Arris

Hi there,

I'm interested to hear from people who have taken or planning to take their pets with them & if you are arranging yourselves or through a 'pet travel' agency.

If arranging yourself - how easy was/is it?

We have our beautiful Dobermann to take with us & 3 cats, we have had people say that they are surprised we are taking them with us & thought we would re-home them before going - "NO WAY", they are part of the family & they most definitely come with us

Cheers, Arris

jempee

brought our cat over in september would not have left her behind. getting her here was easy and glad i never paid an extorinate amount to a company to get her here. she did have a few problems after due i think to the shock but cannot be sure. she is now back to her old self although she is an indoor cat at the moment and properly till we move in feb. she loved being outdoors but has taken it quite well being in all the time, its like shes forgotten about going outside.

Madmac

Brought two cats over in August and it was a painless process apart from the juggling of two cat carriers and assorted luggage.

Air Transat carry pets as excess baggage from certain UK airports though they, and other carriers tend not to do this during the winter months so you may have to shop around. Look for previous posts where both myself and my OH - Mrs Madmac have went into better detail about the process and costs.

Cats are both doing well now and were back to normal in no time. The only upset was that the female decided to evacuate every orifice over the inside of the pet carrier. We left a rather nasty bundle of paper towels and pet bedding in the customs hall of Lester pearson as a thankyou to Canadian immigration.

Might explain why they subsequently messed up my PR card application?

jempee

I would have liked to have at least a little something in ours! it was bone dry no mess at all, which worried me straight away.

Madmac

Trust me on this: you don't want to be wandering around Lester pearson with 3 suitcases each plus two large-ish cat carriers, one of which smells foul and draws repulsive glances from every other passenger you pass. Especially on one of the most stressful days of your life.

As I dealt with customs, my OH surreptitiously opened the carrier up and cleaned it with paper towels and wet wipes. The cat however was caked in it and it wasn't until we got her to the cattery some two hours later that she could be cleaned up.

With pets these things happen so be warned (and bring lots of wet wipes)

Mystic Kazza

Hi Arris, I haven't got there yet but so far so good with sorting my dog out. No pet passport was required as he is travelling on the same plane as me. Had his rabies vacination. Got Application for an Export health certificate from DEFRA. Now I need to take it to the vets for them to fill in and that is pretty much it.

I know what you mean being about people being surprised that the animals will be going too. I could never, ever in a million years leave my dog. He would never forgive me anyway. He goes everywere with me, well almost everywere. If I am honest I am a little nervous about how he will get on with it all. But hopefully everything will be fine. Just dont go surfing the net as there are a few horror stories out there about what has happened to people's dearest pets. :scared:

Best wishes Karen

Daedra

Hiya, everyones advice has been great so far, I did a fair bit of research after arriving here in the UK and adopting our little princess around this time last year.

Here are some of the links that might help you with your move:

http://www.airpets.co.uk/arrivals_home.html

http://www.pettravel.com/immigration/England.cfm

Also, alot of the major air carriers will have articles on their websites regarding wether they handle pet travel or not and what their policies/rules are, here's one I had bookmarked for Air Canada:

http://www.aircanada.com/en/travelin...pets.html#r1s1

Basically from all those sources, your pets need to be vaccinated for certain diseases (keep in mind Rabies is not eradicated in North America, that vaccination is necessary for pets arriving in Canada for example), you need certificates from your vets providing proof... basically what you would be looking for is guidelines on how to 'fast track' your pet through what used to be the attrociously long sepperation period in quarantine. That involves alot of pre-planning, time & commitment so read up prior to booking flights if possible!!

Good luck to you & pets that all goes smooth

EDIT: Some vaccinations your pets need to undergo are months prior to departure and checked again within a couple of weeks of departure date, thats why I made the comment above about pre-planning this prior to booking flights if poss.

Alberta_Rose

Actually Daedra, those sites are mainly if not all about travelling to the UK.
Canada rules are less stringent and controlled (bizarrely) by the Canada Food Inspection Agency.

http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/...chien_2e.shtml

Daedra

Bizarre! Yes most of those sites I had found through researching bringing my Cat I left with my mum in Canada over to the UK but I thought it would be stricter bringing them into Canada (where there seem to be more possible infections/diseases if they are outdoor) then here.

I'm flabbergasted!

Cookie

Hi Karen

I have just completed my DEFRA Application for a Ministry Export Certificate. I had to send it back to a local office who then print out a proper certificate, filling in my cat's details. They then then send it directly to our vet within 10 days of travel. I then take the cat to the vet for a final inspection. If all is okay, then the vet signs it and I take it away with me. I will also be photocopying it as one goes with the cat and the other will be in my handluggage (just in case).

Incidentally, the export certificate states that the cat has lived in the UK for more than 6 month and that we are coming from a rabies-free country, therefore we don't need a rabies jab.

We are taking our cat ourselves. Costs £40 Aberdeen to Heathrow, and approx £120 Heathrow to Halifax (plus $40 CDN fee at airport for inspection). If you are travelling on more than one flight, see my previous thread http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...+animal+centre

I have been recommended to put down some 'vet bed', from any good pet store, on the bottom of the pet carrier and also a small loose blanket (as cats like to hide any waste and will want to ruffle up the blanket in order to do so). Any wee will be drawn down through the vet bed and not seep back. As my cat is a ragdoll I will be trimming up her fur at her rear end and bottom of tail - bikini-line fashion (no jokes please )

jempee

we did not have to fill in any DEFRA application as we had our cat vaccinated against rabies. we just had to get a certificate from the vet stating her rabies injection details and blood work back to say rabies injection detected etc. the day before we flew i had to go back and get a fit to fly letter and that was it.

sand grownun

Hi Arris

My daughter brought our dog (Labrador)over for us in September from Manchester to Alberta with Air Transat. She bought a pet carrier which was delivered in 24 hours, got a rabies injection for him and a letter from the UK vet saying he was fit to fly 3 days before their flight. Manchester airport let the dog stay with her until approx 1 hour before the flight and then settled him in. Once they arrived at Calgary airport they paid a porter $15.00 and he put the dog and carrier on a trolley and wheeled it around for them whilst they managed their suitcases, they also showed them to a part of the airport where the dog could be let out for a few minutes. Our dog didn't seem bothered about the flight and was in good spirits when he landed. Everything went off perfectly, the cost from Air Transat was a couple of hundred dollars for the dog and my daughters flight. The cost of using a firm was £1200.

Hope everything goes ok for you.

Daedra

So judging from your experience you re-instate what I had previously advised about rabies shots prior to leaving the UK, cheers, it'd been so long I didnt know if I was making it up or not

jamestocanada

Hi Arris,

We were recommended Air pets to move our dog over. We are moving out in the middle of January so will keep you posted as to how it goes. Many friends have recommended this company though :-)

Arris

Thanks very much all of you for you replies, it's all very helpful & reassuring

For those lucky enough to already be in Canada I hope you & your furry family members are enjoying yourselves there & that they have settled in.

And, for those still to go, I hope you have a good journey & your pets travel alright - from what I have read, it sounds as if they do & we don't need to worry about them.

Thanks again,

Arris