I'm moving from NYC to Oregon in about a month. Background: I'm a single
mom with a 15-month-old (and a cat). Can't pay my bills in NYC, so I'm
moving west to stay with family. Just to complicate things, my mother's in
hospice in Virginia, so I'm probably going to have to leave from NY and go
down there, deal with stuff, then go out to OR. Think, major huge
family-crisis crunch time.

I want to bring my cat. The thought of leaving her behind is more than I
can bear. Money is tight. I'm looking for a good solution for traveling
with her. I will be flying. I've done some research, but I'm coming up with
contradictory answers. Maybe someone here has direct experience with some
of these issues.

When I was flying back from VA last week (on Delta), I saw a guy with a
small dog in a carrier on the plane, and I asked him how much they charged.
He said nothing--Delta and USAirways don't charge extra for animals as
carry-on. I went to both of those web sites, and at least officially, they
do charge $80-100. So. I can cough that up if necessary, though of course
I'd rather not. Does anyone have experience with this? Some airlines
charging extra and some not?

Also, has anyone had experience with companies that ship pets? If I can
send her to OR, she could stay with family members until I get out there. I
have no clue how much they charge, or whether they're safe to use.

Lastly, I understand from some sources that i'll need a health certificate
from her. The thing is, I don't have her vaccination records available to
me. I adopted her from a rescue organization last year, and they gave me
vax papers for her, but I don't know where they might be. I may come up
with them when I go through stuff to pack, but I may not. Is there any
consequence to re-vaxing her?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

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