bettyboop80

I plan to call them and my vet also but the vet isnt open yet and I am at work and cant call england so in the meantime i figured you guys might know.

I have had one dog for a while and planned to take him with me so hes had the micrchip, rabies shot and a good blood test.
Friday i picked up another dog from the shelter and i was going to foster him but now i want to keep him.
we plan to leave october 19th on the QM2. If i go TODAY and get him microchipped and rabies vaccinated, i would need the blood for the test drawn on the 19th of this month at the latest which give me 6 calendar months before leaving. Would 17 days be enough for the antibody levels to be high enough because with my other dog they recommended 3 weeks.

The other question is, will the federal vet issue the pets travel certificate to me if the 6 months havent already passed when hes issuing it? I was reading a website that said they wont issue it until 6 months have passed from the blood test date.

Kath & Graham

No they wont release the dog. I took mine on saturday for their rabies jab and then on 28 April they go for their blood test, so they wont be able to fly until on or after 30 October.....so your new dog will have to wait...sorry....

dunroving

My understanding is that the federal vet will countersign your 3rd country cert before 6 months is up. They are just countersigning that the 3rd country cert is in order.

Again, my understanding is that you can travel before 6 months is up, you can even enter the UK before 6 months is up, but your pooch would need to complete quarantine in the UK (i.e., however much time is left of the 6 month period).

However, I have a sneaky suspicion that the situation is different for Cunard ... I believe Cunard has a person who knows the answers. Do a search for Cunard as I think there was a post on this during the past 12 months (I think I was involved in the thread - memory isn't what it used to be).

bettyboop80

Thanks dunroving....the vet said they cant really tell if it will take in time, it depends on his immune system so i went today and got him chipped and rabies vaccinated and i will get the blood drawn on the 18th and just hope for the best!! the problem is that the cruise on october 19th is the last for this year and i dont want to wait till april of next year to go and i CANT fly my dogs.

mandtooz

i dont know the answer, i searched through all sorts of research on rabies vaccs and titre levels, worrying about my pooch, as he had the jab at 12weeks and some say its too early for titre levels to come up, his was fine and i wish u all the luck in the world, the chances are your dog will be fine too, the vet that i took my dog too said he has been doing it yrs and only had 2 failed titre levels

goodluck

Scout

I'm fairly sure that Cunard will not ship any pet before it's 6 months has passed. This was discussed a while back. This is because no pet going into quarantine even for a short stay can be shipped with pets ready for immediate entry into the UK. I know the airlines won't fly a pet destined for quarantine with ones ready to enter.

If you want to keep your new furbaby have you thought of flying him/her in with a pet transport company instead of taking him/her with you onboard?

bettyboop80

I THOUGHT about it, but i just dont know if i could do that to him, knowing he was in the hold of the plane all alone with all that noise. hes terrified of cars as it is so i dont kno what that would do to him.
Anyway i had the rabies and microchip done yesterday, i will have the blood drawn on the 18th and hope for the best and if the levels arent right i guess thats what i will have to do.

dunroving

If it's any help, Suzy stands and pants continuously in the car, on trains, and on boats (even if the journey lasts 10 hours), but she has flown three times across the Atlantic and came out fine the other end each time.

bettyboop80

hes fine with actually being in the car, its just if we are outside and one drives past, he freaks out, jumps around, tries to pull his collar off his head...he was a stray and i think one may have hit him. so i am just afraid that the noise in the hold will just scare him to death.

Scout

I understand........BUT....an Atlantic crossing takes 5 days where as a flight is only a few hours.

I too was very uneasy about flying Scout (obviously my screen name had to come from somewhere, lol)....but she survived the trip. BTW, she is a diabetic dog, had to miss two insulin shots and she is arthritc and blind. British Air was fantastic with her.

jezebel

Dear Bettyboo,
We brought our 3 cats home in Sept 06 via QM2. Cunard will not accept pets that don't meet the PETS scheme on the day of boarding (their attitude is you are on UK soil when boarding the ship !). Secondly I had my federal certificate done weeks before the blood test 6 months rule happened (ie. 6 months up on 31st August but got certificate done on 18th August).
Thirdly, my cats had their blood drawn 21 days after their rabies shot, and they passed with flying colors !
Good luck, it'll be fine ! I remember what a panic I'd get into over a piece of paper with an 'american' format date ! The most nerve racking bit for me was posting the 'paperwork' to the federal vet..I seriously thought I'd never see it again
Enjoy the cruise, we had a splendid time, we called it a second honeymoon, except my husband never left the poker table !
Jezebel

bettyboop80

Thanks jezebel...i just booked the vet today to draw the blood on the 18th and it will only be 16 days since he had the vaccination. i hope that was long enough.
My other dog came back with levels of 1.99 and they only need 0.5. he had his first shot in june when we got him and then another in february for all this so lets hope the new dog is the same way!

polarbearmum

What about the customs import forms. How easy are they to complete, do you reallly need them etc?

bettyboop80

i havent heard of these, has anyone else?

polarbearmum

Information was taken from the Canadian food Inspection agency website - we were advised to look at this by our vet. Point 10 in particular

1. "10. It is the owner's responsibility to complete a form required by the United Kindgom HM Customs and Excise Department. It is recommended that you download the form and take it with you to the United Kingdom. This form can be accessed at the following URL: http://www.hmce.gov.uk/forms/formsot...er.htm#customs index scrolling down to Customs (C) Forms and selecting Form C 5.

"

This was the first we heard of the requirement, and with all my subsequent reading nothing further found either - has anyone who has gone home with pets encountered a problem if they did not have one, or did the pet transport company do this paperwork for you?