As many of you know, we decided to take Gin and Tonic, our two cats,to Paris with us. This may turn out to be one of the most questionable decisions we made.
While exceptionally friendly and sociable (for cats), they have one slight idiosyncrasy - they get sick as soon as the car begins moving. This means that we usually have to stop and clean the cat carrier before we get to the end of the driveway. Sometimes, if we are lucky, we can get all the way to the highway before being overcome by the smell. Since we take them with us to the Berkshires about 20 times a year this is not an insignificant problem. We have tried everything from Benedryl to Dramamine; from phenobarbitol to valium and every "natural' product in between! Nothing has worked. They may be almost comatose, but they find a way to relieve themselves. They just make a bigger mess. We even tried not feeding them on the day we travel. We have no idea how they will react to plane travel!
On the trip to Paris we have a cab ride to the airport; waiting at the airport lounge and then a 7 hour air trip followed by another cab ride. Remember, cats, unlike dogs cannot be walked during breaks. We can only use that time to try to clean out the bag. There will be a lot of opportunities to make a big impression on innocent people.
There are also some other considerations in traveling with a pet to Europe. They must be up to date on all their shots. They must have a microchip implanted for identifications and you must get a vet's exam within 10 days of travel. That, must then be countersigned by a vet at the US Dep't. of Agriculture (at the airport). Just in case, Chris' son, Scott is driving us to the airport so he can take the cats back with him if something unforseen arises. If not. we will carry them with us in the cabin. Of course, the airline (in our case Air France) is charging us more for the cats than for us - $170 per cat, each way! Of course we are traveling on FF miles.
Then we do it all again in three months!
2:54:34 PM 
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