Animals!
 

Hello you lot!
We are moving to Spain within the next month or two,we have 2 long haired cats and one dog.......do you know of anything to give the cats to calm them whilst travelling and also as they are long haired would they be ok in a hot climate or should they have a haircut!?Are there any insects or bugs in the Alicante area that could harm them etc (anything we need to watch out for) Thanks!!!!!

Re: Animals!
 

Hi HimnHer

Firstly hope all goes well for you, try not to get to stressed out. Re cats I brought my cat out here 18 months ago his 18 years old now so was quite an oldy when he made his first trip on the plane. How will you be transporting them out? If you plan to fly them them there is nothing that they can be given in the way of drugs as it lowers the blood pressure to much and problems may set in whilst in the hold. Our cat is a very bad traveller so when I have him in the car with me I give RESCUE REMEDY (just a couple of drops on the tongue) you can buy it from Boots or any Health shop. On the other hand if you plan to drive then your vet can give you something to give them. I expect you have all their paper work up to date and they will all need to be checked by the vet within 5 days of starting their journey and get their passports stamp if you travel after the 5 day period I think you have to go back to the vet and get it stamped again. Have you googled as I know when you go from Spain through France and then to England you have to get the vet in France to check the pets out again before they can leave the country so best to check you don't have to do it coming this way.

Will look for website for you later, have to go now as OH's birthday and he is waiting for a call from the grandchild (we have dial up) and I can feel then tension building!!!

regards Cripsygirl

Re: Animals!
 

Your vet can prescribe a mild sedative for travel, and, yes there are things such as ticks out here, and, of course, the processional caterpillar, fortunately you are coming out after the season, but there are caterpilllars, winter and early spring here that march around head to tail in a long line, KEEP ALL DOGS AND CATS AWAY FROM THEM AS IF THEY EAT ANY IT CAN BE FATAL. they have irritant hairs that can easily get in the tongue, and can cause gangrene of the tongue and eventual death. In an urbanisation area you are likely to be OK, but out in the country it's a different matter, The caterpillars develop in pine trees. We kep our cats in, but they do have the run of the sun terraces, but that's mainly because the feral cats are two or three times a big as them. Find a local vet soon after arriving and ask them for any extra injections they may need.

Re: Animals!
 

Hope the journey goes ok and the move goes smoothly for you. We should be making the move ourselves in the next month or so. We will be taking 4 cats and have already asked the vet about something to help them travel but have been told that they cannot be sedated. Crispygirl has said just about everything I would have said. Didn't know about the pets having to be checked again in France though. We were originally going to travel by road but one of our cats is on twice daily medication for kidney disease and high blood pressure so that has put a different outlook on things. On vets advice we will probably be flying them over now, quicker and less stress for them.

Re: Animals!
 

Thanks for all the replies. Regarding passports being stamped and checked in France it is only when you are returning to the UK so we have been told,apparently they do not get looked at on the journey there! Does anyone know our other question about our cats being long haired and being in that heat?

Re: Animals!
 

Dont worry hair is insulation, keeps heat in and heat out ;-)
Our Neighbours have a St Bernard and he is fine.

Re: Animals!
 

Unlike us, cats have a way of controlling their body heat. They will probably moult a lot and of course they will find shade - cats always do :)

Re: Animals!
 

Hi there, and good luck with your move :)

Yes, that's absolutely right about the Pet Passport not being checked in France - you just need to have it all in place at the UK ferry port.

Can't help you re: the cats, but we have a German Shepherd dog, and I was worried about how she'd cope with the heat too.
She DID get pretty hot at the height of summer; but when it's already warm enough to wear shorts and a T shirt at 6am, it makes it quite easy to get up early and go for a walk then! :D
You also get to appreciate the stars, when you can't go out for a walk with your dog until it starts "cooling down" at about 11pm (which is also when Spanish life starts!
We only took her out briefly for calls of nature during the hottest part of the day (we've got no outside space - yet!)
She found the coolest spot she could on the marble stairs, and we put a fan on her - she slept a lot more during the summer, but then so did we!

As for creepy crawlies - yes, there are plenty of ticks in the countryside.
We were advised to buy an anti-parasitic collar from our UK Vet, to guard against ticks and sand-flies. It cost us about £13.......and then we found the same thing here in Spanish supermarkets for 4 Euros!!
We change the collar every 3-4 months, and it seems to be doing a pretty good job.
Our dog had about 4 ticks last spring/summer, but that was no different to living in the country in the UK (and they're easy to get rid of with alcohol - which is VERY cheap here!)
Ha! I've just thought - you won't be short of an alcohol supply, will you!? :lol:

There is indeed a "plague" of caterpillars at the moment, but thankfully our dog isn't the slightest bit interested in them, because as mikelincs says, they can apparently have a VERY nasty effect.

We have used Rescue Remedy very successfully too.

Hope you have a good journey, and that your new life will be all that you hope it will be :)
Good luck with the bar. It's great that you've got plenty of experience with the hours and everything - do you know how late Spanish bars stay open!!? :eek:

Re: Animals!
 

Beware of mosquito and sand fly bites. These can cause leishmaniosis which can be fatal. Keep up the Advantix and anti mozzie collars and get a good vet. They will be cheaper than in the UK.

Good luck

Steve

Re: Animals!
 

do you have to have blood tests befor leaving uk going by frace to spian

Re: Animals!
 

So far we have not taken our Portuguese born dog back to the UK but the procedure is well covered in numerous sites. You will need to have all the relevant injections and treatments which includes a blood test to check if the rabies vaccinne is working (I think).

These are all done in advance of going and the only thing which is time conscious is the check for ticks some 24 hours before you enter the UK. I don't think a blood test at this point is required.

Re: Animals!
 

Hi, we bought 3 cats and 2 dogs over to Spain. We started off with a caravan and the cats sat quiet happily looking out of the front window. Unfortunately the c/van decided it did not want to go to Spain and collapsed in France. The cats then travelled in a large pet cage and were unable to come out for 3 days but they were fine and have all settles realy well. Our pet passports were not looked at in France or Spain. Iworrid so much about transporting the pets but would not worry again. All the best fro the trip!