Preston is very lucky to have a caring and knowledgeble veterinarian, Dr. Jill York at Sequoia Veterinary Hospital, Redwood City, watching over him. On Monday, Preston visited Dr. York for his annual checkup and also getting a health certificate for his big travel plans in three weeks. Preston is flying with Mommy and Daddy to Seattle and spending Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa. It is not a long flight (~2 hours) but Dr. York needed to make sure Preston was healthy enough so that the airline would let him get on the plane. Here is a list of things Mommy and Daddy have to do prior to bringing Preston on a plane.
1. Making reservations and purchasing tickets for Preston.
2. Getting a health certificate (within 30 days of departure for United Airlines)
3. Making sure his rabie shot is up-to-date.
4. Getting an airline approved kennel.
5. Making sure Preston’s ID tags and Microchip info is up-to-date.

Preston was a little nervous to see Dr. York because he remembered his previous visit- the wart surgery!! But this time, Preston went home with happy memories of yummy cookies. (This was of course the face BEFORE getting the cookies…)

12/31/2007 update: Flying with Preston wasn’t easy. Eventhough it was a direct flight, not being able to have him right next to us added a lot of stress. Here are a few things we have learned from the trip.
1. Carry both Rabie vaccination and health certificate.
2. Call the airline and confirm the price of your pet’s ticket. (In our case, Preston’s ticket was paid at the time of check-in.) Let them know the size of the kennel you will be using. We were flying with United Airline and paid $100 for outbound from SFO to SEA; however, on our return trip, they wanted to charge us $200 becuase Preston’s kennel was “oversized”.
3. It is requried by the airline to include water and food dishes (you don’t have to include the food but the dishes are required) in the crate. It is a good idea to feeze water in the dish and let it melt during the flight. We were also asked to sign a statement comfirming that Preston was fed within 4 hours prior to the flight departure.
4. Get to the airport early. After checking Preston (and us) in, we had to bring Preston to a desinated area for screening. The TSA personnel checked his kennel and any items in it. After his kennel was secured, we were not able to go near Preston. United airline personnel took over from that point on. We did tip the person taking care of Preston. Not sure if that helped or not.
5. Obtain confirmation that your pet is on board from the flight attendant. United Airline provided us confirmation before the plane taking off.

6. Preston was picked up at oversized baggage claim.

FYI: Preston’s second flying experience 04/2009 from SFO to Boston.
11/20/2010 Flying with Continental Airlines Petsafe Program from Houston to Seattle: Flying…Again!

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