Hi,

I was wondering if any of you guys out there had moved with a pet? Or know anyone who has?

We are moving to Spain from the UK in January and plan to move our cat. There seems to be a couple of good options to move her (by air or road). Anyone recommend a good service?

Most importantly we want it to be as stress free as it can possibly be for her.

Thanks in advance for your replies!

It is expensive by air. We took our pet in a car via the ferry.

I don't know what the requirements are for a cat. However at the very least, I would suggest you make an appointment for a check-up @ your vet before you go.

We moved over with our cat - aged 12 - and dog aged 11 - 6 years ago .

We went from Nottingham via the channel tunnel and had 5 overnight stops in total through France & Spain down to the Costa del Sol so as to give them - and us - plenty of breaks.

We stayed in Ibis Hotels who were completely pet-friendly - €5 each per pet per night. The rooms had en-suite bathrooms so we put the cat in there with the door to her cat carrier open and her litter tray in there and the whole experience was relatively stress free.

Unfortunately the cat never settled - she was bullied by our neighbour's cats - and one day she went out and never came back which was very upsetting.

The dog settled better and was happy until she eventually died aged 16.

As a newly converted cat lover, I really sympathise. Must have been awful. One of mine hasn't (so far) come back tonight - after a few hours - and I'm fretting. After losing both dog and cat, have you considered getting any more/other pets? ps where in the Axarquia?!

you are joking?!!!!! We said, when we went out, that once the cat and dog passed on - that was it, no more animals!!!! Now, we have 3 rescue dogs - 2 were brother and sister campo dogs that were going to be drowned as pups and are totally adorable and the other we took on when his 3rd owner had to go back to the UK. We also have numerous rescue cats which so far we've managed to have neutered so doing our bit to try to keep the population down!!

We're not far from you. We bought our new boiler in the excellent ferreteria in Colmenar

p.s. - hope your cat's safe

Hi Tallmum

Firstly lucky you for moving away from cold, grey England. I am extremely jealous.

As a crazy animal lover and 'Mum' to four cats it is our intention to move to Spain one day soon so I have looked into transporting my 'Babies' and I recommend www.defra.gov.uk/ - 18k which will provide advice on transporting pets. There are many sites on the internet that can help but I think that your vet would be the first call and then decide if you think that she would be OK to fly or if you want to travel by boat and road. You will need to start the process soon as blood tests are required.

Good luck and I hope that she is OK

You will definitely need to arrange with your vet to give your cat a rabies jab. A blood test may be necessary but only if you are planning to bring the cat back into the country, otherwise it isn't necessary. There is a 6 month waiting period after the blood test before the cat can travel so as you are planning to leave the country in January that is out of the question, but as I say, only necessary if you are bring the cat back. You will need to have your cat microchipped though and a pet passport for your cat. When we travelled by road using eurotunnel with our cats we didn't need to show any paperwork, passports or whatever and were just waved through. Google the DEFRA site.

It's only the British authorities who are paranoid about pets coming into the UK.

Most other countries in the EU couldn't care a toss! Rabies no longer exists in western Europe (unless you are a bat) - no one seems to have told DEFRA!

When you get the cats to Spain you are officially obliged to register them and chip them and you will not be able to do that without them having a rabies jab. However it will be much cheaper than in the UK. If you don't have the jabs and passport they will not be welcome in a cattery.

Very few people (apart from Brits) bother to chip cats - under Spanish law the chipping requirement even applies to Ferrets!

We have 4 cats, the oldest (now 12) was rescued in Cyprus and transported back via 6 countries on our yacht. We never had any demands for paperwork.

Hi, we have just travelled to Benidorm from England with our cat in an american rv. The only time we were asked about our cat was at customs at Brittany Ferries in Plymouth, who boarded or van, checked the pet passport and scanned for the cats chip. Our cat had to stay in the van for the crossing. We are now on a campsite and he is out and about enjoying the warmer weather and has not strayed once. Good luck

I've driven between the exteme North of Mainland Europe and Spain by various routes through most EU countries, many times with my trusty hound, without ever even one minor check or single question about the Mut.
However when it comes to boarding the ferry for the UK the inspections are always absolutely scrupulous.

I wish anyone taking cats to Spain the very best of luck, as they tend to have a fairly short lifespan down there for quite a number of reasons, and usually need all their nine lives just to survive for 2 or 3 years.

Really - why?

My 12 year old in prime condition would like to know why.

I'm thinking roads, owners who don't believe in/bother to neuter thus requiring plastic bags full of innocents taken to the basura, roads, other cats/dogs, roads, not to mention the totally unexpected such as experienced by my Siamese this summer - so far surviving, at great cost, but with no obvious explanation for his fibrosis.................

Mine just hated it and I still regret taking her and not re-homing her. She coped OK with the journey - see post above, but once we arrived at the house she was so unhappy. She spent most of the time under the duvet on our bed - apart from coming out to dash outside for a pee or having something to eat all we saw of her for weeks was a lump in the bed.

She eventually started to gain a little confidence but the Spanish neighbours had 11 cats - all un-neutered and kittens simply 'disposed' of, and she was bullied by them.

One day she just didn't return and we'll never know just what happened to her We live in the campo and there are lots of hunters around and she was a Somali so looked very fox-like, but I don't think she ever went that far from the house - but - who knows?



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I dont think the Spanish are exactly a nation of cat-lovers, especially if the cats dig amongst their plants or use their garden as a toilet.
They are soon out with their air-rifles,traps and most commonly poison,...often take a few dogs out as well in the process.
I've seen big cat populations completely wiped out in a couple of places.
Where I am now, two of mine were found dead in a deserted swimming pool close by,whether by accident or design I dont know.
Another problem is the packs of Spanish hunting dogs which seem unable to differentiate between cats and rabbits,they certainly accounted for a few round my way.
If you have a cat which stays within its own grounds you are lucky,but most tend to wander further and further away after a while, until they eventually meet up with trouble.

Ours were siamese-burmese cross,..great hunters,...used to bring rabbits home on a regular basis,.somehow carrying them over the top of a 3 mtr fence,...also very partial to a pigeon or two,...again not pleasing the locals who race their best ones and put the rest in the pot.

They had a few close shaves with the hunting dogs and no doubt the hunters would have been pleased to see them off, as they were putting them out of business.