The Foreign Service Journal, January 2013

26 JANUARY 2013 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Traveling with animals overseas can present unique challenges. But with careful preparation, it can also be very rewarding. BY HEATHER P I SHKO FOCUS TRANSFER TIPS I started training my two cats, Chloe and Cordelia, to be world travelers when I first adopted them at seven weeks old, and they are absolute profession- als now. As soon as I brought them home, I placed their carriers in the living room with comfy bedding inside. The girls naturally took to sprawling and napping in them. Although the bright orange “Live Animals” stickers don’t go very well with my décor, I consider it a fair trade for the ease of installing the cats in their carriers. The next step in my brainwashing scheme was to put them into their carriers, then take quick drives around the neighbor- hood so that they wouldn’t associate car trips solely with vet vis- its or airplane rides. Whenever they would meow, I’d reach back and pet them until they calmed down. To this day (eight years later), they are completely silent whenever we travel, whether by car or by plane. Finally, I started putting a harness and leash on each of them whenever we travel. It’s a lot easier to grab onto a harness than a squirming kitty while her carrier goes through the X-ray machine at the airport! My worst nightmare is one of them launching frommy arms and zooming off through security. From time to time, I’ll put the harnesses on the cats when we’re hanging out at home, just to keep them acclimatized. I also observe them throughout the trip to ensure they’re not Heather M. Pishko, an Office Management Specialist, joined the Foreign Service in 2006. Currently assigned to the Office of South- ern European Affairs, she previous served in Lima, Helsinki and Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. SINGLE, WITH PETS