We brought our 2 over in November and used Jets4Pets. They were really good. They will make reservations for quarantine if you want them too but you pay for their time. Its easy to do it yourself. Just email quarantine, ask them when they have space and then let the travel company know. You can visit them 24 hours aftert they have landed (after the vet has seen them).

The dogs will be fine, its the owners who get most stressed. I would recommend you insist on metal water bowls in the travel crate (stops them chewing and therefore losing their water). We sent ours over a week early and I wish that we had sent them 3 weeks early. They get really well looked after in quarantine and I am sure time goes pretty quickly for them. It doesn't go quickly for the owner when you are visiting them every couple of days and you have 3 weeks to wait to get them home.

All worth it in the end of course

Hi, very usefull informations.
I also want to ask you what was the total cost for this.
Thanks

We used Ryslip when we moved over in 2007 and they were fantastic. We will be going back (to Oz) and will use them again. They did everything apart from taking the blood tests. Our dog went into Melbourne quarantine station, I think we could visit after 24 hours but we were only allowed to visit twice a week. Attached is the link to find out more info on each of the stations. http://www.daff.gov.au/aqis/cat-dogs/accom#info

Sorry to gatecrash your thread, just wondering though - how much roughly does it cost to ship a cat over to Oz?

We're not planning to move for ages yet, but was just wondering.

It's costing us £1500 ish for 2 cats + quarantine which will be around another £600 quid. So for one probably around a thousand altogether I would think. We're also using Ryslip.

Wow.

Cheaper to buy a new one out there then.

oh definitely!
We are idiots I know!

We used Airpets to Perth and no complaints at all.

Quarantine was tough on the dog though, the kennels had kennel cough and a water infection going around and dog picked up the water infection along with 2 other dogs we know of and we had to call our own vet out to treat it.
Make sure you have your dog vaccinated against kennel cough before you come. Lots of dogs from the UK had not been vaccinated and caught it.

I would visit as often as you can as otherwise they do not get let out of the kennels. The different quarantine kennels have different rules about the amount of time you can exercise them in a small fenced enclosure, the AQUIS website has the details.

We asked for quaratine for confirmation when the dog landed and was picked up and they called us to let us know he had arrived safely.

Hi

it was 3900 GBP for the 2 dogs from Heathrow to Perth. Then you have to pay quarantine fees, about AUS $1000 for the 2 and vets fees about 600 GBP.

Altogether for 2 dogs was around 5000 GBP.

And to see them by the river, on the beach and in the sea is worth every penny..

Our dogs seemed to love it.. They are used to the kennels though..

It goes without saying that your dog has to be innoculated against KC.

It cost about Gbp 3,000 to bring Baggy over (adult labrador) 18 months ago. And then about $800 in quarantine fees and another $270 to fly him from Eastern Creek to Brisbane. We used JetPets for the internal flight - excellent service - only thing is they didn't operate on Sundays so poor Bags had to do one extra night in quarantine. Unfortunately we couldn't visit as we are in the Brisbane suburbs and he was in NSW. He's a happy camper now though and he loves being here - especially the dog parks!

Daft question perhaps - but this is what this forum is for! ......is it possible to book it all yourself? i.e. can you book a flight for your dog, take it to the airport, stick it on the plane and arrange collection by the quarantine people?

I know I'm bound to get a post from someone saying how could you consider not using a professional to look after our beloved pet; but if it's case of saving a few hundred quid, I feel it's worth asking!

Hi

We looked into it but three things stopped us:

The risk of making an error with everything else that is going on (sale of house, getting ready for new job, visa and all the other minor things.......) We were told by BA that they would only deal with a registered agency, but don't know if the is actually true. In addition, the arrangement for a DEFRA vet was going to cause a potential problem.

Now, we have been charged £1700 by PetAir (Ask for Bob) who have been fantastic. If you bear in mind this includes collecting two moggies from home, 70 miles away, inspection by DEFRA, their crate, all costs associated with the permit AND the Air Fares, I am not sure we would have saved that much. In addition, and echoing what someone has said previously, don't get them on the same flight as everytime the plane lurches, judders, drops, creaks etc you will be worrying about your pets. If you follow this advice then that is another trip to Heathrow. So, all in all, I think the money paid to PetAir is worth every penny. And that is just on the removal of strees....let alone the "How could you scrimp on you pets" bit!!!!!

Cheers

I did a bit more digging and found the following on the BA website....

I think I may have just answered my own question or is there anyone else other than BA that fly pets?

Qantas do, but I believe they will only deal with pet travel agents as well. Seriously, it is worth using an agent, it won't actually cost that much more than doing it yourself (and I don't think you can do it yourself to be honest) and there is so much do for for moving yourself that having someone take the strain for the pets is worth it.