Southwest will be allowing pets in the cabin for flights beginning June 17, 2009. Even though I don't like the thoughts of pets on planes because I immediately think of Homeward Bound (where the pets escape from the airport and get lost in the wilderness), it is nice that Southwest is thinking of people with pets. I have just a few comments on their new policy...
Southwest Airlines will only accept small cats and dogs in carriers that can be stowed under the Customer's seat.A small cat. What is a small cat? I thought I've seen alot of cats throughout my life, and most of the cats I've seen have been approximately the same size. Yes, there are varying sizes of cats at different times of their lives, for example, a 2-week old kitten is substantially smaller than a 2 year old kitten. That would be very weird if a 2-week old kitten was the same size as a 2-year old kitten.
I'm no cat expert, so I thought I'd check the internets to see if I was missing anything huge.
- Cats typically weigh between 5.5 and 16 lbs. That doesn't seem like a big difference for an airline.
- Cats average 9-10 inches in height, about 18 inches long, and a tail length of 11.8 inches. Seems like a pretty small size, something that would easily fit in a cat carrier.
So, really what is Southwest talking about with "small cats". A Maine Coon, which is a larger breed of cat, can exceed 25 lbs. Last year, a 44 lb cat (Prince Chunk) was found in Philly. The largest cat on record is 46 lb 15.25 oz. So I can see why Southwest might be against flying these larger cats across the friendly skys, but I still can't figure out what a "small cat" is. Is a small cat simply a not 44 lb cat?
Wikipedia tells me, the smallest cat ever on record was 3 lbs. Now that is a small cat. I just read entirely too much about dwarf, midget and miniature cats, but they seem rare enough that I doubt Southwest will only fly your cat if its a dwarf cat.
So really, what is a small cat?
