Scout

I am so, so sorry to hear about your dog.

I know the UK to OZ route is a very long and hard trek for even the healthiest of pets.

I do however, want to reassure people that the US to UK route can be done with pets that have health problems. 3 years ago, we flew from Atlanta to Gatwick with our 10 year old, blind, arthritic & diabetic dog Scout. We followed our Vet's instructions regarding skipping her insulin injection prior to the flight and she missed another one enroute. Once we landed and we retrieved her from Animal Reception she was very tired but we were able to restart her insulin in small doses. The day after we landed we took her to the local Vet for a check up and within 2 or 3 days she was fully recovered.

I have to say that bringing Scout to the UK was the part of our move that gave me the most anxiety....I worried from when we first started getting her ready for travel with the Pet Passport system until we landed and I saw she was alright. She made it so much easier for me here in my adopted country. She was my living, breathing piece of home I always had with me and I never could have left her behind.

I had to put Scout to sleep late this summer and I miss her terribly. But she made the move over here like a true trooper and other pets can as well with help from their owners, their vets and for great people like the BA employees who certainly gave her outstanding care while Scout was traveling.

My best advice is to talk to your vet, talk to the airline you plan to use and do a lot of research on the net and ask lots of questions. No question is too dumb to ask when it comes to our lil furry babies.

TruBrit

get saving and take them by sea c/o Cunard QM2....DEFRA approved....$300 for cat and $500 for the dog. much pet friendlier way for them to travel across the pond esp in their ageing yrs >

http://www.cunard.com/AboutCunard/Ne...ontentID=5547&

cricket1again

Thankyou to everyone for your empathy. It was 5 years ago and it still haunts me. However, I must point out that I do not believe the flight was what caused the problem. It may have contributed but I honestly believe it was the quarantine conditions. My dog was a 50 kilo, huge boned GSD who had received a clean bill of health from our UK vet before we left.
When I rang the quarantine to ask about my dog, I knew we were in trouble when she told me that he was eating the one cup of food they were giving him every day.
A dog his size needed at least 3 cups.

Don't get me started.

cricket1again

I should add this although I'm trying to be honest not brutal. Australia is a harsh, tough and unsentimental place and sometimes so are the people. This is not a criticism but generally, because of the arrid environment and tough conditions, this is often reflected in the rules and regulations as well as the attitudes of people. I would hardly call Australia a nurturing environment.
When people living in the outback tell you that they throw the dog in the billabong to check for crocodiles before they go swimming, that's the truth. They're not joking. They can always go and get another dog as fodder for the next swimming session rather than risk being attacked.

The UK is much more sentimental and so is the US about their pets. Sorry if this bursts your bubble but it's a fact of life here. Ask an Australian vet what he thinks of Australian quarantine regulations before you bring them over.

islandergirl

Matey do you think you should maybe have posted this warning on the Australia forum rather than MBTTUK, as no one on this section is likely to move their dogs back to Aus as we are all going in the other direction. Just a thought - no offence etc.

cricket1again

I think it gets read either way. It's all in the interests of pets regardless.

Posidrive

Sounds heart breaking just like our experience with our 10 yar old GSD Sascha (the dog in my Avatar), although he he died 1 week before we left for Canada (not a good start and we should have heeded the warning because our Canadian experience just went continuously downhill for the next 3 1/2 years). To this day we still don't know what caused the gastric torsion (which i think is another name for bloat).

We have 2 other GSDs who are now 11 and 12 years old and we are dreading the journey back for them. Coming to Canada appeared to be a doddle for them, but there is no quarantine since they have rabies here anyway. They arrived at Calgary airport and just gave us a "where have you been look" before wandering off to explore their new surroundings.

One of our biggest worries for the return journey is getting some jobsworth who finds a trivial error with their vacination history. We've spent weeks trying to get this 100% in order and every time we thing we're there something else arises. Last week the Canadian jobsworth wouldn't give us the certificat ethat we need because the paperwork for one of our dogs only had the vacine name and was missing the length of time thaat it was valid for. At least we found out here before the journey.

cricket1again

It is heart wrenching to say the least, I feel for anyone in a similar situation. It's all the more frustrating if people aren't that helpful. But.......I think it's a lot easier moving a pet back to the UK. GSD's do have their problems with stress related digestive problems and I think if you own this breed, the best thing you can do is hammer it home to everyone coming into contact with your dog that they need special care. In fact probably the best way to get the best service and make all plans are being followed is to be a pain.

Thanks to everyone who sent me a PM. If I haven't replied yet, I will. Been busy this weekend with preparations to go home.