Keep Them In

Did you see this viral video of a cat on an airplane?

Now, I am a cat person, through and through. Or, to put it differently, when people ask, “Are you more of a dog person or a cat person?” my answer is: I love dogs. I have had dogs in the past. I look forward to having dogs again in the future. But I don’t think I’ll ever not have a cat.

Does that even make sense?

Point is: cats are awesome. And the cat in this video is awesome.

But the person who made it is distinctly not awesome. Because cats belong in carriers during flights.

And not because the issue raised in the comments ad nauseam: allergies. Though, to be clear, I don’t know how the airlines manage to let cats fly in the cabin, given how many people are allergic to cats. I definitely thought about this the two times I flew a cat across the country as part of a move, although, in each case, my cat remained in the carrier for the duration. They didn’t sit on a seat and get hair everywhere. Seriously, do you see how much fur this cat is leaving on the chair in this video??

And sure, the account’s owner claims to wipe everything down after the flight. Which is super reassuring. After all, cat hair is dense stuff. It stays exactly where your cat sheds it. It definitely doesn’t float around and get all the fuck over everything.

But again, this isn’t even about allergies. It’s about all the other bullshit. Like, for example, the stuff laid out here in a comment from a flight attendant responding after the account owner mentioned how some flight crews can be “very rigid” with the rules:

because we’ve had cats run around and biting and scratching people’s legs. Last week a “service animal” bit a passenger. Keep your pets in their carrier!

PREACH!

To be fair, this cat seems very well-behaved. The problem is the account’s nearly 500,000 followers. We’re talking about a bunch of people who have a parasocial relationship with a cat on the internet. I.e. maybe not a group brimming with the kind of self-awareness and situational judgement that might cause them to think, Sure, this is cute, but maybe I shouldn’t try it with my terror of a pet on our next flight.

Anyway, if you need a carrier, we’re selling one today. It’s soft for your pet’s comfort but sturdy enough, with a wood support board wrapped in waterproof casing, so you don’t need to worry about it breaking under your pet’s weight (assuming they weigh less than 16 pounds). It fits under most airplane seats, but also works great in cars, with straps to clip into LATCH, ISOFIX, and other car seat tether systems.

In other words, it’ll protect your pet, and it’ll protect other people from your pet.

So get one if you have a small pet and plan to travel with them.