Transporting our cat from UK to Australia
 

I am moving to Australia with my Australian partner next year and we are researching how to transport our cat.

Has anyone done this before? Any recommendations of particular agencies or things to look out for in terms of costs for things you can easily arrange yourself would be much appreciated.

Most quotes we've seen so far are coming in anywhere between £2000-3000 all in including the quarantine cost.

Re: Transporting our cat from UK to Australia
 

Pet Air have a very good reputation and are the only company ran by vets.

Re: Transporting our cat from UK to Australia
 

We used Petair and although they were polite, I had to chase things up and when I phoned and left message they were never responded to. They also had an error on one of the dates in their documentation and if I hadn't picked it up, our cat would have not been able to travel. When I alerted the case handler I just was copied into an email advising there had been an "amendment". Our cat has now arrived safely into Australia and we've heard nothing from Petair. It was quite a bit stressful getting information out of them to be honest.

Re: Transporting our cat from UK to Australia
 

Interesting to hear as PetAir is one of the agencies we are considering.

Their quote which includes:
+ Flight from Glasgow to Melbourne
+ Airline surcharges
+ IATA approved box
+ Booking of quarantine space
+ Transhipment permit
+ Export customs entry
+ Application for DEFRA export health certificate
+ Check in

is coming in at £981.77 but with an extra charge of £319 to apply/pay for the import permit and also complete the DEFRA paperwork. Considering the import permit costs around £300 to apply for, seems to make sense to just get them to do it!

Is there anything which they don't include in their quote which is particularly onerous for us to do? We're aware that the quarantine fee is around £980 ($1800) so the cost all in with them would be around £2280.

Another agency (Pet Travel Services in Dunfermline, Scotland) is coming in closer to £3000 and their comment on the PetAir quote was:

"The short answer is that the quotes that you have are to buy a ticket and provide a box and basically everything else is for you and all remains your responsibility and so the quotes do not include applying for and paying for the import permit, on-line quarantine confirmation and release appointment post-arrival, delivery to Airport + check-in after final F+W treatments and Health check by our Vet Hospital Practice by the OV Vet who also checks and suitably endorses the travel documents. None of that is terribly onerous but it depends how much of an input to every stage of the process you and your Veterinary Practice at home intend to have."

Re: Transporting our cat from UK to Australia
 

I would check that with Pet Air as I have come across them a lot of a fair few years - I am a moderator on two other forums and Pet Air have been very well regarded for years

Re: Transporting our cat from UK to Australia
 

You do have really keep on top of vet appointments and make sure you adhere to schedule of timings. It's not hugely onerous to do this. It was easy to pay for the quarantine and make the booking/release appointment.

Having literally just used Petair to transfer my cat I can say I would hesitate to use them again. They made a huge mistake on a date (that if I hadn't picked up would have meant my cat could not travel), didn't respond to phone messages, had to chase a few things up with emails and I've heard nothing from them since my cat has arrived.