Originally Posted by grevillia

You betcha. After all, in these days of internet dating, wives are 2 a penny. However, a good cat is hard to find!



G

Originally Posted by grevillia

You betcha. After all, in these days of internet dating, wives are 2 a penny. However, a good cat is hard to find!



G

Originally Posted by TaraC

You may want to do a search on this website, as there are many of us that went through the PETS scheme and posted information on how to do it. The following is a link to the latest post, but do a search as there are many others:

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...ht=PETS+scheme

In answer to your questions above, the vet who does the microchipping, rabies vacc and blood draw for the test does not need to be state-accredited, and it's highly unlikely they will be anyway. Even if they say they are accredited, it doesn't mean what they think it means (I had a serious problem with this). What DEFRA means by accredited is the USDA-accredited vet who works specifically for USDA. Your final paperwork must be reviewed, signed and stamped by the USDA, so you need to contact your local state office to find out how they do this. I was lucky in that my USDA office was in the city I lived in, so I was able to take my paperwork down a week or so before I left. Other people on this forum have sent their paperwork away to their state vet a couple of weeks or months earlier and had it done via regular post. It's ok to do it this way, as the form is ok for up to four months after it's been stamped.

For the rabies testing, you need to wait a couple of weeks (I think it's 21 days) to be sure the rabies vaccination is active, then have blood drawn and sent to a DEFRA-certified lab in the US for the titre testing. Your vet should know about this! The six-month waiting period starts from the date that you get a positive result on the blood test, which will be stamped on the blood titre certificate.

I can't emphasise enough that you review all the DEFRA guidelines for filling out the paperwork throughout this process, including how the vet fills out your rabies certificate, microchipping information, and the test. They will need information not typically included, and I had to go back to my vet a couple of times to get everything dEFRA wanted. Again, look through this website as there is really good information for how to do this.

Hope this helps.

Originally Posted by virginiadare

Now all I have to do is figure out who the neareast USDA vet is to me here in Virginia!

Its complicated but I think I am wading through it ok
Thanks for the help![/QUOTE

Where in Virginia are you? I was in Richmond, which is also where your USDA vet in charge is located. This is the address and contact info:


Area Veterinarian-in-Charge
USDA, APHIS, VS
400 North 8th Street Suite 726
Richmond, VA 23219-4824
Phone: (804) 343-2560
Fax: (804) 343-2599

Originally Posted by TaraC

I am in Williamsburg so a mere 45 minutes away from Richmond. That is quite handy! Thanks for the Info. At least I know where to go now. You have saved me some google time :-)