Moving with pets, or not
 

Well I am in a situation and would like to hear some opinions on the matter. I will try to keep it short and stick to the facts. I will be moving back to the UK in just a few months now, how long I will stay is up in the air. It will be at least a year and could be for the rest of my life. I don't see us moving back to America but who knows.

I have two dogs and want to bring them with me. The problem is, I will not be renting a permanent place until after I get there. This could very well be a few months until I let a place.

I worry that hauling the dogs around with me, may be impractical and this will be added stress for the dogs as well as me. Yet it breaks my heart knowing I will have to give them away. I want to do what is best for them, not me.
Any suggestions,especially from people who have faced the same scenario.
Thank you

Re: Moving with pets, or not
 

One thing you should be aware of is that to have the Animals considered non-commercial they have to arrive in the UK within 5days either side of your arrival. So a few months would be a problem - why not Kennel them or have them stay with friends when you arrive.

I could never be separated from my pets. They are my family, my kids. While I may put them in boarding it would be close by so I could visit them as often as possible.

Re: Moving with pets, or not
 

Bring your dogs. I did. The flight was not a problem. I found a place to rent that accepted pets.

Dogs are loyal to us. We should be loyal to them.

Re: Moving with pets, or not
 

Just want to mention to watch your timing, Ive just been looking into this myself, Air canada in particular has black out dates due to extreme weather and travel is actually quite limited, just thought Id mention it:)

Re: Moving with pets, or not
 

Same as above. Three times.

Re: Moving with pets, or not
 

Moved across the pond three times with either 4 or 3 dogs. It can be done. Yes it's a little stressful but worth it.

Re: Moving with pets, or not
 

travel from Canada to UK wil be with Air Canada Cargo Live, assuming you do not have hairless dogs, travel is NOT quite limited.


Travel restrictions for pets and other live animals travelling with Air Canada Cargo

But not cheap either - call them and get a quote so that you know what to expect.

Re: Moving with pets, or not
 

It is if you want them in the hold on the same plane as you, cargo is different, having flown 4 large dogs cargo I would try to avoid it if I could hence in my case I plan on having the dog in the hold and the cat under my seat, cheaper and better for everyone, you can take up to 2 pets on your flight:)

Re: Moving with pets, or not
 

:amen:

Re: Moving with pets, or not
 

Thanks to everyone who replied. I am taking them with me :)

Re: Moving with pets, or not
 

I am so happy to hear you are taking them with you! I am involved in animal rescue and so so many sad stories. Puppies being aborted etc.. Can be very sad but stuff like this makes my day. Good for you.

Re: Moving with pets, or not
 

Going to the UK from Canada, all pets go in the hold, cats and dogs. Air Canada Cargo Live handles things, there are few blackouts and it is not inexpensive.

Re: Moving with pets, or not
 

Pets in the cabin - aircanada.com

You can fly into manchester on a 767, its only 777 thats not allowing in cabin or in hold, I have a small dog and small cat, this is much less stressful as one has a heart condition, yes air cargo is more flexible but I feel this info should be included on thread as it is relevant and may help someone else:)

Re: Moving with pets, or not
 

I don't see where the link says anything about bringing a pet into the UK as cabin baggage.

Re: Moving with pets, or not
 

Re: Moving with pets, or not
 

You cannot fly a pet to the UK in the cabin. Becuase of DEFRA regs all pets go Air Canada Cargo Live and are cleared at Heathrow by James Cargo Services.

Just want to make sure that no one is misled on this thread :-)

Re: Moving with pets, or not
 

in this case "International" is not the same as UK - go figure.

Re: Moving with pets, or not
 

Sorry my mistake, its only flights from the UK to canada, not the other way round, now I am really worried about my cat with the heart issue:(

Re: Moving with pets, or not
 

Their website is very misleading, only when you really follow through do you find that out grr

Re: Moving with pets, or not
 

:( Maybe the vet can sedate her?

Re: Moving with pets, or not
 

Surprised that you can even do it Uk to Canada but have not tried that.

The folks at AC live and James Cargo do a great job, but stressful on the human for sure.

Re: Moving with pets, or not
 

Based on the research I did, and discussions with the cats vet, sedation is not a good option as it can interfere with breathing.

Re: Moving with pets, or not
 

Just talked to vet and pet insurance, we are running some tests and scans to see what's causing it as that makes a huge difference, blood clots are apparently the biggest worry in cats with murmurs, I'll ask him if we can at least give meds to help that, I love this cat, he's only a year old, we nearly lost him neutering him due to this, thing is too, can't see it being easy to rehome a broke cat:(

Re: Moving with pets, or not
 

Sorry op didn't meant to hijack your thread!

I'll see about getting a one size up crate for him so at least he can move round a bit:)

Re: Moving with pets, or not
 

I was amazed at the size of crates that I needed for each on the cats. Very glad I did a trial run out to the airport with crate and cat - crate was too small. It was good to know on the day that the crate was what they wanted.

Good luck. Both cats have had significant ops since arriving in UK, indeed on has had two ops.

Shipping the cats was the most stressful part of the whole move.

Feel free to PM if you have any questions or need help with the paper work.

Re: Moving with pets, or not
 

I know!....I was quite surprised when I just looked at the crate size recommendations, the cats works out to the same as the shih-tzu, bigger than I thought which is good:)

Sorry about your cats, I have pet insurance too, I doubt Ill be able to get any if I move back to UK(still in the what if stage)but I will try.

Thanks so much, I talked to the vet today, I see its all a bit last minute, they have to have certain things done between 24 and 110 hours(well the dog anyway)great, as if one doesnt have enough to worry about!

Have vet appt for cat tomorrow, hes getting bloodworks and some special scan that they have to transport to the vets as its the only one in the city, I think when it gets close to me moving say about 3 months before I will start crating him in his crate, using the calming spray and driving him everywhere with me, might even go to the airport the last week to get him used to the noise, its not that far from me:thumbsup:

Re: Moving with pets, or not
 

Will keep an eye on this thread. I have to move a big dog (Around 50kg. Just over but he's lean and only one so he will weigh more in two years) and two cats from Australia to the UK. It's going to be so expensive and whenever I find ways people have made it cheaper I can't do it because of Australian law. Checked baggage or in the cabin.
So looks like I'll be forking out close to $10,000. Way more expensive than our own flights!

Re: Moving with pets, or not
 

So specialist says cat will be fine, his murmor is the best kind to have, huge relief, I used calming spray in his crate today and he was way better, sleepy, maybe I overdid it!....I also bought calming treats I'll tape to his crate and a breakaway calming collar, I think that will cover it!

Re: Moving with pets, or not
 

Glad to hear he is cleared to go.

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Hope all goes well for minimum stress to both pets and humans.

Re: Moving with pets, or not
 

Same here, Cillah. Our 9 year old golden retriever is coming to the UK with us, he's 47 kilos. So worried about how he'll cope with the flights - he's very placid and accepting but has one major hang-up - travelling in cars. He shakes, froths at the mouth and generally just panics. God knows what he'd be like on 12 and 8 hour flights :(

Re: Moving with pets, or not
 

My story: I moved to England from South Africa and left my dog (me in tears and very upset) with my family. I had no idea what I was getting myself into, nor where I would stay. Everything fell into place so well and I bought a house which had a dog flap put into the french doors into garden. A sign for me to bring over my dog. It was arranged with a pet courier company within a week and she went into quarantine (this was 1999). I visited her twice weekly in kennels for 6 months and she adapted well in there. She was also looked after nicely. When she came out I was the happiest person alive because she was my "baby" and I now could go walking with her and even took her around with me on business in car staying over frequently in B&B's and in heat of summer she stayed at home due to dog flap. She adapted very well and I think had no idea she was even on another continent. Then when I met hubby and we thought of moving to Canada, it was always on the cards she was also coming. We rented a place that would take her while we searched for our home to buy and due to her did a lot of walking trails. I contacted the same pet carrier (near Heathrow) and she was collected a day before our furniture was packed up. Seeing that little face in crate departing was the hardest part! She remained in kennels for 2 weeks while we sorted ourselves out and flew Air Canada (first class I say) while we went on the cheapest airline we could find. This was in March 2002 and we had no problems as she even had to change in Vancouver and take a small plane to us on the Island. They even got her here on an earlier plane as she had no issues. Her crate was dry and when I picked her up I think she spent about 5 min on the grass with a very relieved look on her face. She never soiled her crate nor was she medicated or anything. She was a small Staffordshire Bull Terrier and they are meant to have breathing issues. She left CT when 4 years old and lived to a ripe old age of 15! She made my moving around so much easier and I would highly recommend to anyone with pets to bring them as they are your family!

Re: Moving with pets, or not
 

:heart: what a lovely post