Most domestic cat moves run about $300 to $1,500. International moves cost more and vary by destination rather than by distance. Cats are cheaper to move than dogs for one structural reason: they are small enough that the cheapest route is usually open to them, and for a dog it usually is not.
This page explains what actually decides the number, using the figures we publish on our own route pages.
Why a Cat Move Costs Less Than a Dog Move
Airline freight is priced on the crate rather than on the animal, using the space it occupies. A cat needs a small container, so a cat sits at the bottom of every freight band it enters.
The larger effect is that most cats fit an in-cabin carrier. Where the airline allows it, that is a fee in the low hundreds rather than a freight booking, and it removes the cargo terminal, the separate booking and most of the moving parts along with the cost. For a medium or large dog that option does not exist. For a cat it is usually the default.
The practical consequence is that a cat move has a lower ceiling as well as a lower floor. There is much less distance between the cheapest sensible way to move a cat and the most expensive.
How Much Does It Cost to Fly a Cat?
Almost every cat flies in the cabin, and that single fact is why a cat move costs what it does. The airline charges a flat fee each way, published on its own site, and it does not change with distance. A cat is small enough that the carrier fits under the seat on most aircraft, so the cargo hold, where the large numbers on a dog move live, rarely enters the picture at all.
Three things move that figure. The first is how many cats are traveling, because airlines limit how many animals one passenger may bring into the cabin, so a second cat often means a second fee and sometimes a second person on the booking. The second is the route, since a cabin fee is flat but an international move adds documents, endorsement and on some routes a titer test, none of which the airline charges for. The third is whether a cabin slot exists on the flight you want, which is the part that most often changes the plan and is covered further down this page. If you are flying with the cat yourself, our guide to flying with a cat in the cabin covers the booking, the carrier and the security checkpoint.
Where a cat cannot travel in the cabin, on a route that does not permit it or in a household moving several cats at once, the move is priced the way a dog move is priced, on the crate rather than on the animal.
What a Domestic Cat Move Costs
Within the United States, expect about $300 to $1,500 depending on method and distance.
In-cabin is the low end. Your cat travels under the seat in front and you pay a carrier fee. Cargo sits in the middle, and applies when the cat exceeds cabin limits, when you are moving several cats, or when the route does not offer cabin space for animals. Ground transport prices on distance and time rather than crate volume, and is worth pricing on shorter routes and for cats that do not tolerate airports.
What pushes a domestic cat move up is rarely the cat. It is usually the number of cats, or a route with no direct flight.
What an International Cat Move Costs
The destination decides this more than the distance does. The route ranges we publish cover a typical pet rather than a species, and a cat generally sits at the lower end of any of them, because freight follows crate volume and a cat’s crate is small.
The EU destinations cluster around $1,500 to $4,200 and the United Kingdom around $1,600 to $4,500, with entry rules that are uniform and lanes that are competitive. Japan runs about $2,200 to $5,500, where the 180 day rabies titer wait shapes the calendar more than the invoice. New Zealand runs about $4,500 to $9,000 and Australia about $5,500 to $12,000, and on both of those the quarantine rather than the flight is the largest line. Mexico is the cheapest at about $800 to $2,400.
Our cost calculator breaks any of these down line by line, including the government fees most quotes leave vague.
Moving More Than One Cat
This is where cat costs actually diverge, and it is the question most price pages skip.
Airlines cap how many animals travel in the cabin on a single flight, and the cap is usually a small number across the whole aircraft rather than per passenger. Two cats in the cabin can therefore mean two bookings on the same flight, or two different flights, or one in the cabin and one in cargo. That is a scheduling problem before it is a cost problem, and it has to be settled before anyone buys a ticket.
Whether two cats may share one container depends on the airline, the destination and the cats. Some carriers allow two compatible animals of similar size in one approved container, which roughly halves the freight line. Others require one each regardless of how well they get along. We confirm it for the specific route rather than assume, because the place this gets discovered otherwise is the check-in counter.
Government fees are almost always per animal. The certificate, the endorsement and any titer test are charged per cat, so a second cat adds a predictable fixed amount even where the freight is shared.
The Carrier Is a Cost Decision, Not Just a Comfort One
For a cabin flight the carrier is the only specification that matters, and it is measured at the gate rather than at booking. It has to fit under the seat in front, and the airline publishes dimensions for the aircraft rather than for the fleet. A soft-sided carrier gains a little tolerance because it compresses. A rigid one does not.
Getting this wrong is expensive in a specific way: a carrier refused at the counter turns a cabin fee into a same-day cargo booking, or into a missed flight. An IATA-compliant crate for cargo runs roughly $65 to $378 at retail depending on size, and a cat needs the small end of that.
Cats are also escape artists in a way dogs are not, so the fastener detail on a cargo crate matters more than people expect. It is a common reason for refusal at check-in.
Booking the Cabin Slot Is the Real Deadline
The cabin fee is published and predictable. The cabin slot is not, and it is the part that decides what your move actually costs. Airlines cap how many animals travel in the cabin on any one flight, usually at a low single-digit number, and some cap it again by cabin class. Those slots are inventory rather than a service you pay for on the day, and once they are gone on your flight they are gone.
Most airlines will not let you reserve the slot online. The usual sequence is that you book your own ticket, then call the airline the same day to add the cat, and the slot is only yours once the airline confirms it against your booking reference. Owners who book a flight in March for a June move and leave the cat call until May routinely find the flight full of cats already.
Missing the slot is not a small inconvenience. It leaves two options, and both cost money. You move to a different flight, which may mean a different day or a connection you did not want. Or the cat travels in the hold instead, which changes the whole price bracket: an IATA crate rather than a soft carrier, a freight charge usually higher than the cabin fee, and exposure to the summer heat and winter cold embargoes that do not apply to a cat under the seat.
Connections deserve the same attention. Every carrier on the itinerary has to accept the cat in its own right, and a codeshare booked on one airline does not guarantee the operating airline will carry a live animal in the cabin. A single-carrier routing is easier to confirm and often works out cheaper once the alternative is priced properly.
The Line Items You Will Actually See
The cabin fee or airline freight is the largest line. A carrier or IATA crate runs roughly $65 to $378. USDA APHIS endorsement starts at $101 for an international move. Veterinary fees for the exam, vaccinations and any required tests are set by your clinic. Ground legs at either end price on distance.
A rabies titer test, where the destination requires one, is set by the laboratory and costs less than it delays: the waiting period that follows it is measured in months. Quarantine, where it applies, is charged by the destination government and dominates the total on the routes that have it.
How to Read a Cat Transport Quote
On a cat move the single biggest thing a quote can hide is whether it assumes the cabin or the hold, because those are two different products at two different prices, and a number quoted for one will not survive a switch to the other. That is the first thing to establish, and there are four more worth asking before you compare anything.
Ask whether the airline charge is a confirmed rate or an estimate. Freight is priced on chargeable weight, which combines the actual weight of cat and crate with a volumetric calculation based on the crate dimensions, so any figure quoted before the crate is chosen is an estimate by definition. Ask whether veterinary and government fees are included or passed through at cost. Most providers pass them through, which is honest; a quote that folds them in is usually working from an average that will not match your clinic.
Ask whether ground transport is in the number at both ends, not just the pickup. Ask whether customs clearance and the destination import agent are included, because on an international move this is the line most often left out of a low quote, and it is not a small one. Ask what happens if the cabin slot is unavailable on the date you want, and whether the quoted price survives the switch to the hold.
A provider who answers those without hedging is quoting the same job you are asking about. One who answers in round numbers is quoting a starting point.
Where People Overspend on a Cat Move
Booking the human ticket first, then discovering the cabin animal slots on that flight are gone. The cabin space has to be reserved at the same time as your seat, sometimes by phone, and it is not always visible during online booking.
Buying a carrier to the published limit without checking the aircraft. Cabin dimensions vary by aircraft, not by airline.
Treating a second cat as a rounding error. It is usually a second booking and always a second set of government fees.
Frequently asked questions
Is it cheaper to fly a cat in the cabin?
Yes, usually by a wide margin. A cabin fee is typically in the low hundreds against a cargo booking that starts higher, and most cats are within the size limit. The constraint is the carrier and the number of animal slots on the flight rather than the cat.
How much does it cost to move two cats?
Less than twice one cat if they can share a container and the airline allows it, and close to twice if they cannot. Government fees are per animal either way. The variable worth checking first is not price, it is whether the flight has two cabin slots.
Does breed affect the cost for a cat?
Rarely, with one exception. If you have a Persian, Himalayan or another flat-faced breed, some airlines apply the same hold restrictions they apply to snub-nosed dogs, which can close the cargo route and change the plan. We check the specific airline policy before booking rather than assume.
Why is an international cat move so much more than a domestic one?
Government requirements rather than airfare. A titer test, an endorsement, an import permit or quarantine can each add more than the flight, and on rabies-free destinations quarantine is the largest single line.
Can I move a cat myself and save money?
Often, on a domestic route with a flexible date. It is harder internationally, where the vet sequence, the endorsement window and the carrier acceptance all have to line up on the same day. We will tell you honestly which of the two you are looking at.
How far ahead should I start?
Four to six weeks domestically. One to four months for most international moves. Six months or more for a destination requiring a titer test and a waiting period, such as Australia, New Zealand or Japan.
Where These Numbers Come From
The route ranges on this page are the ones published on our own cost pages, built from airline tariffs and current government fee schedules and re-checked monthly. Figures verified September 2026. Government fees change without notice, so treat these as the shape of the answer and the cost calculator as the current one.
Related reading: what pet shipping costs in general, the same question for dogs, and how we handle a cat move end to end.
Last updated 7 September 2026