Cooler Beds

[scottie]

Apologies for cross posting this - thought some people on this forum might have experience of these !

Some on here may remember that I am flying back to UK in December & taking animals (2 dogs & 3 cats) with me. One of my dogs appears to be suffering from mild epilepsy (so far 'petit mal' type though of course this may change). From what I have read any stress, including heat stress, can bring this on & overheating can be concurrent with fitting.I am desperate to try & minimise the chances of this happening but to meet UK import regulations the dogs have to leave Sydney on a mid afternoon flight in mid December - just about the hottest time of the year.

I've been trying to think of a way of keeping their temperatures down & was wondering about Cooler beds - does anyone have any experience with these ? Would they be appropriate for a 24hr+ flight ? I think the export agency handling the animals thinks they might get too chilled once they are on the flight - I simply don't know as I've never used them. There is also the issue of what happens when they pee in the crate - otherwise they would be on newspaper lined crate with dry bed on top which would obviously drain a lot better.

Any thoughts /experiences much welcomed !

[daccies]

Scottie, We flew a dog from Canada to the UK and then eventually out to Australia. My understanding is that the hold gets very cold and if they have livestock they have to turn on the heating in the hold. I guess if you're worrying about the heat here in Australia and are thinking of a cooling pad, it might not be great once they're on the flight. Not very helpful but why don't you ring up the companies that transport pets all the time, they must know and be able to answer your concerns.

[Dogsfevr]

No i wouldnt use one

[Garloch]

No, personally I wouldn't use one.

The cargo holds (even though they must have heating turned on whilst carrying livestock) still get cold midflight. Coolbeds draw heat away from the animal, therefore, when its not 35 degrees, they need to conserve their heat.

[puggy_puggy]

I wouldn't use one. Apart from the cargo hold being temprature controlled it would be horrible for the dog to pee and the pee to soak into the bed.

I would suggest that make up a sign to stick on your dogs crate that says in very big writing that they are not to be left out in the heat or sun.