I am planning to take my cat with me to the continent soon. We are planning to cross at Dover on a ferry. This will be the first time for her to trave this long. she lover travelling in the car and usually there are no problems at all.However I am worried about the channel crossing as the ferry rule says pets need to stay in the vehicle during the journey. Has anyone travelled with their cats/dogs before? What is it like? What happens to the animals when we leave the cars? Are there customs officers checking the cars meanwhile (while we are upstairs)? I don't want strangers frightening her. And what about the check on the other side at Calais? How do they treat the animals? Sorry for the number of questions, it is a worrying thought for me to leave her alone. Thank you for the responses.

if you dont want to leave the cat why dont you use the eurotunnel..not far away from the dover ferry port either..i iwill travel with my dogs and cats when we move to spain like this
carole

Good idea. I didn't think of it as i have never used eurotunnel. Have you? What is it like? what are the checks like for the animals? do they have to leave the car?

Ian, when he moved to The Netherlands took his cat on the ferry. Like you say they are kept in the car. Just inform the ferry company you are taking a cat. Both when booking the tickets and checking in. Then if you want to visit the animal during the hour or so crossing then ask the purser. They will find you a member of the crew to escort you to your car. Remember what deck and location you car is! It is hard to pass some of the other vehicles as they are parked close together. As far as we can remember all the doors to the lower decks are locked. The cat will be fine as time means nothing to them!
Personally speaking, and this may vary; we did not have one inspection. But you should still get the pet passport etc in case there is.

We travelled with eurotunnel. We had 4 cats with us and they were fine. There are no checks at all, they didn't even look at the passports - for us or the cats - going from the UK to France, even driving through the border from France to Spain, they just waved us through.

P.s. There is no charge to take a pet with you on eurotunnel going into France, a charge is made coming back though (£30) The crossing lasts about 30 mins.

There are no customs officers on the ferry ... well, not the kind you mean anyway What happens to the animals is that they have to stay in the cars on their own, locked up.

If I were you, as said earlier, I'd try the eurotunnel its a lot easier on the pets as you stay in the car with them.

bet they check pet passports on the way back into UK.. That's what they are really needed for, and as has happened before you can never say that you're not coming back then you've got trouble if your pet passports are'nt up to date as other members have found out!

When I make the move I shall be definitely use the tunnel with my pets.

There will be no-one checking on your pets whilst at sea if you use the Ferry, though there will be noisy workers messing around on the parking decks and the more worrying thing is the noise is amazing down there when the boat is in the Channel and would scare the living daylights out of my pets, especially if it's not in summer so the crossing is bad.

Now comparing the tunnel, you have automatic booking gates now, you get stopped once at the dover end by customs (ferry is both sides) once you're on the train, it's relatively quiet, much faster, you sit in the car with them and once the train stops you drive off and you're on the motorway, no messing around.

totally agree with you regardin ghte train..i have used it several times...you only pay for pets on the return because of the costs of the checking for rabies . vaccines being up to date and that they have had the flea and tick treatments etc

i have 5 dogs and 3 cats and thats the way we will come less stressful to stay with the anumals

carole

If you can then book on-line for the eurotunnel. It is soooooo much cheaper than paying once you get there. You get a booking reference number which you punch in with your debit card and it is so easy and quick.

Thank you for the advice, i found them very useful. I am definitely taking my cat on the Eurotunnel. Luckily, unlike other cats, she actually likes travelling and loves to sit in the car and watch the scenery. In fact, she is always very excited to go on long trips and visit new places so we should be finse on Eurotunnel.

glad would could be of use...have a safe journey..
carole