How much cabin noise can the animals take?

[Jon]

Michelle??? Is there an answer?

I have a pressurized cabin and the noise level is loud, but not painfully so. I still wear noise cancelling headsets. I am not sure if the short duration of a flight is seriously dangerous, but I would have to defer to Michelle.

I do know that not transporting some of the animals we carry is extremely dangerous because the alternative to a noisy plane ride is death in some cases.

[DDalland]

Clay-

Not sure on the noise tolerance but my Irish Setter rode in my 68 Mooney with us for 10 yrs (probably 50 hrs/yr) and her hearing was fine until we lost her at 15 yrs old. Now I'm flying my wife's two irish setters (ok they're mine too) to various dog shows in a 68 Baron. Em is 7 and Lola 5 and their hearing is very good, they can hear a key in a door lock from the second story of my shop.

A vet may provide a definitive answer, but my dogs have spent a lot of time in my noisy airplanes without any issues. I doubt a few hours on a rescue ride would cause any serious damage.

Regards

Don

[N7655W]

I truly believe from my experience that a one time rescue in one of our noisy birds is not dangerous to their hearing. I usually have the crates open during transport giving our furry friends the choice of being in or out during flight. Most of them curl up and go to sleep. Some look out the window. Never noticed any discomfort. However, my dog, a regular passenger, always has his set of Mutt Muffs on. You have to look out for the possibility of long term hearing loss.

Jeff
N7655W

[Michele]

Sorry. I just now saw this post.

I concur with Jeff and Jon. One flight without hearing protection would certainly be uncomfortable, but probably would not cause permanent damage. It's repetitive exposure to loud noises that causes the damage.

Also if the dogs are in carriers and you can't get to them during flight, it's unlikely you'll land with them still wearing them. The reason is that Mutt Muffs are not something most self-respecting dogs would want to wear. But most dogs, upon getting them off once, determine they were way happier with them on, and given the doggy empirical evidence, they don't take them off again.

So.... If I'm transporting dogs in the back seat, where my co-pilot can assist, we'll use Mutt Muffs on the pooch. If they're in a crate, I just apologize to the little guys for the loud conditions and remind them that they're almost home.

My dog, who flies with me alot, always wears his Mutt Muffs.