Traveling with pets

happymom

New member

• May 24, 2013

• #1

I've learned so much from this site, thank you to all of you who provide such helpful information.

I'm trying to educate myself on how to make my car be a safe place and recently learned about the dangers of projectiles. We are now making habits of limiting (and trying to eliminate) projectiles in our car. That said, we travel a few times a month with our cat. He rides in the back seat in a carrier, I lock the seat belt and just strap it through the carry handle of the carrier. He rides in the back seat next to my 14 month old. Is this the safest way to travel with a cat?

We have always strapped our cat in for HIS safety, never thinking that having him in the car could actually be a danger to the human passengers in the car.

Some day our family will include a large dog, and I was wondering where is a good place to start learning about safety and traveling with large canine passengers, as well!

Thanks!!

 

bubbaray

New member

• May 24, 2013

• #2

The safest place for a small pet carrier is on the floor of the vehicle, in the footwell. There are crash test videos on YouTube showing what happens to pet carriers when they are strapped in using the seatbelt. Not pretty.

ETA for our large dog, we put him in a large crate and strap it in the bed of the truck. When I had a van, we put the crate in the cargo area

 

happymom

New member

• May 24, 2013

• #3

Do you use a ratchet strap to attach them to the ground or just set them there?

 

wendytthomas

Admin - CPST Instructor

Staff member

• May 25, 2013

• #4

Just set them there.

Here's the video. After I saw this, since I used to put the belt through the handle as well, I moved to soft carriers on the floor.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyEZbcF-iVE&feature=related"]RENT A KENNEL®. Crash test with pets. ADAC - YouTube[/ame]

Wendy

 

happymom

New member

• May 28, 2013

• #5

THANK YOU for sharing!!!

I had tried to look that up, but most of the videos I found just included dogs wearing seat belts!

 

soph's mom

New member

• May 28, 2013

• #6

I also have a strongly secured gate blocking our cargo area for extra protection. It is made specifically for our vehicle...

 

happymom

New member

• May 28, 2013

• #7

I just have a Sedan with a trunk. I think it's pretty secure?

 

MotoMommaNH

New member

• May 28, 2013

• #8

What about something like this for larger dogs?http://www.rcpets.com/index.php/browse/category/id/302#main_panel

We don't have a wagon so traveling with our dog necessitates him sitting in the back seat. He's a 60lb dog. Seems as though they've done some crash testing and whatnot. Any one have any other suggestions before I pull the trigger on this?

Sorry to thread hijack OP!!

 

bubbaray

New member

• May 28, 2013

• #9

Our crate is an airline approved crate so pretty sturdy. We strap it to the cargo tie downs in the bed of the truck, mainly to keep it from sliding and freaking out our dog. In a crash, yeah, the crate will go flying and fingers crossed for the dog.

In my former van, we used either the plastic crate or a smaller wire/show crate. We did not strap it down. Usually there was other stuff like luggage or a double stroller back there. Not ideal in a rollover.

 

bubbaray

New member

• May 28, 2013

• #10

I personally am not a fan of seatbelt restraints for dogs. There are also videos of them failing and AFAIK, there are no testing/ certification standards.

I also think in practical terms, unless you start using the seatbelt harness when the dog is a puppy, they are going to be miserable and a large distraction.

YMMV

 

K

kathysr98

Active member

• May 29, 2013

• #11

I use this carrier in the car for our cat. http://m.petsmart.com/mt/www.petsma...jsp?productId=3006786&f=PAD/psNotAvailInUS/No

I do put it on the seat and use the seatbelt since it has a very sturdy, well attached strap designed for doing so on the back. I use it nearly every day and have had several hard stops with it in use. The strap has not shown any damage so far, and it's kept the cat off the dash.

 

V

VanIsleMommy

Guest

• May 29, 2013

• #12

I would not use a seatbelt restraint for a pet, I watched a story on a woman who's dog was paralyzed in a crash because of the seatbelt. Her other dog in a crate survived in tact.

 

MotoMommaNH

New member

• May 29, 2013

• #13

Yes, but there's no practical way to fit a crate in the back seat of my car with a convertible car seat installed. Definitely not on the floor either. Its a sedan.
We don't drive around with the dog regularly. Maybe three trips with him a year. We walk to the vet.

Suppose I'd have to take the lesser of two evils...completely unrestrained vs doggie seatbelted (watching the RC pet products crash test video gives me some faith).

 

V

VanIsleMommy

Guest

• May 29, 2013

• #14

Do you have a soft sided crate? Those are generally able to fit better in the car, even in the front seat on the floor if you can fold the seat forward and lock it and then slide the seat back. If that makes sense

My dog chews through them but for the odd short trip it works.

 

SafeDad

CPSDarren - Admin

Staff member

• May 29, 2013

• #15

We used to use a hard plastic carrier on the floor or seat. Carrier strikes floor board or dash or airbag, then pet strikes hard interior. A good outcome is not likely.

I decided I was no longer comfortable with that and figured it was time for a change with our new cats. I went with a soft sided carrier that has a seatbelt loop. No idea how it would perform in a crash, but it has to be better than an unsecured hard cage.

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/SturdiBag-Divided-Extra-Large-Carriers/dp/B0057G4NOQ/"]Amazon.com: SturdiBag Divided Extra Large Pet Carriers (Smoke): Pet Supplies[/ame]

Fits our two kitties great now and later should be plenty of room for one of them once they are grown.

 

E

essnce629

New member

• May 30, 2013

• #16

Thanks for posting this! We got our cat in December and I used a hard carrier on the seat with the seatbelt through it. I'm going to switch to a smaller soft sided carrier on the floor after seeing the video.