TomTheVet

Waking up on my second day in Labrador (amusing place name for a vet to live!) and I am well and truly cream crackered! I'm so jet lagged my body actually shakes at the moment! As a bit of an introduction here's the plan we had before we came out here:

The plan up until 3months ago:
- save up money
- get dog vaccinated and ready to go
- apply for job and get sponsored under 457 visa
- live happily ever after

3months ago - my girlfriend gets told by a recruitment company that nowhere in Australia would nominate/sponsor a Vet Nurse and that she shouldn't try to apply for jobs but as a Vet I would find sponsorship easily.

2months ago - my girlfriend gets offered a job with sponsorship, which was a bit of a surprise as it wasn't entirely in keeping with "the plan". However it was a great sounding job and well paid and gives us the all important visa which we have no guarantees of getting in a years time, so we thought "why not"... The catch? They want her to start in 4weeks! Can any of you who have already moved out there imagine trying to sort your life out to emigrate in 4weeks? It was busy! I had a car under finance that was 2years old, a sky subscription, a phone contract, luckily only a rental house with 3months left on it, a dog to sort out and so much accumulated clutter that if you check most of the contents of the Tip in Milton Keynes at least 50% will have our initials somewhere! There was also a very amusing stealthy trip at 5am around the neighbour to "share out" 16 black bin bags which ended with me accidentally leaving the garden gate open and aforementioned dog being found coiling one out in a neighbours back garden (maybe stealthy was the wrong word!).

Anyway we took our opportunity, gf has been here a few weeks and I came out yesterday. The biggest culture shock is not the way of life or cost, it's that for the next few months we've decided to live with another couple in a house share. We've been living alone for 2years now so this is not such a welcome move for us but it's allowing us to build up some of those savings which we were. Going to do in that year if working in the UK!

So it's 9.30am here (midnight on my body clock) and I've got to go out to do some shopping. Any expats who live in the Gold Coast area would be greatly welcomed as friends right now. I shall keep you all updated on here, hopefully we can have a success story because I can't tell you how depressing it was reading some of these update stories this morning when I first found this site.

Toodle pip!
Tom

katietops01

Welcome to BE and Australia. I hope the jetlag has calmed down and that you weren't too alarmed by the weekend weather - the most rainfall in a day for 15 years, apparently.

You've moved to a lovely place. We've been just up the road in Helensvale for 8 years and have not regretted a day of it. There are loads of success stories around, though I'm not sure there are many posted because the happy people are all out living their lives and don't need the help or support that those struggling do.

Anyway, here's to a happy future for you and your partner.

Molly Coddle

Hi Tom


Excellent write up, I enjoyed reading it. Love the fact that you're a vet and live in
Labrador.

Hope everything goes well for you both, where there's a will there's a way, as they say.


Keep the updates coming, I love this part of the forum.


Molly.

bluelotty2

Hi Tom,
This is the first post I've been compelled to respond to...I love that you are a vet with a dog in Labrador. What breed is your dog? Definitely meant to be!
Glad to hear it is all going well for you so far. Sure the jet lag will soon ease. Go running...!
My husband and I are due to move out to Melbourne in the next few months. Just confirmed today so will be a quick turn around for us too. I was hoping you could help as we are planning on bring our dog Sox (Saluki/Collie cross) out with us. I don't know where to start..is my vet in the Uk the best place? He is up to date with UK vaccinations and is micro-chipped but I assume there will be other jabs he will need? Could you recommend a pet shipping company? If you have 2 minutes to reply I'd be grateful.
Thanks and good luck settling in to your new life.
Lottie

carolinephillips

Welcome to Australia- you certainly had a hectic time. I was initially confused as I thought Labrador was somewhere cold and chilly in Canada, but should have known that Aus would copy names, after all my OH is amused that there is Cardiff and Swansea to name but 2, and whenever the radio/TV says there is an incident in Camden I think of London.

TomTheVet

Hi,

I've been super busy for the last few weeks, this is the first time I've had to check in since I wrote the original post, will put an update on later but as a short reply:

Pet Air Uk are the company I'm using to bring my dog out, it's run by vets so they not only know the rule but also understand them better. They are also about £500 less expensive than some other companies whilst offering the same service.

The extra thing Australia needs is rabies vaccination which must have had a blood test no less than 28-30 days (can't remember which off the top of my head but I'd go with 30 to err on the side of caution) after the vaccination. Once the blood test is passed there is a 6month period before they can come out. The vaccine is only valid for 1 year so must be updated within this period annually.

During the month before travel: there must be blood tests no earlier than 30days before travel which include testing for leptospirosis, babesia and Brucella. Of these it's the Lepto that can be a problem as we vaccinate against it in this country so often get a positive result. Therefore do it early in this window because if that reading is high they will want a second reading taken 2weeks later to confirm that the reading isn't going up (a sign of an ongoing infection rather than vaccination).

Definitely use a company like Pet Air Uk as they take a lot of responsibility off your shoulders. Yes, it is possible not to, you can organise with airlines directly, get forms from Defra yourself and engage your vets to do the paperwork and vaccinations when you need them. However your vet is only responsible for signing that something was given at that date and is in no way responsible for it being the correct time before your flight, so it would all be on you to get it right and if your pet gets to the airport or even to Australia with incorrect paperwork there would be no one but yourself to take responsibility. Even as a vet I'm using a company.

Microchipping must have been done on or before the date of rabies vaccine. They will have to stay in quarantine for 2 weeks when they get here and there are two quarantine kennels in all of Australia, one in Sydney and one in Melbourne I believe. They do not allow contact with your pet during that time and from what I've heard they do not allow you to phone to ask how they are doing but will call to give you scheduled updates (one thing I have noticed is customer service over here is distinctly lacking!).

Hope that helps a bit. Sorry it's been so long since you posted. I'll put on some details about vaccinating over here and tick prevention in a few days.

Cheers
Tom

Off to work now, update coming later.

Bermudashorts

You need a good six months to ready a pet for moving. Otherwise they are in quarantine, which is not very nice at all. Can somebody look after your dog for a while.