Packing List When Travelling With Your Pet
March 3, 2017
Are you heading off on an adventure with your beloved pet? We have the perfect travel checklist to ensure that your trip away is hassle-free and 100% organised. Hit PRINT to ensure you don’t miss a thing when it comes to holiday pet supplies.
When travelling with pets (or children) the most important aspect is organisation. Trying to remember everything off by heart can leave you frazzled and frustrated. Even the most avid pet traveler can forget some basic pet supplies when feeling overwhelmed and stressed. It is common to hear travelers unpacking at the family beach-house or pet friendly accommodation exclaim, “we forgot the dog bed?”, or worst still, hearing the words echo at 11pm on arrival “Umm, where is the dogs food?”. MEOW!
Basic Dog Supplies
- Dog Bed
- Dog food & water bowls
- Dog leash & Collar (plus one spare lead)
- Dog Crate
- Dog Treats
- Dog coat
- Dog Toys
- Medications
- Tether & stake
- Poop bags
- Dog towel
Basic Cat Supplies
Today, many people travel to beach-houses with their beloved cats over the holiday period. Some things to consider are:
- Cat bed
- Cat Food & water bowls
- Collar with new tag
- Cat Treats
- Travel crate
- Cat Toys
- Portable cardboard cat scratcher
- Igloo or hidey hole
- Medications
- Litterbox
- Litter
Pet Basic First Aid Kit
Develop a first aid kit for your pet. Also, remember to find an emergency vet in the area you are travelling too.
- Saline solution or distilled water
- Collapsible bowl
- Crepe bandage
- Gauze
- Tweezers
- Scissors
- Nail clippers
- Local emergency vet contact
- Soft muzzle
- CPR instructions
- Blanket
- Microchip and registration information
Extra content: Motion sickness in cats
Important info when travelling with your pet
It’s also a good idea to ensure you tick all of the boxes about information. Consider having a special holiday ID tag made for your pet. This can include their name, where you are staying or just a statement to say, “My name is Toby and I’m on holiday. Please contact XZY”.
If you are out of mobile coverage, consider adding a reliable friend’s contact number. Also, contemplate downloading a pet-health app that allows you to store all relevant vet information for your four-legged friend.
- Inform friends & family of your whereabouts
- Microchip details up to date
- Special travel tag
- Vaccination information
- Update your pet’s health app
Before You Leave
It’s a good idea to ensure you do the following before travelling with your pet. Research your local area: are they a tick area, or have any outbreaks of anything you should be aware of? Where is the emergency vet located? Calling the local vet and chatting with a well-informed vet nurse will ensure you are prepared for your adventure.
- Fleas/ticks/worms
- Vaccinations
- Pet health check
- Local area check
- Find a local emergency vet
Overseas Travel
If you are travelling overseas with your pet it is important that you research your destination and speak to local authorities about what requirements are needed. Some countries will need to quarantine your pet, and your animals may also need to be vaccinated for certain diseases well before they board an aircraft. Some things to consider are:
- Speak with your vet
- What are the requirements of the country?
- Find a good reputable pet transport company and get referrals.
- Be very clear about the total cost
- What about coming home? What will you need to do? Remember that there may not be quarantine entering the country, but coming home could be a different story.
- Use only reputable forms of research like vets, pet transport companies, and double check by calling the actual authority. Finding out that you can’t bring Rover home without an extensive and expensive say in quarantine, at the last minute, could be a heartbreaking reality.
