The holidays are traditionally a busy time of year for traveling. People go great distances to be with family and friends during this joyous season. Pets often make these journeys with their owners. To ease the stress of both pets and their owners, I’ve compiled a list of helpful hints for holiday travel.

Automobile travel will, by far, be the most common way for people and pets to get to their holiday destinations. Many pets love to ride in the car and live for the opportunity to hit the road. For these pets, I would suggest taking enough food and water for the trip and scheduling frequent (every two to three hours) “potty breaks.” For safety reasons, pets should be confined to a carrier during the trip to avoid potential mishaps from roaming in the car.

Motion sickness is a very real problem for some pets. Confinement to a carrier may help reduce this problem. Some pets may require medication to help with motion sickness. Your pet’s doctor can make specific medication and dosing recommendations for your pet.

For very nervous animal travelers, tranquilizers may be prescribed. Although having a sedated pet traveling with you is certainly not an ideal situation, your veterinarian can help you decide if this is feasible for your pet. I try to encourage owners to “desensitize” their not-so-good traveling companions by starting out with short car rides to ease the animal’s anxiety. As the pet becomes accustomed to short trips around the block, the owner can increase the length of the journeys.

While trying to desensitize the pet to car travel, do not make the destination trip one to the vet’s office. The shock of a visit to the vet may undo all of your hard work, and you’ll be starting over. The key is to let the pet know that a car ride doesn’t always mean an unpleasant destination.

If your trip will include overnight stops, I recommend researching hotels that allow pets to stay.

Air travel is a whole other matter. For instance, airlines will require the pets to have a health certificate before allowing them on the plane. Some airlines will allow pets to travel in the cabin (in a carrier) as carry-on luggage; however, large dogs have to go in the cargo hold. For pets in cargo, the airlines will also ask for a letter from you veterinarian stating the temperature extremes the pet can endure (the cargo hold can get cold at cruising altitudes, especially this time of year).