hiya.....can anyone help please, my friend has adopted a little dog whilst visiting friends in the backwoods of andalucia, as this dog was unwanted and about to be "got rid of" he has had the dog to the vet, its very healthy has been chipped-passport has all the injections including rabies (he OK with the 21day rule with that one) however the spanish speaking vet did not understand the tapeworm rule...he gave the dog tapeworm tablets however we tried to explain the dog needs to be given medication for tapeworm before the boat and the 1-5 days before arriving in the UK rule....he waved the tapeworm tablets at us and said the dog can now go anywhere in the world!
does anyone know....is this Tapeworm an injection or a tablet will another vet be able to help? what do we say to them? I have printed off the rule 4 on defra website and translated it.....has anyone travelled on the ferry with a dog...whats the whole rigmarole please....thanks a lot......Tony...

As Concierge for the Spanish section of BE I would like to say hello and welcome.

BE is a very large expat website, so if you have problems finding your way around we have concierges who will try to direct you. The moderators for the Spanish forums are Mitzyboy and Fred James, moderators are there to ensure that the site runs smoothly within the rules of BE. Problems and complaints should always be addressed to a moderador who will look into the matter and deal with it efficiently and fairly. Our members who post in the Spain Forums are friendly and helpful with a wealth of knowledge of the issues of living in Spain. At the top of the page you will find a quirkily named thread called Free Beer which is full of important and useful information. Hope you enjoy your time participating in the forums.

Please let me know if you need any further help.

Rosemary

Hi if you put 'dog on ferry' into the search box it will bring up a list of previous posts on the subject I think you will find the answer there. It is 3 years since I did took my dog on ferry.

never put dog on the ferry, we used the chunnel, but understand you will be required to leave the dog in vehicle for the voyage.

"anywhere in the world" reminds me of when I got my NIE, was told "that is for life".

In the car?

Should the OP choose the Bilbao Portsmouth Brittany Ferry, they will find that special accommodation is provided for dogs, together with dog walking areas

Doesn't answer the question re tapeworm I'm afraid, but I was under the impression that it was Rabies which was the main issue

Friends of ours did this a few weeks ago, came over and returned to Portugal on the ferry and reckoned it was great. Hope the OP has better luck than the woman recently in the papers, can't remember the exact details, but she paid a fortune to take a cat back to UK that she had adopted and within a few days it ran away, never to be seen again.

The above post is incorrect.

The boat has kennels and/or cabins for passengers and dogs.
Passengers cannot leave the dog in the vehicle for the voyage.

My vet gave me the worm tabs to give to dog, stuck the label in dogs passport and initialed it and said fill in the date yourself.

Cats should be kept in for at least 3 weeks when going to a new house.

It is always best to check the Defra website, as this has the most up to date info.. Uk vets are still recommending that flea & tick treatment is still used before entering UK. The tape worm tablet should be administered by a vet and paperwork signed/stamped. I'm sure there will be a list of vets near to the ferry port that do this all the time

thank you all for the good advice ...hope the dogs stays with them too :-)

then I stand corrected - as I said, never used the ferry with dog only chunnel, but I have drawn out your further information and experience on subject

No, the post is partly correct.

It depends on the route, the OP didn't specify " the boat"
only the longer trips have facilities. For the short channel hops the animals stay in the vehicle.
We have done the Calais/Dover route many times.

On the worm tablets, our vet asks us what date/time we want in the passport, writes it in signs & stamps it. Then we give the tablet just before we leave.

Suzi

Don't forget it has to be done at least 24 hours before checking in and no more than 120 hours.

Easier to get it done at home before you leave, unless you're taking more than five days to drive to the port.

We have done this several times now and the 5 day extension to the rule has been fantastic for us. In Spain the required medication is done monthly in any case. [3 monthly in UK] Our vet knows the dog and as mentioned above does the documentation on the passport makes sure we have bought the Drontil and tells us to administer it on the usual date which for us is the 27th. of each month. Before the extention we were having to see a vet in France and pay 35euros for our dog to be exammined and overdosed!!
Tunnel = dog is in vehicle with you.
Short crossings to France = dog stays in vehicle.
Long crossing to Spain = dog goes in onboard kennel or on one of the boats there are dog friendly cabins.
LD lines France to Spain = dog stays in vehicle 15 hrs. We have done this crossing and he was fine but we have a motorhome with room for him to have a wander. We were allowed onto the deck to see him and execise him in the morning.

If you are using drontil ? It's 3 months, thats from Drontil & also what our vets advised. If you know otherwise can you quote the source ?
http://www.drontal.com/faqs.html

I am asking, not arguing BTW...

Suzi