Review on Comfortable & Convenient Pet Carrier For Medium Cats And Small Dogs - Washable Bed, Multiple Doors & Shoulder Strap - Easy In & Out - Escape Proof - Light Green by Mike Stevenson

I have a very large cat. In fact, when he’s sleeping in a fully stretched position he’s longer than the cage by an inch. Due to COVID, airlines are not transporting pets as cargo, so my only option during an international move was to try to carry on my cat.This cage has a couple of rods at the top that give it rigidity, but make it kind of a solid box in practice. For airline travel, remove those. They are on the inside, you should feel them. There are holes on the fabric by the end of the rods, just push them through there. This will allow the carrier to collapse a little and fit under an airplane seat (which have irregular shapes). I flew in a Delta 737-900ER, on main cabin, right window seat. This carrier has the maximum dimensions allowed by Delta, but still, the dimensions for all under-seat areas of their aircrafts are smaller in one way or another. This is why they strongly recommend (almost require?) a soft sided carrier. Without the rods I was able to compact the app of the carrier to fit under the seat. The downside is that it’s very awkward to handle, because it collapses when you try to use the shoulder strap without the rods. You have to use the handles. With a 16lbs cat through JFK I got a solid trapezoid workout right there…My large cat? He was fine -when he gets scared he curls into a very small shape anyway, like any cat. They get into kind of a ball shape and become a little taller and wider, but much shorter. The height of the carrier really helps with this. In the end, I think going on the carry on and being supervised was the best thing to do for my cat. He looked comfortable in the carrier, but stressed by the situation. Do talk to your veterinarian about some medication to relax your cat. This was very very important. Without that I wouldn’t have been able to handle him through security, and knowing him, he would have been traumatized by the flight and the move. I’ve been through a move before and it took two days for him to come out of hiding. With that medication, all of this happened and he didn’t even care. He was exploring by night one.