eric4u

Hi folks I wonder if anyone can give me any advice .I am hooking my caravan up and heading through France via Calais and going to Javea at the end of December.

I have lots of worries about this trip as I suffer with lung problems and wonder if I would get treatment if needed for something like a chest infection. I have booked on a campsite for 90 days but after looking at all my insurances they seem to stop at 90 days and that will leave me uninsured on the return trip unless I take out extra cover.

I rang my car insurance company yesterday and they quoted an extra £36 for 7 days and today I need to get extra caravan cover and breakdown cover

But I wonder how the insurance would find out how long I had been there anyway

What is it like in Spain at winter is it really worth all the trouble I am taking getting there

Oh and are there any foods you can't get in Spain my wife likes bacon but in France I know she hates the stuff they have , same with baked beans will I have to take anything with me.

mikelincs

Any British food is available, at a price, in 'British Supermarkets' and they are in most places, also many of the Spanish supermarkets do have stocks of things like Heinz baked beans and english style bacon. Spain, certainly on the Costas, is almost totally frost free in winter, take out travel insurance so you are coverd for any hospital stays if necessary, but youe EHIC card will cover all emeregncy treatment.

eric4u

Thanks Mike we are taking our Yorkshire terrier with us and we take front line for ticks etc do you know of anything else we should be thinking about for our dog

finca steve

Be aware that there is a pretty nasty disease that dogs can catch from sand fly or mosquito bite called Leishmaniosis which can in extreme cases be fatal. If you look it up on the web you will get a lot more info but you need to protect your dog against being bitten which can mean keeping it in during times when the little buzzers are around.

Dont be put off however, our labrador had the disease and fortunately through rapid diagnosis and treatment was saved but it was pretty unpleasant whilst it lasted for almost a year and the treatment was expensive.

Spain during the winter is well worth coming to as the weather is appreciably better than the UK and dont be too bothered about getting those things you are used to eating at home as Spain has some pretty reasonable alternatives.

Come and enjoy.

Steve

eric4u

Steve when are the little buzzers about as you call them I would be devastated if anything happened to her just to satisfy my needs. Do you know of others that have bought their dogs with them

SoJohn

Well you need a pet passport. For that you need the dog micro chipped, rabies vaccine. You will also need to passed rabies test in order to enter back into the UK. Your dog isn't allowed back into England until 6 months have passed from the passed date. Even if you had the vaccine done tomorrow you have to wait 3 or 4 weeks to be able to do the test.

Hopefully you have already done all this otherwise your dog won't be able to go. Saying that though, the customs and such aren't too picky about pets if coming from a boat or through the tunnel, they only check all the time if arriving into an airport. Saying that, you only need to get 1 jobsworth on the day and you are screwed.

eric4u

John she is all done and we go to France frequently so theres no problems there .I want to be sure about how I protect her as I do not want her to come to any harm. I couldn't go away for three months without her and before leaving her behind I would stay at home myself .
This is probably hard for some to understand but she is family .I would be interested in any advice from pet owners in Spain regarding how they make sure their dogs don't get this disease or what precautions they take.

Thanks for being so helpful

rugbymatt

Do a search for dogs in Spain on the site, there have been no end of threads about them.

Joe King

Make sure you have adequate travel insurance for the return trip - your ferry ticket will be used to prove how long you have been out of the country (if you can't produce it the insurance may not pay out). Always better safe than sorry - and why have the added stress and worry?

Weather should be a lot better than the UK, but contrary to popular belief the Costa Blanca has a winter too! The evenings and nights can be cold and damp so you'll need heating in your caravan.

Food - not a problem. Sunday market at Pedreguer if you fancy a short drive - Trotters there is an English supermarket. The Mas Y Mas on the N332 sells lots of English food too. Spanish bacon in supermarkets is the same as ours anyway - not like French bacon! Javea even has a Fish & Chip Shop plus the likes of Scallop's on the Arenal do very good English food for the price.

eric4u

Thanks Joe I think thats good advice I did wonder how they checked , I must say you have been very helpful on here I tried to get some answers from my own website but they haven't been as informative as this place.

jeanc

you could always ring your vet for any advice Re worming ect before and after travel, they should give advise over the phone

eric4u

Thanks Jean we do and we have a new drug called prac-tic that we have used in France .But I wondered if any dog owners had any personal experiances and maybe some things they have learned that arnet in the books

hrothgar

Try Direct Travel insurance - my wife and I both have chest complaints and we were paying 0ver £100 for single trip. We got annual cover for £96 of them!
Their no. is : 0845 605 2500.

finca steve

Sorry if I appear to be the harbinger of doom but I don't mean to be. You will be better off in the winter as there should be fewer mosquitoes but they are still around and it is these and sand flies, which are called 'no see 'em's' in the Caribbean very small but they can carry the parasite.

They tend to appear as it cools on warm calm evenings and particularly near fresh water. No doubt they are around all the time but in fewer numbers. I get bitten mainly about 5 am when I am half awake and have my arms outside the covers.

I am not really in the position to give advice as our dog got infected but the recieved wisdom is to keep him/her away from mozzies and sand flies by keeping her/him inside at night, fitting an anti mosquitoe collar, treating with a magic potion and being aware. Frontline, Advantic and other potions are formuated to repel ticks, ?flebotomos?(sorry not in my dictionary) and mosquitoes, and to eliminate fleas so providing the dog has a collar is treated with the magic potion and you are sensible about the evening time you should be OK. Use anti mozzie spray inside if they come out which will make it more pleasant for you as well.

Since getting it once we are told he cannot get it again but we would not wish for a first time so precautionary action is best.

On a lighter note we too get winters over this side of Spain, extreme SW corner and can get frost in January and February this only lasts a couple of hours but this helps to keep them little b's away.

Re the rest, here the health service is amongst the best and if your insurance does not cover you, you can always pay!

Hasta pronto.

Steve

eric4u

What sort of stuff is free finca steve like if I giot a chest infection and wanted antibiotics would I get that with my health card . I cant see the point of health insurance as they dont cover you for existing illnesses