Pet Travel Checklist
Travel with your dog or cat without forgetting the essentials — carrier, vaccinations, food, medication, ID and paperwork. There's even a rest-stop planner so the journey is comfortable for everyone.
Pet & Journey
A few details to tailor the checklist and plan rest stops.
Carrier & Restraint
Vaccinations & Health
ID & Tags
Food & Water
Medication & First Aid
Paperwork & Documents
Comfort & Supplies
Journey & Stops
About Pet Travel Checklist
The Pet Travel Checklist is a free, browser-based planner for taking your dog or cat on a trip — a weekend away, a long road trip, or a flight abroad. Travelling with an animal means a lot more than grabbing a lead and a bag of food: there are carriers and restraints to sort, vaccinations and health checks to keep current, ID and microchip details to confirm, medications to pack, and paperwork that can make or break a border crossing. This tool gathers all of it into eight clear categories, pre-filled with the items most pet owners need, and tracks your progress as you tick them off.
Its standout feature is the built-in rest-stop planner. Tell it your pet's name and your total drive time, and it suggests roughly how many comfort stops to plan — about one every two to three hours for water, a toilet break and a stretch — so the journey stays calm and safe. Choose "plane" instead and it reminds you to check airline pet policies and certificate deadlines early. Everything saves automatically to your browser's local storage — no account, no sign-up, nothing sent to a server. Use Download PDF to print a checklist for the trip, and pair this with the Packing Checklist for your own gear and the Travel Document Checklist for your passports and visas.
How to Use Pet Travel Checklist
- Name the trip and set your departure date — the header counts down the days so you can pace vet visits and paperwork.
- Add your pet's name, choose how you're travelling, and for a road trip enter your total drive time to get a comfort-stop plan.
- Start with Vaccinations & Health and Paperwork — these have lead times. Rabies jabs, health certificates and import permits can take days or weeks to arrange.
- Work through the remaining categories, removing anything that doesn't apply with the trash icon and adding pet-specific items with the "Add an item" field.
- Tick off each item as you pack or arrange it and watch the progress bar fill.
- Confirm your accommodation, airline or ferry actually accepts pets, and keep their pet-policy confirmation with your documents.
- Use Download PDF to print a checklist for the journey, and Export to back it up or carry it to another device.
Tip: pack a small bag of "arrival essentials" — water, a bowl, poop bags, a favourite toy and any medication — so your pet is comfortable the moment you reach your destination, before you unpack everything else.
Frequently Asked Questions
How often should I stop when driving with a pet?
As a rule of thumb, plan a comfort stop roughly every two to three hours so your pet can drink, toilet and stretch — that's exactly what the rest-stop planner on this page works out from your drive time. Puppies, older dogs and anxious animals may need stops more often. Never leave your pet alone in a parked car, even briefly: temperatures inside rise dangerously fast.
What documents does my pet need to travel?
It depends entirely on where you're going. Domestic trips usually need little more than ID tags and up-to-date vaccination records, while crossing borders can require a pet passport or animal health certificate, a current rabies vaccination, microchipping, and sometimes a rabies titre test or import permit. Check the official requirements for your destination well in advance — some certificates must be issued within a few days of travel.
Should I sedate my pet for travel?
Only on the advice of your vet. Sedation can affect breathing and temperature regulation and is generally discouraged for air travel. For most pets, calming aids, a familiar blanket, a carrier they already know, and a light meal a few hours before setting off work better. Always discuss motion sickness or anxiety with your vet before the trip.
Can I use this for both dogs and cats?
Yes. The default items suit dogs and cats and most small pets. Cats usually travel in a secure carrier and need a litter tray rather than walks, so remove the items that don't apply and add your own — the checklist is fully editable and your changes save automatically.
How do I fly with a pet?
Airline rules vary widely, so start early. Confirm whether your pet can travel in the cabin or only in the hold, check the exact carrier dimensions allowed, and find out any health-certificate deadline — many must be issued within 10 days of travel. Book your pet's place as soon as you book your own seat, as airlines limit the number of animals per flight.
Is my data private?
Yes. Your pet's name, trip details and checklist are stored only in your browser's local storage on this device. Nothing is uploaded to any server and there's no account. Clearing your browser data removes the saved checklist, so keep a JSON export or the PDF if you need a copy.
Does it work offline?
Once the page has loaded, your checklist lives in local storage and works offline — handy for a final check before you leave. Open it on the same device where you saved it; your data only moves between devices if you Export and Import it.