You may balk at paying $6 for each of these inserts, but they do their job perfectly. The idea is that if your dog has an accident in her carrier, a pad will absorb the pee and you can whisk out the soiled pad and dispose of it. Previously, when traveling by plane, I’d put an unscented wee-wee pad under the padded insert at the bottom of Chloe’s carrier, and another on top. In went Chloe, and immediately the top wee-wee pad bunched up, sort of underneath her, but mostly towards the back of the carrier. I kept my fingers crossed, but without a lot of hope, that if she did have an accident, she’d have it where the wee-wee pad was.

Enter the DryFur insert, which is padded but stiff (so it can’t bunch up, but is still pleasant to lie on), has flanged edges that raise up to contain any pee that runs sideways before the absorbent pad can do its job, comes in a variety of sizes (one of which will be close enough to your carrier’s size), and is disposable. Assuming your dog doesn’t have an accident, the pads last for a very long time (unlike a wee wee pad, which bunches up and tears, and pretty much has to be replaced after each trip).

Yes, they’re expensive, but I’m a convert, especially after accidentally dumping a substantial quantity of ice and ice water into Chloe’s carrier on a recent trip. As promised, the DryFur insert soaked the spill up rapidly and completely, leaving the pad surface dry.

[8/16/11 I’m updating this because a reader sent me a good idea you should hear about: Put one DryFur insert on top of the padded “floor” of your dog’s carrier, and put another one underneath it, so that if the top one gets soiled, you can throw it out and move the stored insert into its place.]