More pet owners than ever are choosing to bring their animals along when they travel — and it makes sense. Leaving a beloved pet behind creates stress for both the animal and the owner, and with the right preparation, traveling with a pet can be genuinely enjoyable.
The keyword is preparation. Poorly planned pet travel is stressful for everyone involved. Well-planned pet travel is entirely manageable and often wonderful. Here’s how to do it right.
Before You Travel: The Essential Preparation
Visit your veterinarian before any significant trip. This serves several purposes: ensures your pet is healthy enough to travel, ensures vaccinations are current (required by many airlines, boarding facilities, and some destinations), allows you to discuss anxiety management if your pet is a nervous traveler, and gives you the opportunity to obtain a health certificate — required by most airlines and some states and countries for pet travel.
International travel requires significantly more advance planning. Most countries have specific import requirements for pets — health certificates, microchipping (ISO standard chip is required for international travel), rabies titer tests in some cases, and quarantine periods in certain destinations. Research your destination’s requirements at least 3–6 months before travel, as some requirements take weeks or months to fulfill.
Ensure your pet is microchipped. A microchip is your pet’s permanent identification and the most reliable way to be reunited if they become lost during travel. Combined with current registration in a national database (with your up-to-date contact information), it gives any finder or veterinarian the means to locate you.
Get your pet comfortable with their carrier well before travel. Don’t bring out the carrier for the first time on travel day — introduce it weeks or months in advance as a comfortable, positive space. Feed meals in the carrier, place comfortable bedding inside, and let your pet explore and sleep in it voluntarily. A pet that associates their carrier with safety and comfort travels dramatically better than one for whom the carrier signals something frightening.
Road Travel: Making Car Trips Safe and Comfortable
For most pets, road travel is less stressful than air travel and offers more flexibility. But it’s not without risks and challenges.
Safety restraint: This is non-negotiable. An unrestrained pet in a moving vehicle is a projectile in the event of sudden braking or collision — a hazard to themselves and to the humans in the car. Options include: crash-tested harnesses that attach to the seat belt, secured crates or carriers, and rear cargo barriers. Look for products that have been independently crash-tested — not all marketed as “safe” actually are.
Never leave your pet in a parked car: The temperature inside a parked car can rise to life-threatening levels within minutes on a warm day, even with windows cracked. On a 70°F day, the interior of a parked car can reach 100°F within 20 minutes. This kills pets every year. If you can’t take your pet with you when you leave the car, they shouldn’t come on that leg of the trip.
Plan frequent stops: Dogs need regular bathroom breaks, exercise, and the opportunity to drink water — plan stops every 2–3 hours. Never let your dog out of the car in an unsecured area without a leash. Rest stop escapes are a common cause of lost pets.
Motion sickness: Many dogs and some cats experience motion sickness, particularly as young animals. Signs include excessive drooling, yawning, whining, and vomiting. Feeding a light meal 4–6 hours before travel (rather than immediately before) helps. Keeping the car cool, cracking windows for fresh air, and ensuring your pet faces forward reduces symptoms. For pets with significant motion sickness, your veterinarian can prescribe anti-nausea medication.
Keep your pet’s routine as consistent as possible: Feed at normal meal times, walk at normal times, maintain as much of the daily routine as travel allows. Predictability reduces stress significantly.
Air Travel: Understanding Your Options
Air travel with pets is more complex than road travel and involves more variables outside your control. Understanding the options helps you make the safest choice for your specific pet.
Cabin travel (under-seat carry-on): The safest option for small pets — dogs and cats that fit in an airline-approved carrier under the seat in front of you. The carrier must fit within specified dimensions (varies by airline), your pet must remain in the carrier throughout the flight, and airlines limit the number of pets in cabin per flight. Book early and confirm pet reservation directly with the airline — not all booking systems capture this.
Checked baggage or cargo hold: Required for larger pets that don’t qualify for in-cabin travel. This is significantly more stressful and carries more risk — temperature extremes, pressure changes, handling, and the complete absence of human contact. Many veterinary organizations and airlines have restrictions on cargo travel for brachycephalic (flat-faced) breeds — bulldogs, pugs, French bulldogs, Persian cats, and similar breeds — because their shortened airways make them particularly vulnerable to respiratory stress in cargo conditions. Research your airline’s specific policies and restrictions thoroughly before booking.
Dedicated pet transport services: For long-distance or international transport of larger animals, dedicated pet transport companies that specialize in safe animal shipping are worth considering.
Sedation: The American Veterinary Medical Association advises against sedating pets for air travel. Sedatives alter cardiovascular and respiratory function in ways that can be dangerous at altitude and in the stress of travel. Discuss anxiety management options with your veterinarian — there are safer alternatives including pheromone products, calming supplements, and in some cases anxiolytic medications that don’t carry the same risks as sedation.
Pet-Friendly Accommodations
The growth of pet-friendly travel options has been significant — but “pet-friendly” varies enormously in what it actually means.
Always confirm pet policies directly: Weight limits, breed restrictions, number of pets allowed, pet fees (often non-refundable), and whether pets are allowed in all areas of the property. Don’t assume — confirm.
Use dedicated pet-friendly travel resources: Websites and apps that specialize in pet-friendly accommodations (BringFido, PetsWelcome, GoPetFriendly) provide reviews from pet owners, detail pet policies, and help identify genuinely pet-welcoming properties.
Bring your pet’s own bedding and familiar items: Familiar scents from home provide comfort in unfamiliar environments. Bringing your pet’s bed, a familiar blanket, and their regular food significantly reduces the stress of new environments.
Never leave your pet alone in a hotel room unless you’re confident they’ll be calm and quiet: An anxious pet left in an unfamiliar hotel room may bark, destroy property, or injure themselves. Crate training your pet before travel gives you a safe, familiar containment option when needed.
Managing Anxiety in Traveling Pets
Some pets are genuinely anxious travelers, and acknowledging this is important. Forcing an extremely anxious pet through highly stressful travel without appropriate support is unkind and counterproductive.
Options for managing travel anxiety include: gradual desensitization to the carrier and car over weeks or months before travel, pheromone products (Adaptil for dogs, Feliway for cats) which can meaningfully reduce anxiety, calming supplements (L-theanine, various herbal formulas — variable evidence), and prescription anxiolytic medication from your veterinarian for pets with significant anxiety. Discuss what’s appropriate for your specific pet well in advance of travel.
What to Pack for Your Pet
A comprehensive pet travel kit includes: their regular food (enough for the entire trip plus a few extra days), portable water bowl and bottled water, collar with ID tags showing your cell phone number, leash, waste bags, health records and vaccination certificates, any medications, a first aid kit, their carrier or crate, familiar bedding or toys, and your veterinarian’s contact information plus the number of an emergency veterinary clinic at your destination.
→ Read Next: How to Adopt a Pet — Everything You Need to KnowThe Bottom Line
Traveling with your pet is absolutely doable — and with the right preparation, genuinely enjoyable. Start preparation early, prioritize safety and your pet’s comfort over convenience, know their limits and work within them, and don’t hesitate to consult your veterinarian about managing anxiety or health concerns specific to your animal. The trips you take together become some of the best memories of pet ownership.
Emma Hartwell is a lifelong animal lover, certified pet nutritionist, and experienced dog trainer with over 8 years of hands-on experience working with animals of all kinds. She founded InnerzNews to give pet owners access to honest, practical, and science-backed advice — because every animal deserves the best possible care. When she’s not writing, Emma is hiking with her two rescue dogs, Milo and Biscuit, or volunteering at her local animal shelter.