10 essentials for air travel with your cat

Written By Alex Foster
A miniature black cat in a carrier with a green filter overlaid.

At two-years old, Gimlet is already a proper globetrotter. She’s been to five states and two countries, so lots of people like to hit us with that zinger, “Wow, your cat has traveled more places than me!”

Lemme just say: I hope that’s not true — please travel if you can make the budget work. The world is big and beautiful. That said, there is a huge, gargantuan difference between traveling and traveling with a cat. This blog is to outline some essentials that we like to take with us when flying with Gimlet.

A miniature black cat standing on a countertop.

  1. Airline pre-registration

The most essential thing you can do when flying with your cat is to ensure that they’re pre-registered with the airline as soon as you book your tickets. Some airlines restrict the number of pets allowed on each aircraft or cabin class, and some have seating accommodations for guests with severe pet-dander allergies, so the earlier you can notify them, the better. Once registered, most airlines will have you head to the check-in counter on the day of travel to pay the associated fees and get a pet tag for your carrier. And if you’re traveling internationally with your cat, you’ll present all your vet paperwork at the check-in counter, as well as at Customs when you arrive in your destination country. Don’t skip those steps: the last thing you want to do is arrive at the gate only to find out you can’t fly because of your cat.

A cat in a suitcase

2. Travel litter box

I think that first and foremost in any cat-parent’s mind when traveling with your sweet bebe is your litter strategy. Am I going to get a collapsible litter container? How much litter do I need to bring? Is TSA going to pat me down or give me the stink eye? We have some takeaways from the numerous flights that we've taken with Gimlet thus far.

The simple truth is that your cat may just not want to go potty anywhere near an airport or airplane. Gimlet almost never has, even on our long hauls. Air travel can be stressful, even if Gimlet doesn’t look outwardly anxious. We've tried giving her potty breaks on longer flights by taking her into the lavatory with her travel litter, but she's been more interested in exploring or stretching. We have found that she might start meowing as we deplane, usually as a sign that it’s time to get to the litter. When we landed in Milan, we busted out her travel litter box as soon as we were out of the jet bridge and were rewarded with a happy pee after her 8-hour flight. 

We've tried using pet relief areas in the airport, but they frequently smell like lots of doggies, so she doesn't get comfortable. We've been most successful with family restrooms, since they tend to be cleaner and have a locking door. If she doesn't respond to a little dig-dig after inspecting the room, we usually call it and make a beeline for ground transport. More often than not, Gimlet waits until we arrive at our hotel to use her litter after a flight. 

Now to the travel litter box itself. We've been happiest carrying a waterproof plastic tub that’s intended for pet food. It has a basic latch and a rubber ring that keeps the odors inside the container, and it’s large enough for Gimlet to use comfortably just like a standard plastic litter box. For flying, we ensure it’s extra leakproof with a clipping elastic belt around the middle, and we zip the tub inside another waterproof bag. We have to commit most of a carry-on bag to it, so if you want to travel this way, I hope you were planning on checking a bag or packing light. We know some folks have found success with smaller folding or zipped litters, but Gimlet’s never gotten comfortable with them. We've just made her clear plastic container her normal litter box for all travel - air, car and rail. We carry clean or freshly-scooped litter, and we have covered the outside of the bin with labels indicating that it’s cat litter to help with security inspections.

No matter what you do, TSA is going to have to analyze your litter. A tub of questionable grey crystals can look suspicious. That litter will get pulled, and they will swab it. We’d recommend baking in at least 15 extra minutes just for the hold for the chemical tests that are usually run. We apologize profusely, but it's just never a good day to bring litter through TSA. Just try to be gracious and compliant, and hopefully they'll be quick. 

One learning we had from a longer vacation: you can run out of litter. We brought a fairly full tub with us for our trip to Italy, but by Day 8, we had scooped and discarded nearly two-thirds of it. We resorted to purchasing a bag of litter from a local pet store, but anyone with cats will know that they can be finicky about new litter brands. She was very hesitant to use it, and we ended up limping along with the last dredges of litter until we got back. Next time, we’d be sure to bring more litter. Even if we have to cart it around, it saves you from the dreaded litter rebellion.

Our travel litter kit:

A cat on a leash in Venice, Italy.

3. Travel litter scoop and potty bags

You have the travel litter, but did you remember the scoop? We searched the internet for a compact metal scoop specifically for travel and have been pretty happy with this scoop by Apidgrowth. It’s gotten a little flimsy over time, but it’s still going strong after weeks of travel use. We store it in a waterproof zipper pouch and give it a wipe with Wet Wipes after use to keep things as tidy as we can while we’re on the go.

We never go through TSA with unscooped litter, period. But beyond airport use, having potty bags saves you from scooping used litter directly into open hotel trash cans. They’re also super handy for trash bags, nausea bags, or for packing wet swimsuits in a pinch.

If you want to be extra prepared, we also keep a small TSA-approved spray bottle in our carry-on with urine deodorizer. To date, we’ve never had to use it, but it does give us extra piece of mind.

Our travel clean-up kit:

4. A comfy carrier

We did a good amount of research about pet carriers before Gimlet came home with us. To this day, she uses that same carrier and has gotten really comfortable with it. We have a soft-sided backpack made by PetAmi. It can also unzip in the back and fold out into a “catio” on the floor, and has ample air-screen on the front and sides. The sides can also unzip to lay flat when going through security. Most importantly, it fits under an airline seat when laid on its back. That’s a big one for flying, so we like that it works as a backpack and an airline carrier. Airlines will ask you to stow your fur baby under the seat, so you'll need to be able to maneuver him/her easily into that space. When flying, Dani likes to be able to put a hand down to check on her occasionally, especially during takeoff and landing. Gimlet is pretty accustomed to flying now, but every flight is a little different. 

If you’re looking for a carrier specifically for air travel, we’d recommend checking your airlines requirements for both size and ventilation. Delta domestic, for example, requires the carrier to be open on at least three sides, while Delta international requires open air access on four sides. So far, this carrier has met regulations for Delta domestic and international, Southwest and JetBlue.

This backpack is easily our most valuable purchase. It has good airflow, she can see out of it, and we wrap the floor in a puppy pad, just in case she has an accident or we drop some food in there and it gets messy. As a bonus for us, the straps are padded so it’s comfortable on our backs, and there’s a zipper pouch to store the essentials.

PetAmi backpack carrier: https://a.co/d/5cl7kAb

A black Minuet cat with a leash and harness outside a doorway.

5. Plenty of Treats - and a clicker, if you clicker-train

We try to treat Gimlet periodically to reinforce positive vibes throughout the stressful journey. Made it through TSA? Cookie. Sat okay at the gate? Cookie. Went potty? Cookie. Settled on the flight? Cookie. Deplaned? Cookie. We also try not to feed her too close to a long flight, since she doesn’t like using litter in airports, so the cookies help a lot.

She also loves wet tube treats, which are great for longer flights to ensure she’s getting some hydration (although can be messy if not handled with caution).

Bribery goes a long way with tiny adventure cats.

A miniature black cat wearing a rain jacket and walking on a leash in the rain.

6. Harnesses and leashes

Obviously, as a travel cat, Gimlet needs a couple harnesses and leashes on hand for walkies and such. If an airport is pet friendly, we try to find a nook that she can stretch her legs in. Many airports aren’t pet friendly or are too noisy and chaotic for this, but we’ve been fortunate to find a few. Gimlet tends to be a little more compliant if we give her some time outside the carrier before the flight.

If your feline friend doesn’t love leash walks, it still may be worth it to bring them when you travel. Just in case anyone decides to hop out of their carrier unexpectedly.

Oh, and depending on the weather at the destination, you may want to bring extra gear. We don’t really dress Gimlet up for fun, but she does have a little rain coat for cloudy days.

Our favorite Gimlet gear:

A miniature black cat on a leash outdoors.

7. Puppy pads

Puppy pads have been a huge lifesaver with Gimlet on the go. While she doesn’t use them as her primary bathroom source, she can sometimes have a bad sense of where the edge of the litter box is. She’s had a handful of misses when we travel. So now, we will usually lay down one of these pads under the litter box in the hotel bathroom, just in case. We just pick up the standard puppy pads for a small or medium dog. If she doesn’t make a mess, we can usually re-use the pad for a while. If your cat has good aim, this might be optional, but for us, it’s a must.

A small black cat peeking out from under curtains.

8. Rechargeable portable fan

Like the puppy pads, this may be more optional. The airflow is not always great in planes, and when Gim gets anxious, she tends to pant. We like having the fan because it doubles as white noise and airflow, which hopefully helps keep her calm and cool when we’re stuck on the tarmac. This is another nice-to-have, but I’ve definitely found it to be a lifesaver for us, since flights will sometimes shut off the air while they’re stuck taxiing.

A miniature cat on top of a suitcase

9. Calming spray and/or kitty Gabapentin

While Gimlet has done well on the majority of our flights, she did have a rough time on one 4-hour flight to Austin last year. We got stuck on the tarmac, and the anxiety kicked in. She started panting and then spit up in her carrier. After that, we got some kitty Gabapentin from our vet to keep on hand in case of anxiety. We have used it on some longer flights, but it makes her very fuzzy, so we don’t love it. Further complicating the situation: she’ll intentionally avoid it if she can taste that we’ve spiked her treats.

A nicer alternative that we’ve tried is a calming spray. It’s pheromone-based, and we spray it in her carrier before we leave for the airport. We keep a small amount of it in a carry-on bag, in a TSA-approved spray bottle. If you could only have one of the two, I would get the Gaba, but know what works best for your little cat friend.

A black Minuet kitten on her back playing with a ribbon

10. Flight crew appreciation

Since we started flying with Gimlet, we’ve made a habit of bringing a small bag of treats and a handwritten thank you note to give to the flight attendants as we board. Some individually-wrapped candies are the least we can provide for the work they do to keep passengers safe and happy every day. And beyond being a nice gesture, they alert the crew that we’ve arrived with one of the pre-registered pets on-board, so they know where we’re sitting and that we have a furry little friend with us.

We hope you’ve gained some helpful insights into kitty travel essentials from our experiences. This is by no means exhaustive, and we do hope to update this as we learn new great tips and tricks from traveling with Gimlet!

TL;DR: Flying with a cat wan be quite a production. But if you are lucky enough to have a tiny adventure kitty in your life, it’s worth all the extra work to see the world alongside them.

Alex Foster
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