We get a lot of questions about sedation or other tranquilizers and if they should be applied on your pet when it’s going to fly, the answer is always no, according to the AVMA (American Veterinary Medical Association) sedating a furred friend during air travel can be a counterproductive move that compromises your pal’s health, with risk of respiratory and heart problems. These kind of substances should not be used unless it’s an unusual situation, therefore veterinarians should not dispense sedatives for pets that are traveling.

The effects of sedation

Every animal reacts differently on sedatives, their effects on our furry friends while they’re being shipped by air and in a kennel at 8,000 feet or more can be dangerous. Pets tend to be excited while they’re going to the airport and prior to loading but when your pal is in a full dark space in a closed cargo hold it gets sleepy and then the sedatives may have an exceeding effect. The altitude can create cardiovascular or respiratory problems on cats and dogs that are sedated, specially Brachycephalic breeds.

There are number of cases where a sedated pet traveling by air needed veterinary care to recover from a sedation secondary effect, some of them couldn’t make it. Sometimes owners use sedatives to ensure the pet would have a stress free trip, and many of these claim later that their veterinarians adviced them to do it.

Sedatives shouldn’t be used for air traveling pets, if they’re applied it could cause a hostile reaction on your pet, even when a single dosage is recommended, animals react in different ways to sedatives (even in normal circumstances) for example, cats sometimes become more excited under the effects of sedating drugs.

Alternatives

It’s highly recommended to get your pet familiar with its crate, veterinarians advice you to leave the kennel open with toys or any familiar object inside, to boost your pets intrigue and create a comfortable environment. With time your pet will accept the kennel as a safe place where it can be as relaxed as possible during the flight.

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