How to use the pet pre-travel last meal time calculator
Owners often hold back food before a car or plane trip to cut down on motion sickness. How long to hold it depends so much on age, body size and existing illness that this calculator refuses to pick a number. Instead you enter the fasting hours your veterinarian gave you along with the departure date and time, and it counts back to the last meal you can safely give, plus the last time you can offer water.
The arithmetic is just last meal = departure minus fasting hours, and water works the same way. Entering 0 for the water cutoff shows no cutoff, and 0 fasting hours places the meal right at departure. No published table fixes a pre-travel fasting length, and groups such as the AVMA and AAHA frame pre-trip preparation around talking to your own veterinarian. Current as of October 2026.
This tool does not cover motion sickness medication, its timing or its dose, and it never recommends a fasting length. This tool is for reference only and does not replace veterinary care. Contact your veterinarian right away if you notice symptoms or suspect a problem.
Frequently Asked Questions
This tool does not answer that. No published table sets one fasting length for every pet, and the risk shifts with age, size and illness, so the number has to come from your own veterinarian.
Yes. Small dogs, puppies and diabetic pets can develop low blood sugar when a fast runs long, which is why you should follow the hours your veterinarian gave you instead of extending them.
The water cutoff is separate, so enter 0 when there is no instruction. With 0 the result says water may continue up to departure. Follow your veterinarian on this.