DC, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia. Owning cats her entire life, she was delighted to share the best practices about getting through the airport security process with the least amount of stress for your cat.

Theresa: Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me today about traveling by air with cats. What is one of the most important tips you can provide for pet owners when traveling with their cats and going through TSA procedures? Lisa: Travelers should know they will be asked to remove their animals from the pet carrier so that the carrier can be put through the x-ray machine. If possible, keep your cat on a leash just in case you aren't able to keep it secure when you are going through the metal detector. When you walk through the metal detector, you will be holding your cat. TSA staff may then swipe your hands with swabs to be tested by a machine looking for explosive material. It may seem obvious that your cat should be removed from their carrier prior to passing through the metal detector, but believe it or not, people have been known to send their cats through the X-ray machine by mistake, and our staff will see the cat's skeleton! Although the X-ray will not harm the cat, the only one who should perform this procedure for your cat is your veterinarian.

Theresa: