Pet Relocation Questions

Pick the mode first, and distance decides it more than anything else. Under about 1,000 km, road is almost always best: door to door, no crate, and a break every two hours. Between 500 and 2,500 km, train usually gives the best value. Above about 1,500 km, or when the date is fixed, air makes sense.

Then it is documents, a booking, and a handler. Call us with the route, your pet's breed and weight, and a rough date, and we will recommend one and price it on the same call.

Yes, and most of our moves run this way. A named handler collects your pet from your door, travels with them, and completes the handover at the other end.

Travelling with your pet yourself is cheaper on train routes, because no handler needs to accompany the journey. We will tell you when that saving is worth taking.

Yes, on every mode. On trains you would book a first AC coupe or cabin and travel alongside your pet. On flights you travel on the same aircraft whether your pet is in the cabin or the hold. On road moves you can ride in the vehicle.

We still handle the booking, documents and boarding. Tell us on the first call and we will price it without a handler.

Dogs and cats are the bulk of our work. We also move birds, rabbits, guinea pigs and other rodents, turtles and tortoises, and fish.

The plan changes by species, not by size alone. A cat is kept enclosed and undisturbed where a dog wants walks and company at halts, and the railway dog box is not available for cats at all.

It is, when the mode suits the pet and someone competent is with them. Our handlers carry a first aid kit, keep the crate clean, and check on your pet at every halt. We send photo and video updates through the journey.

The honest caveat: air travel in the cargo hold carries more risk than road or train, particularly for flat faced breeds and in peak summer. We refuse those jobs rather than take the booking.

The journey itself is a day for a flight, one to two nights for most long train routes, and one to three days by road depending on distance. Getting ready usually takes about a week, which is mostly the vet certificate and the booking.

We can move faster in an emergency. Tell us the constraint on the first call and we will say honestly whether the date is achievable.

You get regular updates from the handler travelling with your pet, including photos and videos. On road moves you get location updates at each halt.

You also have the handler's number. If you want to hear that your dog ate, you can just ask.

It varies more by preparation than by mode. A pet who has used their crate at home for two weeks travels far better than one meeting it on the day, and that step costs nothing.

Our handlers walk dogs at halts and keep them company. Cats do better left covered and undisturbed. Where a vet has prescribed something mild for anxiety we will follow their instructions, but we do not sedate pets on our own judgement.

On road journeys, at every halt, roughly every two hours. On trains, our handler plans breaks at longer station stops for dogs, and cats use a lined carrier between stops rather than an open platform.

On flights, dogs are walked and given time before boarding, and an absorbent mat goes in the crate for the journey itself.

Tell us honestly how they behave, because it changes the recommendation. An anxious dog is usually better by road than in a cargo hold, even if road takes three days.

Crate familiarisation at home for two to four weeks helps more than anything else. Our carrier guide has the week by week routine.

Yes, with notice. Our handlers give medication on schedule and follow a specific feeding routine where one is needed.

Send us the vet's instructions in writing before travel day, along with the medication in its original packaging.

The handler stays with your pet and you are told immediately. Trains get delayed and flights get cancelled, so the plan already includes what happens to your pet if that day runs long.

For a medical emergency, our handlers carry a first aid kit and we have vets we work with in our branch cities.

Yes, and it costs far less than separate bookings. Two bonded pets from the same home often share a roomier crate on road and train journeys and settle better than they would apart.

Airlines set their own limits on shared crates by size and weight, which we check before booking rather than at the airport.

For every mode: an up to date vaccination record with a valid rabies shot, and a fit to travel certificate from a registered vet. Carry two photocopies of each, which keeps the parcel counter or cargo acceptance moving.

Air travel adds the airline booking, an approved crate, and a signed indemnity or declaration form. Road travel needs the least paperwork of the three, though we still want vaccinations current.

Within 48 hours of departure for train travel, and within 72 hours for most airlines. Getting it too early is a common and avoidable reason for a booking to fail at the counter.

We tell you the exact window for your route so the appointment is booked at the right time.

Their usual food for the journey and a day beyond it, a familiar blanket or worn t shirt, a collar with a leash and, for cats, a harness. Medication in its original packaging if any is needed.

Most importantly, get your pet used to the crate. Two weeks with it open at home changes travel day completely.

A light meal about four hours before, not immediately before. A full stomach makes travel sickness more likely, and a completely empty one makes a long journey harder.

Water right up to departure. Our handlers offer water at every halt.

No, not on your own judgement. Sedation interferes with a pet's ability to regulate body temperature and keep their balance, which is genuinely dangerous at altitude. Most airlines refuse sedated animals for exactly this reason.

If your pet struggles badly, speak to your vet about safe alternatives. Where a vet has prescribed something we follow their instructions exactly.

Put it out two weeks ahead with the door tied open and leave it alone. Feed meals just inside, then further in. Close the door for two minutes at a time only once they enter willingly.

The full week by week routine is on our carrier and crate guide.

Yes, in three ways. Dogs can travel in a fully booked first AC coupe or cabin with you, or in the brake van dog box unaccompanied. Cats and small dogs travel in a secure crate at your berth in AC2 or AC3, booked at the station parcel office.

All three need the pet booking made at the parcel office alongside your ticket, with the vaccination record and vet certificate.

Larger dogs travel in a first AC coupe or cabin, where they are not confined to a crate and can move around, or in the railway dog box in the brake van. Small dogs can travel in a crate at your berth in AC2 or AC3.

We run a door to door service on all three, with a handler who accompanies your dog and sends photo and video updates. Full detail on our dog transport page.

Two ways. A carrier kept at your berth in AC2 or AC3 is how most of our cat moves run and is the most economical. A first AC coupe is quieter and suits nervous cats or long routes.

Many relocation companies only offer first AC for cats. We run AC2 and AC3 carrier travel with a handler as well, which brings the cost down without changing the level of care. The dog box is not available for cats.

A dedicated enclosure in the brake van, the guard's coach at the end of the train. It is railway property, so you bring no crate of your own. The boxes have secure locking and are air conditioned.

It is for dogs only. Our handler travels on the same train and checks on your dog at halts.

No. The brake van is separate from the passenger coaches and passengers cannot travel there. Our handler checks on your dog at every significant halt instead.

If you want to be with your dog for the whole journey, book a first AC coupe rather than the dog box.

A coupe needs two tickets and a cabin needs four, because the whole compartment has to be yours for a pet to travel loose in it. We handle the booking and secure the space subject to availability.

This is why first AC costs more than the dog box: you are paying for the berths, not just for your pet.

Yes, in an appropriate secure carrier, with a handler accompanying them. Ventilation matters more than space for these species, and bonded pairs usually travel better together.

More detail on our rabbits and rodents page.

Yes on both options. A first AC coupe is air conditioned like any AC coach, and the dog boxes in the brake van are air conditioned too.

Carrier travel in AC2 or AC3 is in a normal air conditioned coach at your own berth.

An up to date vaccination record and a fit to travel certificate issued by a registered vet within 48 hours of departure. Bring two photocopies of each.

We compile and check the paperwork before travel day so nothing is discovered at the parcel counter.

At least an hour before departure, so the parcel office formalities are done without rushing and your pet has time to settle.

Our handler gets there considerably earlier, usually four to five hours ahead, to complete the pet booking and weighing.

A portable enclosure for transporting a pet. Soft bags and backpacks suit the cabin of a flight and short journeys. Hard body crates take rough handling and are the only type the cargo hold accepts. Booster and car seats are for road travel and do not enclose the pet at all.

Measure rather than guess from breed. Length is nose to tail base plus half the front leg height, width is shoulder width doubled, and height is standing height plus bedding plus about 5 cm.

Our carrier guide has the six size chart and a calculator that applies the formula and returns the right size.

No. Every airline requires one, in the cabin and in the hold. A crate that is too large is refused as often as one that is too small, because a pet with room to slide is at risk during loading.

In a first AC coupe, none. Your pet travels loose in the booked compartment. In the railway dog box, none either, since the railway provides the enclosure.

In AC2 or AC3, a secure hard body crate kept at your berth. Hard is better than soft here, because the journey is long and the crate stays closed.

Yes, on two modes. A pet taxi needs no crate, and a first AC train coupe needs none either. Only air travel and AC2 or AC3 train travel require one.

If your dog panics in enclosed spaces, road or train is the better plan, and we would say so before you spend on a crate.

Soft carriers are lighter and fold away, which suits short journeys, the cabin of a flight and pets under about 7 kg. Hard carriers hold their shape under a stack and are the only type accepted in the cargo hold.

For anything longer than a few hours, or any air journey in the hold, choose hard.

A rigid shell, a metal door, nuts and bolts around the rim rather than plastic clips, ventilation on all four sides, a leak proof floor, bowls fixed inside the door, wheels removed, and live animal labels with orientation arrows.

The final check is behavioural: your pet must stand, turn around and lie down naturally inside. A crate failing that is refused regardless of its markings.

On road and train journeys, yes, if they are bonded and already share space comfortably at home. It costs far less than two bookings.

For air travel, airlines set their own rules and usually allow sharing only for two small animals of similar size. We confirm before booking.

A small hard body carrier. Ventilation matters more than space, and soft bags are not safe for animals that chew.

Bedding deep enough to burrow into helps them settle. Bonded pairs travel together.

A booster seat keeps a pet secure and comfortable in a vehicle without enclosing them, and is for road travel only. A carrier encloses the pet and is what air and AC2 or AC3 train travel require.

We use booster and car seats in our own pet taxis rather than crates, because a dog who can see out settles better on a road journey.

Hard crates wash down with soap and water, and the bolts come off so the two halves separate. Soft carriers usually have a removable liner that machine washes.

Clean it before storing rather than before the next trip. A crate that smells of a previous journey is harder for a pet to settle into.