PILOTS N PAWS

I am a pilot, new to PNP, and am wondering what the recommendations from other pilots or any veterinarian's on this board are relating to safe altitudes for pet transport. My plane is not pressurized, and living on the west coast means most flights north or east require flight at or above 10,000' MSL. I have read the varying opinions found from a simple google search, but I value the input of those doing this regularly. Thank you.

Welcome new pilot and thanks for volunteering! I am sure pilots will chime in and share their experiences with you. A few things to consider:

1. Health condition, age, and breed of an animal with regards to altitude.
a. Puppies really should not be flown if they are under 3 weeks of age but that being said, this has been done but with very slow ascent, descent and lower altitudes 5k and under. Their lungs are not developed well enough yet to handle extreme pressure. Many times rescues will risk sending younger, if the pilot is willing to transport, because if not they will be euthanized by the end of the day.
b. Pregnant dogs close to term may go into labor from extreme pressure as well, just like people.
c. Snub nosed dogs and cats already have some difficulty breathing. Add to that pressure, heat or cold, and it is more difficult. You can help with the temps by using covered ice packs or warm covered bread warmers, but only the pilot can control the altitude.
d. High heartworm positive dogs have difficulty breathing , minimum heartworm positive shouldn't be an issue. It is not recommended to fly dogs who are being treated for HW's unless the vet gives the ok. All animals should be flying with current health certificates so veterinarians should be the ones making the final decisions. Ask the sending rescue questions about health conditions as well for any animal you consider helping. Of course ultimately it is always the pilots call!

A good rule of thumb for general purposes is if you need oxygen, the animal will too!

Something else to point out is that though PNP does not have it's own call sign, you are permitted to use the Compassion call sign because we are a member of Air Care Alliance, should you so desire. Always good to put rescue animals in your flight plan if you are making one.

Here is a link to a previous discussion on altitudes:
http://pilotsnpaws.org/forum/viewtopic. ... ude#p17148

Pilots, can you please chime in?
Thanks.
Debi

Thank you Debi. That is very helpful.

I'd like to share two experiences. This weekend on a PnP run I had to climb for weather or divert. During the climb to 9000', one of the small dogs started a labored breathing. This was a perfectly healthy dog just along for the ride. We immediately started a descent to 8000' breathing returned to normal.

The lesson for us was even healthy dogs are challenged by altitude. The symptom was drowsiness combined and a full body labored breathing.

Also, we had a mom and puppies recently... when we needed to briefly go over the top to 8500', the mother started barking (previously hadn't heard a word from her). Though the puppies were alert (but not perfectly visible in their crate) they seemed OK. We descended and she quieted. One more time we had to go over the top and she started barking again. We attribute this to her detecting there was discomfort either with her or the puppies.

As mentioned, dogs with compromised health -- including pups, pregnancy, emphysema, heart worms, COPD, high-blood pressure, cardiac or valve problems, etc -- will experience problems much sooner. However, even healthy dogs can have challenges with altitude.

ALL future flights for my PnP missions will run at max ceiling of 7500/8000'.

Altitude is certainly one issue but not the only one. Young pups can't actually regulate their temperature until a few weeks old (looks like the consensus is 3-4 weeks) therefore, especially during (hot) summer or (cold) winter), it is important they are older enough and travel with their mother so they can nurse (for hydration).

We all need to educate rescue organizations and senders. They have no idea about the hazards associated with flying especially at high altitudes. Flying on the West Coast is a lot different than flying on the East Coast.

The lungs of young puppies are not developed enough to withstand high altitudes. Fortunately, most of our pups from high kill shelters are near sea level. I fly 1500' over sparsely populated areas, go around obstacles when possible, and atc will get clearances for me along the route for delta and charlie airspace.

I received a pup about 7 wks that came over gorman at 8000 or 9000'. The belly of that pup was so distended i am surprised his lungs didn't burst. Luckily, he has grown up a healthy dog.

Please be careful with the little ones. Especially your descent rates. The older the animals are the better.

PNP pilots are easy targets because we are so compassionate about what we do, but I hope you will not fly a sick dog unless you consult with the treating veternarian.

Happy Tails!!

Sue