Mango, the Traveling Cat
How we brought our feline daughter with us from the U.S. to Thailand
I’ve written a lot about moving from the United States to Thailand last year and if there’s one question that comes up most often it’s how complicated was it to bring along our beloved 9-year old cat, Mango, with us?
Pretty complicated is the short answer but despite the various Thai and U.S. paperwork that had to be filed and approved, medical requirements to fulfill, fees to be paid and the overall planning of flying her on a plane with us, there was never a question that she’d be joining us in our new life in Bangkok.
First, was making sure she had all her medical shots and vaccinations up to date, which was taken care of by West Hollywood based vet, Dr. Nicklaus Fox. Dr. Fox is a traveling vet who comes to your home to care for your pet and we have our friend Deb Fisher to thank for recommending him to us. Dr. Fox became a hero for us since many years ago we realized it was easier to have someone come to check on our elder cat Maddie than go through the stress (hers and ours) of putting her in a pet carrier and taking her to a vet office. He’d come to administer regular shots, take care of the occasional illness and even helped us say goodbye to Maddie (19 years old) in March 2023. We thought she might make the trip to Bangkok with us but it wasn’t meant to be (though her have her ashes in a lovely box sitting in our living room).
For Mango to make the trip, the first step was to get her vaccinations up to date including rabies and that her microchip was effectively working. Dr. Fox helped with all of that and since he had helped some other clients with pet travel, he said he’d help with getting Mango prepared. There are numerous agencies that will help you with all of these forms and take care of most of it for you but they are also very expensive so we opted to not go that route since we had Dr. Fox.
A lot of the paperwork comes down to timing to your date of departure so it helped we knew what that date (June 29, 2023) would be early on. For Thailand, we had to make sure her vaccinations and health screenings were taken care of by a certain date to qualify for the trip. (Every country is different so know we’re only talking about going from the U.S. to Thailand)
Before we could get the U.S. approvals to have her exported from the country, we had to first get the travel import permit paperwork approved by Thailand. That entailed sending their office copies of my passport, the recent rabies and vaccine certificates, the Department of Livestock Development application, Mango’s chip certification, a photograph of Mango that was clear enough to be able to see her face (see below) and our flight itinerary. All of this was sent via email on May 26, 2023. We were told the paperwork would be turned around in about 2 weeks but there was no solid return date.
We were a little nervous about the timing because assuming we’d receive the import permit, we then had to send that and other forms via FedEx to the State of California for Mango to be able to travel out of the country. Timing was crucial and we decided to call the Thailand office to nudge them along with the paperwork. Better safe than sorry, right? This is where it really helped that Boyd spoke Thai so he was able to easily communicate with them and get things moving a little quicker. It all may have worked out anyway but I was relieved to give the office a nudge.
Thankfully, we received notification via email on June 12 that our paperwork was processed and the import permit was attached to the email. We quickly sent the document via email to Dr. Fox so he could send it and other required documents up to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in Sacramento for the other necessary paperwork. Again, while we’d been told there was a quick turnaround, there was no guarantee of how quickly the paperwork might come back and we’d need it to travel on June 29. Fingers, toes and paws were all crossed!
I don’t remember the exact date we received that text from Dr. Fox but it wasn’t down-to-wire when we heard Mango’s travel had been approved so we knew we were good to go on paper. Emotionally, that was another story!
Our traveling day arrived and Boyd and I were nervous parents as the three of us headed to LAX on June 29, 2023. We had made the decision that I would return to the U.S. in August to actually clear out our West Hollywood apartment. It may sound like more work having to go back and forth but it made any stress levels less given we weren’t dealing with any of that yet.
In terms of our flight, we were flying Asiana Airlines from Los Angeles to Seoul, Korea and then to our final destination of Bangkok, Thailand. We chose Asiana primarily because besides good reviews and prices, it was one of the few airlines that allowed pets to stay with you in the cabin (as opposed to in cargo) on international flights. There were designated seats for pets in both economy and business class (at an extra cost) that you had to book but there were also only so many of those seats per plane so you had to book your flight first, then call them to arrange getting one of the pet seats. If, by chance, those seats had already been taken, you’d have to book another flight altogether. Thankfully, we were able to get our seat on the flight of our choice, no problem.
Mango had never traveled more than some short car rides so we had no idea how she’d be in her cat carrier for what would end up being close to 24 hours. Dr. Fox predicted she would probably just hunker down during the flight and not give us too much trouble but we wouldn’t really know how she’d behave until we were in the air. Given the amount of time in the carrier, we had one pee pad down in the carrier just in case she had an accident and also had backup pee pads, extra food, treats and wipes in case. We were prepared for anything.
We learned one pet-travel requirement of Asiana Airlines very early on that we were never happy about - because we were flying business class and there was no under-the-seat space for the cat carrier (like there would be in economy class), during take off and landing, we were going to have to put Mango and her cat carrier in the overhead bin with the carry-on luggage. We felt bad enough that she was going to be stuck in her carrier in a strange place but to also put her in a dark overhead storage?
We could only hope the take off would go fast because we knew once we were at a stable altitude and we were told it was safe to move about the cabin that we’d be able to bring the carrier out so she could at least see us through it’s mesh sides. We thought maybe we’d be able to sweet talk the flight attendants out of making us do this and have even bought a few Starbucks gift cards to give as a thank you if they would bend the rules but they were insistent that it was a requirement.
Thankfully, the take off didn’t take long and after about 15 minutes, we were able to bring the carrier back down with us. We’d have to do it again when we landed but at least the first of four times was behind us.
Just as Dr. Fox had predicted, for the most part Mango hunkered down and didn’t make a lot of noise. Boyd and I took turns holding the carrier and made sure she could always see us. We’d also regularly reach into the carrier and pet her but she was understandably scared. She didn’t want any food or water and more than likely just wanted to get back on the ground. However, this being an international flight, we were bound to hit some turbulence and we did twice during the flight. Unfortunately, the bumps we hit were pretty severe and Mango protested with some meows and even threw up on her pee pad due to the heavy shaking so we felt bad for her for that but after easy cleanup and replacing the pee pad, we continued the trek.
The rest of the flight went without incident and I looked over once while Boyd was in possession of the carrier and, trying to get some sleep and laying flat (business class is the way to go for such a long flight!), he had the carrier resting on his stomach so Mango could see him. It was a very sweet sight.
We did have to put the carrier back in the overhead compartment for landing in Seoul, Korea, but we knew they were sticking to their rules. It may have been a tiny bit easier since she had survived the first time when we left LAX. Once the plane had landed and we pulled into the gate we were able to get Mango and the carrier out and take her into the Seoul International Airport.
We had hoped for enough time between flights to get Mango out of the carrier in the pet-area at the airport but the plane had landed a little late and we had to go from one flight to the next since we’d have to go through security all over again.
Soon we were boarding another Asiana flight for the six hour trip from Seoul to Bangkok but there was an angel on our flight in the form of one of the many Asiana flight attendants. Given this flight wasn’t as full as the last and our area of the plane was pretty scarce in terms of other flyers, she quietly said that she loved cats and while it wasn’t something we should count on with other flights, we did not have to put Mango in the overhead carrier for take off and landing. We were so relieved! We even tried to get her to take some of the Starbucks gift cards we had with us and she politely declined. We’ll never forget her kindess!
We arrived at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok on time just after midnight on June 31 (with the air travel and the time zone difference, we basically lost a day) and the next stop was to take Mango directly to the animal quarantine office in the airport for her paperwork to be checked over and her microchip scanned for entry into the country. Typically, quarantining animals is not required but the office does have the right to enforce a quarantine if need be. We could only be hopeful that wouldn’t happen for all our sakes.
Unfortunately, when we arrived, the office was open but nobody was in there. Being late, the airport was fairly quiet but since the office was open, we just hoped the attendant had just gone to the restroom and would return. However, time passed and nobody showed up after waiting several minutes so we finally asked an airport employee walking by if they could call for them, which the person did. It turned out the attendant was at the customs counter and soon made his way back to the office (by this time, there was another couple traveling with a dog who was also waiting).
The checkover of our paperwork and microchip by the attendant went just fine. We paid the 500 baht fee in cash ($13.59 in USD), which we made sure to have ready) and after all the necessary approvals, we were on our way to our life in Thailand.
Opening up the cage in our temporary home at Boyd’s cousin’s condo in the Lat Phrao area of Bangkok was a long time coming for all of us and Mango walked out with caution, looking around her new and unfamiliar surroundings. If you know cats, they thrive on the familiar so we knew there would be an adjustment period for her but at least we were with her so we could only hope that would help ease her into things.
We set up her food, water and litter box as well as scattered some of her favorite toys we brought from L.A. and she went about investigating the new place. She did eventually use the litter box to pee but our daily question became ‘has she pooped yet?’ We knew once she had a good, normal poop we were all going to be okay. She made us wait five days before she truly took care of her business but she did finally get there.
Now, a year later, we’ve been in our own condo (in the same building) since last November and Mango is very much at home. She has her regular spots where she sleeps at various times of the day and, electricity bill be damned, we leave the a/c on at all times to make sure she’s always comfortable. Bangkok is hot and considering she’s wearing a regular fur coat, it’s the least we can do.
It also may be time to add a new feline to our home and with Boyd’s birthday coming up, he has decided what he really wants is to save another life and get Mango a new sibling. Of course we’re nervous about how integrating another cat into our space will go for Mango and for us but, come on, we already made it through some big hurdles to stay together so this addition will just be a new chapter in our adventure.
Hi Mango! Keep your daddies in check! Lol
Soon!!! ♥️