Yoda is a cat who has travelled to more than 6 countries. We asked his parents how they travelled with him, planned it all and even what to think about when your cat is travelling in the cargo and the cabin on a plane. We also chat about how to be cat parents in an environmentally friendly manner.

What we talk about

• How Yoda came into Paul & Bri’s lives

• About Yoda

• Types of catexploring Yoda does

• Where Yoda has lived

• Difference in pet culture in different countries

• Finding cat supplies in Nepal

• Pet culture in Europe

• Finding cat food in new places

• What to think about travelling internationally with a cat

• How to decide whether to take your cat internationally

• What to think about when booking a flight with your cat

• How to pick a flight when travelling with your cat

• What to research when looking to travel to a country with your cat

• Vaccinations and International Health Certificate

• How to book your cat onto a flight

• How to take your cat on a flight when they are flying in the cargo hold

• How to fly with your cat in cabin

• Going through security with your cat

• Private screening rooms in the USA for TSA checks

• Things you need for your cat when they are flying in cargo

• Things you need for your cat when they are flying in the cabin with you

• Eco friendly cat care

• Eco friendly kitty litter

• Eco friendly cat food

• Eco friendly cat toys

• Advice for new catexplorers

• Most entertaining comment

• What catexplorers inspire you

• Products that have been gamechangers

How to leave a review

To find out how to leave a review see here: https://catexplorer.co/podcast-entries/how-to-leave-a-review-for-the-catexplorer-podcast

Guest – Bri, Paul, Yoda & Fluffy Kitty

Blog – Fluffy Kitty

Instagram - @fluffyyoda

e-book – How to reduce your cat’s carbon paw print

Private screening Room with TSA in the US

Asking for a private screening room

Taking your cat on a plane

What to thinking about taking your cat on a plane

Anneke’s podcast

Anneke van den Broek on Protecting Our Cats, Finding Pet Friendly Rentals & How to Groom Our Cats

Instagram accounts mentioned

@adventurrio

@cashmeowtside

Cat food

Castor & Pollux cat food

Review of the Episode

This podcast is probably my favourite podcast. It includes tons of information on cat care, from diet to behaviour, it has it all. The main focus of the podcast is to teach people about cat-exploring, which quite frankly they have nailed. They talk about how you teach your cat what the safe place is, harness training and even cat rescues. They make it interesting each time by inviting new and exciting guests to come and talk about different methods and answers some questions. The questions are always evidenced and I can’t lose interest. Whether you are in the car, or on the train, bus or tram, it’s a great pastime or just something to listen to while you work. I can’t think of a way to word this, so I’ll say it as it is. When I first heard about cat exploring, I thought it was cool but wasn’t sure about trying it out myself, with in two episodes I was hooked and was ready to try it out myself. In conclusion, this is an amazing podcast jam packed with info. It has humour, aight easy atmosphere and definitely worth the time. – ZigZag11

Music

Music for this episode was composed and performed by Kory McIntyre.

Cover art

The photo used for the cover art for Season 3 of Catexplorer Podcast is of @renske_aken & was taken by Sylvia van Heek.

Transcript

Please note - this an automatic transcript, and as such may not be very accurate.

Paul 0:00

So I went really early. I live in the south of France. I had to drive like five hours from midnight to five o'clock in the morning to go pick him up at the airport. And so I arrived in this really big warehouse, and I'm waiting for you to I don't know what's going on and the only one there and then there's this forklift, or where is

this warehouse? They just put it like this in front of me. And they always just that was really funny. Yeah.

Hasara Lay 0:29

Join us as we chat to amazing cat explorers and experts, learn from them, listen to their war stories, celebrate the wins, and laugh at the funny moments that have been a part of the journey.

Welcome to the cat explorer podcast. I'm Hasara and I'm Daniel which having all about international travel with your cat today, and we love seeing who's listening along to the podcast.

So we would love it if you could take a screenshot or take a photo what you're doing while listening along, share to your Instagram stories. tag us at cat explorer community and at fluffy yodo. We always love re sharing your stories. This week's review is by zigzag 11 interesting and informative. This podcast is probably my favorite podcast includes tons of information on cat care from diet to behavior, it has it all. The main focus of the podcast is teach people about cat exploring, which is quite frankly, they have nailed they talk about how to teach your cat what the safe place is harness training and even cat rescues that make it interesting each time by inviting new and exciting guests to come and talk about different methods and answer some questions. The questions are always evidence and I can't lose interest. Whether you're in the car on the train, bus or tram, it is a great pastime or just something to listen to while you were I can't think of a way to wear this. So I'll say it as it is when I first heard about Ted exploring thought it was cool, but wasn't sure about trying it out myself. Within two episodes I was hooked and was ready to try it out myself. In conclusion, this is amazing podcast jam packed with infer it has humor and easy atmosphere and definitely worth the time. Oh my goodness, thank you so much as exact for that honest and beautiful review. I really do appreciate it. And we'd love it if you could leave a review for the cat explorer podcast wherever you listen to reviews as well. We'll include a link in the show notes to show you how you can just do that and we'll read it out on a future episode. Thank you.

Daniel Lay 2:31

question we often get asked is how do you travel internationally with your cat? We're really excited because we're deep dive into that topic today. Paul Embry, a cat parents to Yoda, who has lived in multiple countries including the US, Nepal, France, and more. They're well versed in this topic briam Paul also run the blog, fluffy Kitty, which covers everything from tips are looking after your kitty to reducing your cat environmental footprint. Welcome to the podcast briam pool.

Bri 2:56

Oh, thanks, guys. Thank you. Happy to be here.

Paul 2:58

We're super excited. Guys,

Hasara Lay 3:00

no wait. We'd love to hear a little bit about your day. How did he come into your life?

Bri 3:05

Okay, so funny story I had been we had been living in France and I had been begging Paul to adopt a cat for ages. And of course he wouldn't let me. So we moved back to the States. My mom and my sister and I, we go to the animal shelter. And I was looking at Paul like, we're going to get a cat this time. So the day we go and you know, I, Paul has a special liking towards grey cats. And so I was looking that day for a grey cat. I was like, motivated. So we walk in and we go up to the glass door, that Blitz view like you can see into the cat room and the first key I laid eyes on it was actually Yoda and he was gray and perfect and he was looking straight at us. And so we walked in, I went straight up to that cage. I didn't look at any other cats that they took Yoda out and Basically Was

Paul 4:02

it hard to say no?

Bri 4:03

Yeah. Yeah. But actually, we left that day, not adopting Yoda. And of course, so I left heartbroken but still motivated. So in the car back, I was trying to figure out ways to like, push Paul into saying yes. And so I was like, Can we get him if we named him Darth Vader and because I know Paul, like Star Wars and and then we were like, no, and then I just said, Yoda, and then the car went silent. And I looked at Paul and me and my family we knew we had and so the next day we go back. And sure enough, I had been worrying all night that he would be gone and Yoda was still there. We adopted him. So that was how we met. Yeah, and I wasn't even old enough to legally adopt to cat so I had to make Paul sign the paper

just to add the extra bit of sweetness to

Hasara Lay 4:59

it. legal age that you have to beta adopt a cat in the US.

Bri 5:03

Yeah, I think yesterday 21 and I was only night. No, I was only 20. And I was just a few weeks shy of my birthday. But yeah.

Daniel Lay 5:15

That's how you got it having to get into sign it, but you know that that's as much like a lot of other stories of adoption, including our own me down and she got me, you know, with the cat This is what it looks like and then it's like the turkey and then you just just go with it and you just say yeah,

Paul 5:41

you never get rid of it. It's just, you know, it looks like so much commitment at first and that's why I didn't want to and also because I knew we were going to be traveling so much. And I know it's already complicated purchase to person to do this and you had a cat it's even more complicated. Yeah. But now it says We'd The best thing that happened to us because thanks to that, then we're talking to you guys. Yes. Yeah,

Hasara Lay 6:06

yeah. I think I really relate to like just getting out to cat. I think I was hassling Daniel for about three years before we got our own. I think it's probably not an understatement to say they've changed our lives. So it's

Bri 6:19

right. Yeah. Yeah.

Daniel Lay 6:23

So Yoda, tell us a little bit about Yoda. And what he's like,

Paul 6:27

right? Well, that's what I really like about him is like he's really human in a way it's not the it's not a lapcat not gonna stay an hour in your life. This is never gonna happen. But he's always here to greet you. says hi. And, you know, you, you pet him for like a minute. And then he's done in his in his space and which is understandable. No, it's like, you don't want to be always petted you. Yeah. And it's the same thing we're talking about earlier. With with strangers, you know, he's always friendly and it you approaches them gently at first and then you know, sniffs around and then says hi and then he goes back to his life, right?

Bri 7:12

Yeah, Yoda he's just unpredictable to like one minute and can be kind of like cuddly like during playtime like something I'll be running up the walls like just getting ready for this podcast. Yoda like jumped up in between his tried to jump up on the shelves like crawling over my keyboard and we were like, what were you just before

Paul 7:34

it's a pretty curious cat. Yeah,

Bri 7:38

which is why I think he likes Traveling is because he loves looking out the window and the car and the backpack. Anything curious, super fluffy. Yeah.

Hasara Lay 7:51

That's so awesome. So what types of cat exploring do you do with Yoda?

Bri 7:55

Well, it started just us walking him around outside of our box. In North Carolina, and we took him to a park. Then we were traveling a lot by car then because I was still in school. And it wasn't until that he was almost one year old. Yeah, he had just turned one. A few months after we flew to Nepal. So that was our first international trip together and since then he's been flying in cabin and bus and cargo. We do lots of road trips. We road tripped across Europe together with Yoda while we live in Europe and around it and

Paul 8:32

he's been riding a bike with us and Katmandu. Yeah, which is also pretty cool adventure, both for him and for us

Bri 8:38

backpacking on the beaches of Mexico. I mean, he's, yeah, he's pretty flexible.

Hasara Lay 8:44

Wow. That's just incredible. I love that he's lived in several countries. Do you mind taking us through where he's lived?

Paul 8:50

Well, yeah, he's been to pretty much six countries, that we really stayed for a while. So study the old in the US where we adopted Emma the local shelter in intendancy. And shortly after Brittany had to fly to Nepal for work and studies. So that's that was the second biggest destination. I guess we'll talk about it later. But that was like the biggest challenge to go to go there to Nepal. And we also lived in France in the Netherlands, and Belgium. And finally, last year, and this year in Mexico. So yeah, and we're about we're leaving, actually tomorrow to Canada. So there will be one more. Wow.

Daniel Lay 9:34

That's like, I could just imagine that kitty passport or just all those stamps on it. And the photos, the Instagram photos.

Hasara Lay 9:43

Yeah.

Bri 9:46

Yeah, he's pretty spoiled and he doesn't know it.

Hasara Lay 9:50

So we talked about all these different places, and they're quite culturally varied. What sort of differences in pet care and sort of arrangements locally? Did you Did you find between those countries?

Bri 10:01

Oh, gosh. So definitely the most shocking was the difference between our pet culture in the States and the pet culture in Nepal, which was almost like non existent apart from dogs. So for cats, it was really, really different. And so we were trying to find supplies like trying to say, hey, do you have a cat litter box? I mean already It was hard between the Nepali and the English and they had no idea what I was talking about. Because they hardly have I mean, they've never received

Paul 10:34

those simple things were hard to get and during the first days, we kind of struggle that to find some random products to replace the literally using rice or like newspaper rain so we could handle the transition before we could find the real stuff.

Bri 10:51

Yeah, we even bought like a dishwashing up tub that was round instead of like a normal little bit. I mean, it's the same thing. It was like a plastic tub I guess. But it It was It took us like two weeks to find that even and cat food, you know, unrecognizable brands, but maybe like just one or two that were maybe more popular in South Asia. And it was quite quite different. And just talking to the people, they were so surprised that we brought our cat to Nepal to and it was so foreign to them to think that a cat could be a companion because they just look at them as strays and they kind of have a bad reputation in Nepal as well, like a bad omen kind of thing. So it's really, really different. Whereas dogs were popular as pets.

Paul 11:34

That's, that's one of the great things like traveling with Yoda like this kind of brings awareness and, you know, makes people may be changed their mind about what can be or cannot be. And yet, it's pretty good against stereotypes, I guess.

Hasara Lay 11:50

I completely agree. And it's really interesting what you say about the not finding the litter box or the cat food and stuff like that, please, as you were talking, so background I was actually born in Sri Lanka. So that's my background.

Bri 12:03

And

Hasara Lay 12:05

you're right. Like, I've never been to Nepal. So I'm not sure how similar the cultures are. But when I think about it now, I don't think I've ever seen a little box in like the cats.

Unknown Speaker 12:17

And the,

Hasara Lay 12:18

in terms of cat food, I think they eat the like, the pet industry has grown so much in the last few years. So it's like there's been heaps of progression in that space in Sri Lanka. But I do know a lot of the cats still eat the scraps and stuff to the point that when my family adopted us cat years and years ago, like maybe 30 years ago, my parents gave her a piece of bread for dinner the first night and she just looked at us like, What are you thinking?

Bri 12:48

Yeah, but it was just like, it's

Hasara Lay 12:51

great to see that those things are evolving as well. So I'd be curious to know where the nipple has evolved in that space to

Bri 13:00

You want to go back? And I'm sure it would be way more popular cat now. Yeah, yeah. Or the other countries Europe was pretty much the same as you know, it's

Paul 13:11

Yeah, Europe is pretty similar. It's got a lot of choice. And I mean, yeah, if you're not too picky and I guess we'll talk about eco friendly later. It's easy to find suppliers that can help you out every day. And they are Mexico was Mexico was it was pretty, it was fairly easy. We were in a little bit more remote place compared to the big cities that have everything. But still if you go to the to the supermarket, you can you can find online. Yeah,

Bri 13:39

well, we had a special pet retailer online that we ordered from and it was super easy.

Daniel Lay 13:44

with Europe. You said it was pretty similar. You mean similar to the US? Is that right?

Bri 13:48

Right. Yeah. more choice. I mean, you could find practically anything in Yeah, they equally own cats and dogs. I think. Just as much as us maybe

Hasara Lay 13:59

Yeah. So it must make it a lot easier when you go somewhere where you can easily find what you're looking for. You can only imagine how stressful those first few weeks in Nepal must have been

Unknown Speaker 14:09

to try and what you needed

Hasara Lay 14:12

a city. What did you do for cat food? Especially in those first few days,

Bri 14:17

I had bought a huge like one pound now. Yeah, like three or four pounds that blog bag of cat dry cat food that I actually had to like tape some of to yodas carrier for cargo purposes, like one of the requirements. And so we just use that for the next few day. Yeah, we can.

Paul 14:35

It's not just the first days but sometimes, you know, Nepal was out of supplies or it was harder to find and we had to improvise. So we would like cook chicken or something like this, you know, just things that we know that he likes. And this can be very nutritious for him. And I mean, there's always a way and even though you can be picky, it still worked out.

Bri 14:57

Yeah. And then about like after 10 months of living there, we found in the frozen section at the supermarket. pet food, like raw pet food. We're like, where have we been all the time? So it was for dogs though. But I'm sure like what it was like chicken livers and stuff. So we could have used it for Yoda. But we left quite.

Paul 15:18

I just had to research a lot. And it's true. Like you said, We just arrived. So personally, we didn't know much about the culture. So we had to adapt ourselves. And we had to find all this stuff for you, too. So that was, I mean, that was fun. For sure. That's just challenging at the time.

Hasara Lay 15:36

Yeah, I think on the surface, it looks like it's difficult, but it's good that you saw it as fun as well, because that's the whole point of traveling right? You just land in the new cultures and figure out and figure things out. And if it's a disaster, it makes it a good store. And in the end, you can look back and laugh at it. So many members of our community want to travel internationally with that cat. So what's the first thing you really need to think about all do while you're traveling internationally with the account?

Bri 16:00

Well, we were talking about this earlier and we definitely want to encourage people to do as much research as possible. So that's kind of generic, like do your research but within that we specified like you need to search your country requirements for your destination country. There's so many resources now online and we talked about it also on our blog, and you just got to find trustee site. And usually they list out everything that the country requires all the tests and vaccinations so I usually do several I cross check my references, I do all of that stuff just to be sure that my information is correct. And if I have a doubt, I'll call where I need to the that the Yeah, country representative even or mainly I check with airlines because they also require copies of all the documents that you need to

Paul 16:53

write depending on the kind of travel you can do with your cat. Like if it's just for A week or two there, too, we want to visit a country and you're bringing, bringing him along. He may help you to say yes, I'm going there or no, because I know that some countries like Australia used to be like this, I think where you have a quarantine period, I mean can be quite stressful and and you don't necessarily want to put your cat under that type of stress. So it can help you really decide where you're going if you're going or not. And yeah, I think it's really important to research the country that you specifically targeting.

Bri 17:32

Just to add to I think most people that would be moving abroad with their cat is probably for work or school purposes, friends, like it was for us. So we had the long term in mind, you know, at least a year or six months or something like that, which changes things a bit and you can be more organized and take it slowly. So we always start our research maybe two to three months ahead, but that was definitely not how Our first trip to Nepal. Yeah, I had two weeks to organize everything. And it was just crazy. But it forced me to learn it all, like really learned it all for that first time. So the, the times that we traveled after that, I mean, it kind of seemed like a breeze. I mean, we just got better and better at it, the logistics got easier. And I knew exactly who to call when to make my appointment. So it's definitely a step by step thing. And first things differently country requirements. And then after that, health requirements, vaccines, making appointments, and along down the line,

Paul 18:39

she was really proactive at that time to make sure that everything was going to fall into place at the right time. So it's very important to make like a checklist, a timeline of all those things that you need to do so that when the day arrives, you're ready to go. Because any paper may take I mean, you know weeks to get Signed or you get a sheet that really fast and it's going to cost you also a lot of money and some something else didn't take into account.

Daniel Lay 19:08

The key here is really about preparation and being organized. Like, oh, yeah, you can travel by yourselves as humans with, you know, plane ticket, a passport, and a lot of times you can get by but if you want to, you know, include your cat in that conversation, you do need a little more preparation and organization to make sure it goes smoothly. And seems like you need to think it through otherwise, it could get very, very, very, very disastrous, especially we talked about Australia exactly right, where we've got strict quarantine laws and if you don't know about it, you get caught out very easily, then you suddenly you're in this, you know, nightmare situation, they know what to do. So, we talked about some of the first steps you take, and then can you talk us through the logistics of what you need to do before you even booked that flight. So what do you need to think about?

Bri 19:55

I'm just gonna say it as how I do it. It's not like the best method, anything. This is Just how I do it. So before I booked my flight so first I go through my research I do my country requirements and along the way I'll be writing down everything so I write down the initial preliminary information that I find and as I go down so I'll also look at the health requirements so vaccinations Of course, especially if it's like the first time traveling or if it's a kit in and I look at the airline also like what they require because most of the time it's the same as what the country's requiring, but airlines can differ and that that can shake some people up you know, they arrive and all of a sudden, you've got this new information so I make sure to do all of my research before booking the flight like just to see that everything can work out like the schedule for the vet because that is very important and something that I also like Mr. Messed up with, kinda not messed up with but struggled with the First time he's making appointments for Yoda. And then when it comes to booking the flights, well, that's a whole other process. But I really just approach it with what Paul and I our needs are so. And usually that turns out to be like the best fly also for Yoda. So like the least travel time,

Paul 21:21

yeah, we searched a couple different flights, see how that could work out for us. We select those. And then we see within those flights, which airlines can accommodate us the best, and what's the cheapest and we just generally make sure that your line has a good reputation or you know, knows how to handle this kind of things. Because especially if you're going to fly cargo for long international flights, you want to make sure that the company is going to take care of him knows what they're doing. And yeah, then after this, well, it's pretty much booking the flight and then working out there's a lot of back and forth. forth between you and the airline because every airline is going to be different even though there are some common requirements. And I mean this is something I really encourage you and Brittany was doing it very well you know when she was taking care of this is really calling them like any dot that have called them confirmed that these documents is okay that you like they may be a size requirement for your your pet carrier or

Bri 22:28

under the seat in the plane. I mean, there's a lot of things that you can miss. Right? If you don't write it down, just like get a visual on it, at least for me, that really helps. And so I'll write all my questions down I'll call the airline I'll wait those 45 minutes I'll get connected and boom, I hit him with all my questions my cat and I triple check. So that's the least thing that we want to happen with. Traveling with the Yoda is for a document to be missing or something in him have to like set aside or record yourself. So, yeah,

Paul 23:01

and the more you travel and the easier it gets, and that's also part of our blog where we explore every company. And then we tell our audience, like, what are the requirements, we make sure that that's accurate. We've done the research, it took us hours, but then you get it standardized. And it's, it's, you know, it's way faster and easier for you to do this. So that's also part of the fun, the information can be helpful for a lot of a lot of people.

Bri 23:27

Yeah, yeah. on the blog, I really encourage people so it sounds like a lot. And at first, it can be really intimidating. I get a lot of questions about from people saying, I'm traveling here, you know, it's their first time and I had the same worries like when I was but I had no like person to ask like all the blogs, they were really informational blogs, and you just kind of like get in contact with the person behind it. So I really encourage everybody to not stress because it seems like a lot but if you make a checklist and you follow it, you just tick tick off, you're definitely a okay and everything will be super smooth.

Hasara Lay 24:05

be organized really does help.

Bri 24:06

I kind of wanted

Hasara Lay 24:07

to jump back to country requirements. So like I understand that we should research each country I imagine things like vaccinations, quarantine. Is there anything else that we should be researching when I looking into different countries to travel to? So, like Europe, they required a pet passport, and we traveled to Nepal and didn't need one. So we were like,

Bri 24:30

well, what is this? And yeah, it can be like a little pamphlet or like a little booklet that basically just has all of your cats vaccinations written or stamped down by the vets that you visited. Just like a record.

Paul 24:46

Yeah. Sometimes the country that you're actually feeding from, has more requirements than the the country that you're going to, or even for example, to the US when you Get out of the US, you get out of the International Health certificate and this I mean, it's easy to have, but it takes some time. For example, when we came back from Mexico this time to the United States, we didn't even need this. And it seems that seems a little paradoxical. Because means the same country they required when you get out, why don't they require it to come in to make sure that the cat is all right. So we, sometimes we go the extra mile to make sure that it's okay, so in any case, we did a international health certificate to get, you know, make sure that everything was okay. But yeah, sometimes it can be a little tricky to understand where this is coming from.

Bri 25:40

Yeah. And quickly, just to say like, even though we've, you know, we've moved abroad with you're like 567 times now. I mean, things change policies change very quickly. So like, one year, we might need it the next year, they might just take it off, so we always have to re do our research. Everywhere Jane for the first time, so yeah, and other than that the vaccinations they also change but you know, Yoda is an adult now he's a head all of his bags pretty good. So they're updated like every three years.

Paul 26:14

Yeah, usually with the standard vaccination, you can pretty much go anywhere. It's just the requirement that your cat is generally healthy and is there's no like, special like we had to get a, I don't remember what vaccine it was. But when we went to Nepal because we're we're not exposed to the same stuff there than here. But you didn't have to do any of this. He just had his standard vaccination. And he was, he was

Bri 26:37

a really important document that we've needed over and over again, when flying internationally is the international health certificate. And you this is tricky area because you need this within 10 days of your departure date. Hence why it's so important to make book that appointment ahead of time and the first time when I had those two weeks to prepare everything for Nepal. Made my appointment and first not all that's do it they don't all issue this health certificate because it's a special thing. I finally found a bit around my small hometown in North Carolina that could do it or at least thought they could do it and so I had waited a few days thinking that I was okay. And they call me I think the day before the appointment and now we're down to seven days before I'm leaving, and they say we can't do it. We're so sorry. And I was just like, and so I called around again and I like an hour and a half away. There's this bit who could do it perfect. Put this in and stuff. The process was not over. We didn't walk out of there that day with the international health certificate. You have to like overnight FedEx it I had to pay like 50 bucks to ship it overnight to Florida, so it can get signed officially by USDA aphis officer and then shipped Express ship back to me before I left. I got it two days before I start I live talk about like good timing. Yeah. So it's really important to like we try and write like, yeah, raise awareness that you gotta do this within those 10 days get it stamped, especially for the for people in the US. But when we left Europe, in France, we just had to get the health certificate, but it didn't have to be signed by

Paul 28:22

Yeah, you just go to the bit, the signs it was going to make sense because seeing the cat and making sure that he's all right, but I guess it's like a double approval. That's fine. As long as you know it, you're prepared. You make sure that you've it knows about this paper and that needs to be signed somewhere else you can anticipate. It's not that hard. It's really stressful because at the time we were rushed, but really, if you go down your checklist is going to be perfectly fine. Yeah,

Hasara Lay 28:55

yeah, that makes sense. I can't imagine how stressed you are in those seven days later. You got to go One thing that I've read is that when you're booking your airline and your flight, you should book le because some airlines actually have limits on how many animals they can carry. Is that something? Is that something you agree with?

Bri 29:16

Every time I've spoken with an airline, there are some requirements and it changes it changes depending on the airline as as well. But so you call in advance just to see if you can book your pet flight. And they will say yes, they'll ask for information usually maybe like carrier, wait with your cat in it size dimensions and stuff like that. And they'll kind of like pre book it. And you don't have to pay anything yet. So it's always important to call back you have to like, especially me, I was like holy like every two weeks or something like this is still booked is this whole book and but you don't have to do that. You just have to call back usually like a week or even 24 hours. Sometimes we've had to do that and it's just so that the airline I can tell you, okay, you're still good to go. You're officially booked in now. Like, there's maybe there's, yeah, there's no other pets that are like maxing out the capacity or anything, but usually airlines will have like maybe two pets per main cabin and maybe like one in business class. That's just an example. It could vary, but it's usually not more than like two or three, maybe four. We've never had a problem with that.

Paul 30:27

Yeah, yeah. So people traveling in Kevin with their pitch is rare enough I think so that this problem does not occur, but I think they also do that because there is something about people that could be allergic to cats. If they see that somewhere in there is a vacation then the airline is allowed to rebook us somehow, or I don't know it worked has never happened to us. But that's a possibility to which makes sense because when you're in such a small space and you're allergic and there's a cat in there, then that's that's that too.

Daniel Lay 31:02

Most of this is done over the phone. Is that right? So would you be able to see this online at all about the booking system? Or you think it's more phone based system at the moment?

Paul 31:11

Yeah, it's it's not, it's not optimized yet. Really. We've had to do this really manually. And it's not like, you can't select, you know, just go on the website. And it's not user friendly like that. I wish it was this probably a good business in this, but it's not there yet. So it's a it's still a little bit of work.

Bri 31:32

I think we've seen it once. And it was for like a domestic airline in Mexico. And it's like, you can like add a pit as if you were like adding extra luggage and we're like, Whoa, this feature is me. It would make things a lot easier, I think. But yeah, for now, I mean, it's a quick call. Sometimes there can be long waits, but usually everything all of our questions are asked and answered within 10 minutes or something,

Paul 31:58

but airlines definitely need to work. Work on being a little more user friendly on that side.

Daniel Lay 32:03

On the topic of airlines, we're talking about you know, carriers in the cabin before and we talked about cargo hold as well. Can you just talk us through that process? Because I also believe that you've done both of it.

Paul 32:13

Yeah, it's done a cargo about three times. And in Kevin, I don't know. Maybe a little more. Yeah, we can walk you through like from like, entering the airport to arriving on the other side. I think Brittany says it best because she's, she's been the one was holding us through security and everything's is pretty cool.

Bri 32:34

So I'm gonna go back to my first trip with Yoda because it was really like everything was so new. So it was a weird situation because I had to get to Nepal. I had like two layovers, so one in Philly, and one in Doha. And I was flying first with United Airlines. So my cat Yoda could go in cabin with me for the first leg of the trip. However, after that, I was going to Doha and then to get me Do and they only allow because it was a transit Atlantic flight they only allow in cargo and it was with Qatar Airways and so I needed a hard sided carrier which is one of the requirements for cargo travel for pet. But I was also traveling in cabin you know, so I had to find this weird carrier that was like I would say under the seat but would also be appropriate for cargo travel. And I remember I'll say this real quick and I'll jump back through like airport security and such but so I go and I sit down and yodas carrier carrier is not fitting under the seat and like I'm having like to push it down the plastic down and make it go under and one of the attendants come to me and say, Oh, if you can't fit that, under that seat, we're gonna have to ask you to rebook your flight. And I was like, oh, I'll make it fit. So this lady across the aisle, she like saw me struggling, I was alone. And she was like, Okay, I'll hoist the the See a new push under and we did that together and it just slid right in there it stuck out a little bit I like hit it with my legs and stuff and we were fine and then we had like a long six to eight hour layover and faily together and I was like taking Yoda out of his carrier in the women's bathroom putting litter on toilet paper and trying to like make and go use the restroom because he wouldn't get to for like 15 to 20 hours after that because our flight our two extra stops for so long. So if I back up now, like when we get to the airport, you check in like usual but if you're doing cargo you have to hand over your crate as if it's like extra luggage. And then you'll move on through security from there but was in cabin how we've been doing it most often is we arrived and you have to go through security with your cat. And every time Yoda has been fine like he gets a little anxious because there's so many people sometimes but we try to arrive early Sometimes we were like the first people in the airport in France

Paul 35:03

went ahead and usually we always the first one there, so to make sure that you doesn't,

Bri 35:08

yeah, and we can take our time that way. So you do have to take your cat out of the carrier and walk through the X ray with him. And then you have to have your hand swab. So yodas like perched over my shoulder and week, of course, there's like whisperings like oh my God, look at the cat and all this stuff. And yeah, it's interesting. You definitely got all eyes on you and even the staff are like joking with you about your cat and stuff. But yeah, everything's good. Your hands get swapped and you move along. And so usually we find a quiet spot or corner at our around our gate just so that Yoda can calm down and just relax until we board once it's time to board. You just walk up like you normally do to scan your passport. You just show your documents. So always carry a folder of copies of the vaccination copies of the rabies certification

Paul 35:58

your airline Yeah. Before you just keep it with you don't put in your luggage and then you don't have it.

Bri 36:05

Yeah. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, usually you pay for the flight, you can either do on the phone, I've done that once, or you pay at the counter when you arrive. So you just say that traveling with it. And here's my card. And so I did that for cargo and I think in cabin ones, and let's see, so you board we always try to board first because that way, we can go ahead and safely still Yoda at our feet with his head towards us so that we can stick your hand in and like give him some love and some water and cuddles throughout the flight. And that way people really don't notice that you're traveling with a cat like we've been so sneaky and stealthy coming in and out of airports that suck like once we arrived in Miami, and even the security guard didn't see that we were carrying Yoda and then someone was someone else caught side of him was like is that is that you? were like, Oh yeah, sorry. Here's the papers like we had almost missed, like the tech point,

Paul 37:02

purpose. Because you know, it's just so quiet and you just hold it like a normal bag that people tend to not notice. And so if you don't remind them, hey, you need to check my papers, you may not even think about it,

Bri 37:14

right? Yeah. And you're all good after that. I mean, the process, especially for in cabin is really smooth and easy.

Hasara Lay 37:22

That's so awesome. I had a few questions about some of the stuff that you're saying. So you were mentioning that you had the carrion issue with the plastic and trying to fit it under the chat that was really lovely of the past and that was that helped you? Is it possible to perhaps like, I'm just imagining Could you take two carriers if you're in that situation, so one that fits under the seat, and then when you get to your other location, swap Yoda out to the plastic one and perhaps what you could do is use that as carry ons and move your stuff from one to the other. It's a bit

Paul 37:54

Good idea. I think we thought about this at the time, but it's also good I'll get it to manage with your own luggage. And if you do take the hard crate with you as well, it's going to count as a carry on. Yeah. Which means that then you're not being able to get your own carry on. Oh, you have to be, I don't know, extra fees to get it on. And at the time, we didn't have that much money. So we were trying to, you know, beyond the budget, and I think so I think it's, it's totally doable. I mean, I guess we could encourage people to do this. So you're welcome. I should clarify

Bri 38:30

now like, that was what 2015 most airlines don't allow hard carriers in under the sea anymore. So we always have a soft side of carrier now for in cabin travel. And it's way better for those purposes, because the seats can get really low. So with the mesh side of carrier, it's perfectly it'll just like bleed a little at the top and in time, at the time why we didn't do that. Gosh, I think I was traveling alone, and I had Unlike this mount the carrier in order to carry it in. I don't even think we had a soft side carrier at the time. For the first leg of our trip. It was just one of those like unique moments where it just happened to work out. And I got really lucky, I think. Yeah, now we do all like, especially with the progression of the airlines, they're upgrading their policies and their accommodation for pets in cabin, it's a lot easier now to travel in cabin with a pretty good sized, soft sided carrier. So you know, there's got plenty of room still. Yes,

Hasara Lay 39:38

that's awesome. Yeah, it was just it was just a thought I had because some of the stuff side of carriers are really good in that you can just like completely fold them up into like a light thing. So that might be easier for some people. And I'm aware that in the US the TSA they if you want to, if you want you can ask for a private screening room as well. Yeah, that's the case in countries, but for those who are nervous about that cat going through security, that might be an option as well as just not.

Bri 40:07

Yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely you can ask for a private screening, but yota. So normally well behaved that we've never had to, but I would be interested to try the next time we fly. I actually wanted to when we had planned to fly back from Mexico, but instead, we bought a van and cross the border by car or van. So we didn't get the chance at

Paul 40:30

this time. And we, we don't know about other countries and how, like if this is possible in every country, because it's true that we haven't had to really explore that solution Since you're so good with traveling. But that's that's a really good question. I'd be interested to, to know if some of your listeners have done this before. That would be really cool to learn about this.

Daniel Lay 40:50

So I just want to circle back to a basic we talked about traveling in cabin and traveling in cargo. He just defined that for us in terms of what that actually means practically And some of the differences

Bri 41:01

so in cargo is definitely like so the crate will be go on under the plane in a pressurized cabin. And when I first traveled with it to Nepal, I made sure like the, you know, the room was pressurized and it had AC because we were traveling to warmer climates and so I was like, can you please ask the pilot to you know, make sure my cat is under there like you know, he's not just like the thing is my cat. So take care of practically the things you need. There's a bit more supplies for cargo so like your crate it has to be a certain dimension and your cat needs to be able to stand up freely turn around, lay down all of that. You also need like live animal stickers, which is funny. It's like they're bright green stickers you need to put on the side of the carrier so they're easily spotted and cargo you also have to have like a p line or like a pee pad for like dogs or cats at the bottom just in case of accidents. We also were required to Take our documents in like a little bag or folder to the side of the crate which is kind of difficult because our crate I mean, Yoda was not even a year old he wasn't that big so our crate wasn't gigantic either. And I had like all these stickers all over it plus his pet food, they recommend that you take a bag of food to it, because during transit, the staff might feed your pet but that's never happened like the food has always been left on touch. So we just make sure to feed yota well the day before, not like three hours up to it just in case you get sick and other supplies like food and water bowl attached on the inside or at least access to water because during emergencies, your pet will seek out water and so make sure access to water so once we even bought like a hamster bottle, put it on the outside of the crate and had like a little things to get in for Yoda and it took a while to train him to like you have to lick this to get the water to come out.

But it was there just in case of That made us feel better. And I think that's it for cargo. So yeah, just

Paul 43:04

Yeah, the just coming back on the size of the crate because it's, it's quite different when we travel cargo that when we travel in cabin, when you're in Kevin can be just the size of your cat. So it's fairly small but weather

Bri 43:19

with room still does and

Paul 43:20

yeah, the story we have with this is that one time so Brittany was flying to France, but for I don't remember for what reason but you had to fly before so that I could pick him up in France. So so he was flying on his own. Brittany drove to Charlotte, North Carolina, and dropped out of there. And then he was supposed to fly to Paris where I was going to pick him up. Anyway, that was like the second second time we did this and the lady when she saw the carrier, she's like, no, that's, that's way too small. You cannot needs to be able to stand really in it and make sure that those specific demands Respected. So Brittany ended up buying this huge, huge gigantic crate because they didn't have anything in between they just had that so she had to buy that like the spot

Bri 44:13

on the spot and like time was ticking and so I was like yeah of course like this so the crate we were using it was approved to go to Nepal approved to fly back to us, but for some reason this lady when we were flying it to France, she was like, nope, that I will not do and so I'm really okay, that's fine. Like we will upgrade or create everything we ended up getting like 100 pound dog can fit in this crate like Yoda was he in his so tiny in this crowd couldn't stop taking pictures. I was like Paul, you have no idea what's going on right now. He's hours ahead.

Paul 44:46

And he was he was really. So I went really early. I live in the south of France. So I had to drive like five hours from midnight to five o'clock in the morning to go pick him up at the airport and see you riving this really big warehouse, and I'm waiting for you to I don't know what's going on and the only one there and then there's this forklift that are just this.

This warehouse, they just put it like this in front of me. And I always just that was really funny. Yeah,

Bri 45:17

I got the picture and I saw yodas crate on, raised up on this forklift, just like what

Paul 45:26

was funny, but we definitely learned a lot through those experiences like this time, we didn't really know everything about the size of the crates and everything, which just confirms what we just said earlier that you really need to check with your airline what specific requirements they have, because they have all power when you get there. If they don't want your cat to be on the plane, then

Bri 45:47

we had switched it up that time for the airline I think.

Paul 45:50

Yeah, yeah, we do. Yeah. Yeah. Because depending on the destination, you're not going to always be able to fly with the same airline, which is unfortunate. But that's that's what happens.

Hasara Lay 45:59

Yeah, that's it. Really Good point as well, I think um, one thing I wanted to share is I've only flown my cat, my family cat, she's flown twice back and forth from Queensland in Australia. And one thing we learned was these a lot of those plastic crates come with those plastic food and water holders. So they're open but they're just a little like tableting that you put on the gate. So we will like all just put some food in there some water and then of course the crate might move a little bit so the water had spilled all over her. So that's just something for everyone to keep in mind and just think about how the water might spill as well. So I really like your idea of hampster bottle thing as well.

Bri 46:36

Yeah, it's actually why we bought that because when I had picked up Yoda after arriving in Nepal, his water had spilled out even over into his food bowl and it was like all like fat and soggy and like gross now so he wasn't even able to eat his food because of that. So candy but not handy.

Daniel Lay 46:54

Yeah, so that's it, some of the things that you don't think about when you

Paul 46:58

know for sure, and just One thing about cargo and cabin, I would highly recommend, because you you may have a choice between those two when you travel. And if you do I really recommend to take your pet with you in cabin because it may seem stressful because you have to handle it. Make sure that you cat comes with you and everything. You may be scared that you're your kids can be loud or something but for him or her, it's way less stress because you're with him. You can reassure him You can give him treats and water, what is in cargo all those things are I mean, pretty sure it's not going to happen because your cat is is really stressed out. I mean more stressed out than if he was with you is like in a family or environment. Even if he's handled well. It's still more stressful. So just if you have the choice, I highly recommend to choose the in Kevin option rather than the cargo one.

Daniel Lay 47:53

Yeah. So to reiterate what we're talking about caga we're talking about going where the check bag gives us whereas Kevin is sitting whether no Passengers are sitting and just putting it underneath this the seat in front of you going through TSA and security like you would with any other baggage that you carry on.

Hasara Lay 48:08

Yeah, we've spoken a lot about cargo Do you mind taking us through the like what you need to think about when you're taking a cab in Kevin

Bri 48:16

yeah so it's way like the checklist is so tiny for in cabin Let me think so all of our in cabin experiences has have been like less than eight hours and there might be some limitations on like how long you can be in cabin but so just take the airline first and for the supplies that you need in cabin well you don't need any live animal stickers so you can take that out. You do need a line p pad at the bottom so it just gives a little extra plush also for your cat to like lay on but it's just there for accidents or water spills or you know, and yeah, we bring like a pop up water bowl or food bowl but never really need it. We do give water in from our water bottle to Yoda. Like using just like the little cap like every 30 minutes to an hour just to keep him hydrated. Give him some snacks. We've never had to use a travel litter box although that can be very handy for people and especially for cats who need to use the bathroom more often. Yoda is a master at holding his peace. So no problems there like when we flew to Nepal he didn't pee for like two or three days and then I woke up from a nap like after we arrived in Katmandu in my room, I you know, I hadn't had I hadn't found a little box yet. So I just took the pee mat that I had used to line the carrier and I put that in the middle of the floor and I put some litter on it to say hey, you can be here for now and I woke up from like a two hour nap. I was so jet lag and there was like this gigantic p circle on this mat. It was so like Yoda had held it for over

Paul 49:54

30 hours probably we think the stress is what we're talking about being cargo is in family or environment, he doesn't have his litter and he knows that, you know, he goes in his litter to do his business. So it's like, he can be very long and stressful for them. I mean, I still feel we had to go there and we had to take care of our Yoda. But it was definitely a long flight. So you really have to think twice before doing this kind of thing. You don't want to be doing this every week for sure.

Bri 50:24

Yeah. And other than the P mat for the in cabin for the soft side of carrier. There's not nothing really else that you need except unless you want to bring it so there's much easier was quite a breeze actually.

Hasara Lay 50:39

That's so awesome. Like that the cabin is definitely if you have that opportunity, going cabins a lot easier. And one thing I did want to touch on is for some people, if they're worried about their cat being stressed, they can speak to the vet about calming medication, I think but that's something that you need to speak to your vet and discuss and figure out because we can't really give advice on that because I think that depends on Every single cat, every cat is different. And also your experiences at different times. Right. I just wanted to mention that because I know we get asked about that quite a bit.

Bri 51:09

Yeah, if we can add to that, I mean, we don't recommend sedation. I mean, some that's my suggest differently, but personally, we know it can be hazard to your pet's health, especially during the altitude changes. drugs have different effects. And usually it just, it makes them kind of like sleepy but their, their bodies are trying to stay alert. So it's like they might stress more actually. But there are natural alternatives. You know, like those little plugins at the vet that give off like natural calming aromas, you can like put a little sashay or something maybe or like CBD oil. We've heard it was also great for calming cats for travel. So those are also natural alternative to sedation.

Hasara Lay 51:51

You just want CBD oil. Just check the regulations in the country that you're going to be for example, even to Australia, you'll get arrested at the border. So Wow. So another thing that I know you're really conscious about is being mentally friendly with your cat care. So in season two of the podcast, we spoke to Anika from Rufus and Coco, and she shared the impact of kitty litter and what that can have on the environment. But that's not the only thing that anything about pet care that can have an impact on the environment. So can you take us through other parts of cat care? Can that that can have a negative impact on them by Yeah,

Paul 52:27

I mean, it's literally like anything you do in general, but the the whole thing about cats or pets in general, it's done with like business as usual is going to be hurting the environment to some point. It's It's all I mean, it's pretty difficult to be completely 100% eco friendly, but there's definitely ways you can improve in every single area when owning a cat. And Brittany wrote extensively about this in our ebook listing every single thing you can do to improve this Yeah, I think she can probably highlight those points.

Bri 53:04

She said Anik has mentioned cat litter and so yeah, we learned I mean we didn't start out being all eco friendly like I have right after adopting unit we took that Walmart trip we bought everything in that aisle for Yoda the best budget food for us the cat classic litter box, a few made in China toys. I mean, we didn't also we know we've been there but we did learn over the years with Yoda through our experiences that we can do better and that clay de slitter is actually really harmful. So we swap that out for natural wood pellet litter natural corner we or they've got so many now but when when when we started there was really only offering wood pellets that you would buy like at the construction store something but anyway.

Paul 53:49

The other area, I think one of the main area and it's great because it's both for the environment and also for your cats healthiest food. Food wise it was it was a challenge to a to find some great food. And sometimes we thought we were doing the great choice. And then we realized a few months later that it wasn't this good. Yeah, that wasn't that good at all. So we had to research research in depth. And the only problem is that it comes at a price. When you compare it to the regular cat food cycle, I don't know, sometimes 345 times more expensive. But at the same time, if you, if you divided by the number of day that you're going to feed your cat, it's not that much, even if it's more expensive to feed some quality food to your cat and make sure that he stays healthy, enjoys his food and, and also that the food is made in a more sustainable way. And we when we did the switch to the one that we actually use right now, it was it was amazing because Yoda was like always a little, you know, eating But, you know, he just takes his time but now he's like, he loves this food is like looking forward to every time he's going to get fed. So it's

Bri 55:07

a he looks healthier too. Yeah, it's

Paul 55:09

a real satisfaction to be able to, to buy this kind of products because you know that they're going to be great for him too,

Bri 55:16

right? Yeah, yeah, other than food and litter. I mean, virtually every aspect of your cat's life, it can be improved, and you can use green. Like, I hate using the word alternatives like eco friendly alternatives. I feel like we should just be producing like eco friendly stuff. And that's, that's the norm. So I'm, I was really pushing that in my ebook. And there's like toys, there are companies of course, they're smaller and they might be harder to get to like to reach you might have to order online. But there are companies that exist in retailers to that source, sustainable products and most often, they're more durable anyway, so even though they might come at a Sometimes more costly price, they're going to last 10 times longer. And so we always search for quality products now, and I'm not here to say that we're like 100% perfect, we if we need something for Yoda, and we don't have time to research for eco friendly alternative, we will buy on a wit not on a whim that we will buy with purpose still, but at the moment, and that might be in a big pet store. And that's also fine. But

Paul 56:26

it's just about the small efforts that you can do every day and you know, sup from time to time, you're going to have to do something that you're not super happy with. But as long as you're consistent with this, you know, like you don't purchase everything that you see. And especially when you think you know, when you think about cat toys. You see what cats can play with, like literally just keep those string and they're happy about it. Like you can make so many toys at home and they're like 100 ways to make toys for cats. It's just, you know, you upcycled his products so you don't You don't go and you don't buy anything. So the companies don't have to make it. It's even better you just use the you know, the stuff that you have in your house and your cat is as happy as you care this like super modern Robert can find you. Yeah, that's actually how we started flipping kidding the first place when when we got Yoda, we didn't have a lot and we're trying to find stuff for him. And so I made this little box enclosure for his litter and then I had like, extra space on the side for his food and you know, just so he had like his little space for him. And I only use stuff that I found like, you know, like stores that were throw away like little crates that would get those crates paint them and sure in it, sometimes very surreal satisfaction because you you don't, you don't use any type of product. You just recycle something. You make something fun and then you you know, I was kind of proud of doing this.

Bri 58:00

love it too. Yeah, but it's going once there yeah and and we still have the pictures and you're just like we little thing you know and it's so cute we like even cut a bathmat out so like he could like be on top of it and like all squishy and stuff like yeah, we have a cute,

Paul 58:16

we actually just did that in our van. Just before leaving, we started a road trip like four or five days ago and last week I was trying to make a corner for Yoda. So he's like trying to adjust our shells, you know to make it like a cat tree but I didn't really need anything just cutting tools and a few nails in there. And now he's got a perfect space actually, he's got more room than us, I think

Daniel Lay 58:45

really do a lot with just a little bit of you know what you have already. And like the point you make about just being conscious about the decisions you make, it's not always going to be perfect and you can never always be 100% optimize the run on the ball. But as long as you're thinking about and being conscious of It does make a lot of Yeah, a lot of effort and change. So, we're coming up towards the end of the podcast guys and we just want to go through our first poll up with with all our guests with the first question being What's one piece of advice that you would give to new cat explorers,

Bri 59:15

we would say to just drop your expectations because it's not like you're going to buy cat harness and Elise and you're going to go out and like make these amazing pictures of your cat we're like have like your cats gonna like lead you like a dog on hiking trails. Like it takes a lot of patience and a lot of into like, connection with your cats personality. So Yo, like, if we got another cat, we would might have to approach it completely different than the way we trained Yoda to explore with us. So yeah, drop your expectations and just learn alongside your cat and don't force anything and it'll Yeah, it'll come and it'll it'll be rewarding.

Hasara Lay 59:58

I completely agree. What's been the Most Entertaining comments someone has said to you while you've been added about with Yoda

Paul 1:00:04

and it's a good question and it's actually it's not really what people say like really the topic there's going to be but more about the fact that it really makes people react when they see us with a cat you know cat in the back by cat on leash and I mean I would have been one of the first one a few years back to say look at this like but what are those guys doing? You know, and it's just create that space for discussion in the first place. When people are curious enough they they usually approach us and ask us Oh, what's going on? You know what, what are you guys doing with this? And then we can tell a little bit about her story. And it just shows that it's you know, cats can can explore cats can can do other stuff and

Bri 1:00:48

then be a pretty house plant.

Paul 1:00:50

Yeah, yeah, exactly. There's so many things that, that they can learn that they can do, they can they can be with us. At all times, and it's Yeah, it's just creating this open mindedness is Yeah, it's the best So yeah, I don't know if I can tell you about specific comment because it's usually you know, the same like, Oh, so you still fluffy so

Bri 1:01:15

the other day we woke up in New York City and this guy saw us with Yoda approach to said, Sorry to bother you. Here's my two cats. And they were like, Yoda look alike. So you know, so it says it opens up he approached us so nicely and then we got to talk about fluffy Katie a bit. So it was this

Daniel Lay 1:01:30

was cool. Yeah, that's great. So speaking of other cats, which cat explorers inspire you

Bri 1:01:36

I have a few but one that really pops out to me. I've been we've been friends for a while on Instagram and I just love the content that they put out is adventure Rio. I don't know if you guys seen them but she she Kant's with her doggy Bruce and it just makes my heart melt because I would love Yoda to explore with a furry friend like that.

Paul 1:01:56

She's working on on me for the

Bri 1:02:02

Yeah, yeah it's coming.

But yeah, there's there's so many I mean, cash me outside we love those guys inventory Oh, I can't I should have made a list because they all deserved we mentioned

Hasara Lay 1:02:17

actually made Einstein realizes this is a really unfair question on everyone because it's really hard to mention them. product service a program has been a game changer for Yoda.

Paul 1:02:29

Right? Well I think we've talked about the food. I don't know if we can mention a brand, but

Unknown Speaker 1:02:34

go ahead and mention your brand.

Paul 1:02:37

It's called Castor and Pollux. And it's, I think it's a Canadian company that makes this food and it's, I mean, you almost want to eat it and I think that's what you should be looking for. When you buy food for your pet. It should be yummy for you as well in a way you know, cuz like, I mean, they deserve that kind of attention. I think it's very important. So when we change that for you, that was his health, I think you know, like you said, was better his, his mood was better he was so happy every meal so that that's one thing and

Bri 1:03:05

we love our cap at times. That really opened up like a hiking with Yoda and a new like we never will we have traveled with Yoda like that. But you know, with the carrier, it just doesn't feel like you're going on this cool exploration journey together.

Paul 1:03:22

Yeah, you're just carrying him and it's less interactive, or Yeah, I don't know if that's the right word, but at least he's with you, you know, you can we usually carry the backpack with him at the front. So we can, you know, be in contact and you can see his little face like he looks around and it's just way, way easier and it's just on your shoulder. So it's not really hard compared to a carrier that you really have to hold and it's it's painful after Well, it just makes you want to do it too, because it's easy, because it's nice and yeah, the backpack is a life changing.

Daniel Lay 1:03:56

briam Paul, thank you so much for being with us today. It's been Last week, we find you. online,

Bri 1:04:04

you can go to our blog at the fluffy Katie calm, and you'll see all of our articles on travel and eco and everything else that we've been writing over the years. And you can follow us on Instagram too. For more day to day pictures and stories at fluffy Yoda

Daniel Lay 1:04:21

and Bri, what's the name of your book?

Bri 1:04:23

Oh, it's how to reduce your cats carbon pawprint How to be a sustainable cat owner and sustainable industry.

Daniel Lay 1:04:31

And they can find that on your blog. Is that right?

Bri 1:04:33

Right. Yeah, just head to our shop, and it's there.

Daniel Lay 1:04:37

So we'll put those links and any other links from today's episode in the show notes available at cat explorer.com forward slash podcast.

Hasara Lay 1:04:44

Thank you so much for listening today. As always, you can find us on Instagram at cat explorer community on Facebook at cat Explorer or join our Facebook group for cat explorers at cat explorer community. We love seeing all the cat exploring you do and helping you with all your questions. So feel free to reach out to us on Any of us social channels, and thank you so much for being a part of our community. That's it for today and we'll catch you next time. In the meantime, enjoy giving you Katie the world