Job Discussion Forums

[dandan]

[ChrisP]

Why would anyone, especially a teacher, reply to an empirical question with an opinion?

[Mikana]

Okay, okay, there's no need to be nasty about the way some people feel about their pussies. And, since I work for a major US airline, let me say that the cat will do fine in the forward hold which is heated, pressurized and lit. It is possible with my airline to take a cat on board, which actually works well, especially if you use a soft carrier, though some airlines will not let a pet on the cabin on long, long flights in case the pet pees or similar. The best way to minimize trauma for the cat is to hang a little curtaain in the traveling kennel, about 2/3 of the way back. Cats like to hide when afraid, and so the curtain lets them duck out of sight when things get rough. Do not tranquillize!!! Dope makes it harder for the cat to adapt to temperature, altitude, and oxygen level changes that are normal with flight. Check with the airline for specific requirements. They all differ a little, some a lot. In my view, Northwest/KLM is best when it comes to pets, though not perhaps when it comes to humans. I've dragged both cats and dogs around the world with me ---- Osaka, Sydney, Avignon, Rome, Honolulu, Washington DC --- and we all ended up together in the same place and as happy as it is possible to be in this miserable world.

[JosephP]

Please say it ain't true about taking cats to Honolulu! Honolulu suffers from having too many feral cats, some 60,000 in the Diamond Head area alone! The local bird life is being decimated. I'd love to see the day where the governor of Hawaii would develop a backbone and not only ban the importation of cats (and dogs, mind you) but institute an erradication programme to cull every last moggie in the Islands.

[Mikana]

Yes, cats are a big problem in Hawai'i, as they are in Australia and many other places. However, when you write "bird life" in regard to Hawai'i you are surely referring to primarily non-native species, since as I understand it, native birds were heavily depopulated in the late 19th century and after by habitat destruction (plantations, introduction of alien flora) and by the mongoose which enjoys litttle egg meals. Still, I take your point.