sibsie

There's a really good company at Heathrow called Airpets. They do everything from the containers to transport.

Note on cats. Don't sedate them. There's a high chance it would kill them and airlines won't take a sedated cat. (that concludes this feline health and safety anouncement.

doctor scrumpy

Most companies will not take ANY sedated animal.

Duncs

It takes ages to get the rabies shots done. You have to wait 30 days from injection to get a blood test done then it takes another 4- 6 weeks to get the results and confirm that they have a sufficiently high level of rabies antibodies. You need to give plenty of time. Whilst the federal government doesnt require rabies innoculations if coming from the UK some States laws do require it eg Georgia (Atlanta) require all animals entering Georgia have rabies shots. You should check with the state authorities as well.

We travelled with Delta, Gatwick to Atlanta, and we took our cat with us on the flight. If booked in advance they allow a maximum of 2 animals in the passenger cabin but its first come first served. In the end they didnt even charge us extra. Although we had lots of trouble with excess baggage as our bags were too heavy and my mum had to run to the bag store and buy extra suitcases and pack them right there in the airport. After all that rigmarole they must have felt sorry for us(or they forgot) and we didnt get charged the normal $125 excess for the cat.

Heather142

Thanks for the info on the rabies shot Duncs; I will chat to the vet this week about getting the shot done soon. The shot is a requirement for bringing the cat into Arizona.

We are flying BA direct to Phoenix so will also be advising them pretty damn soon as well in order to make sure Harry travels on the same plane.

Cygnus

I've not seen anywhere that the cats need to actually be tested for rabies for certain states before they can be let in.....

On http://www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/sregs/ it tells me that my cats only need to have a health certificate and that they have had a rabies shot before entering the state (we have called them too checking this and no mention was made of them being tested for rabies first) - I am settling in Kansas and that is the only requirement there. I will be flying in via Newark, NJ and there are no cat requirements there at all.

So hopefully I won't have to get my cats tested for anything.

Josie

Duncs

Its not a test for Rabies its a test to check that the innoculation has been successful. Your vet should have told you that.

Besides its worth getting because once you get this and have the little chip put in you can get them onto the UK pet passport scheme. This also covers canada as well as the USA and would allow you to get back into the Uk without them being quarantined.

Maggs

Hi

I did the pet passport thing too. After 6 months in the US they could both return to the UK if necessary without quarantine, as long as the rabies shots are kept up to date and a blood test is done before travel back to UK. It took a bit of figuring out but if you want to go the Pet Passport route (from the UK).....the microchip comes first, then the rabies shot, then 30 days later the blood test to check the rabies antibody levels which comes back two to three weeks later and then a vet fitness to travel cert/letter 48 hours prior to travel and that was it! Phew!! The pet passport is issued also, if this is what you want to do, and effective 6 months after the rabies shot is given to travel back to UK. I didn't think I would be returning to the UK but just in case I couldn't bear the thought of 6 months quarantine.

Maggie

Lesley1020

You all have got me thinking about the Pet Passport thing - I had no idea it took so long to get it and I just looked up all the regulations - WOW. Does anyone know if its very expensive to get cats microchipped? I am going to get their shots in a couple of weeks so I guess I can just ask the vet then - just wondering.

I too checked out Continental for my flight before I came since they flew direct to Newark from Glasgow but didn't go because of their pet policy and as many here know I took them with KLM/Northwest since they only charged as excess baggage and I flew Aberdeen/Ams/Memphis - they never charged me a penny either for them in the end - or for my much excess baggage (did the whole buying a suitcase at the airport thing too :-D - however they lost the cats even although I was told that they were on the flight from AMS. However they did get here at the end and they ended up flying them into Memphis on Northwest's priority pet service and they were really apologetic. They seemed neither up nor down by the whole experience.

So far they are doing fine except on the few days we've had that have been in the 90s - they hardly move then - they must be thinking gee Scotland sure got hot in the last few weeks LOL.

Good luck with your kitties - hope all goes well! Make sure the pet carriers you get comply with IATA regulations - the two I bought were 35 quid each and my cats are BIG!

whatever

Hi Josie
We are moving to the US next week and taking our 2 cat's with us. We had all their vaccinations updated, had rabies shots administered and blood tests one month after to ensure that they had enough anti-bodies. We were also told to make sure they are treated with Frontline which kills fleas, lice and ticks. We went to Pets at Home (same as Petsmart) and bought a Travel cage (£79.99), that complies with the airline animal transportation regulations (you should be able to get this info from the airlines). The cage came with locking door, clip on spill-free water dish, pet information stickers (so you can write what their names are and when they last had food etc...), and on removable wheels. It is big enough for both cat's to share comfortably. This is what we were told by BA. 'Bring your cats to check in with you (this is when you give in a signed letter from your vet to say your animals are fit to travel). Have the cage containing the cats weighed. Go to the ticket desk and pay for 2 x excess baggage (BA's total charge £140). Go back to check in where the pet handlers will collect the cats. Once they are in cargo, the cats will be removed from their cage whilst a metal detector is run over the cage - they are then returned and given a water top up before being settled on the plane'. We are also attaching a hamster water bottle to the cage door. You must attach to the cage copies of the rabies certificates, microchip numbers and vacination records. We were advised by many people, not to sedate the cats as their blood pressure will lower naturally and sedation would lower it too far, killing them.

We did speak to one company, Airsupplies who organise flights for pets but they wanted over £700 to collect them the night before and get them on a flight. They couldn't guarantee the cat's would even be on our specific flight. They also told me if we took the cats ourselves we would need to check in 5 hours in advance. After speaking to BA we were reassured that being at check in 3hours prior is sufficient.

Although our cats don't usually wear collars I have gotten them used to wearing one for the last month so that they have ID on them (just incase they got out of their cage god forbid). Also, we put their bedding inside the cage when we first bought it and they have been getting used to it for a couple of months now - they sleep in it all the time Finally, I am packing a small cat tray and some litter that I can put in the cage as soon as we get out of customs - after 15 hours with no tray, I'm sure they will be grateful! (actually I am trying to find out if it wil be okay to leave one in during the flight as they are very clean and wiill end up crossing their legs the whole time - ouch! I know I couldn't hold it that long!).
Good luck with your move. Sorry this is so long - hope it helps you.

sibsie

My cats had two flights and a long transfer to get here. I was worried about them having no litter tray but they were fine.

Word of caution. Airlines, despite what they say can be funny about cats sharing a carrier. A friend had real probs and was nearly offloaded when she had her two in the same carrier. It was more than big enough and in the end she had to say they were from the same litter.

Heather142

Wow, all this information is so great .. just what I need to allay my fears about taking my cat. Thanks to everyone.

Question: I know you have to have the water bottle; but what about food? After such a long flight, are you allowed to bring a small amount of dry food for the cat?

Heather xx

sibsie

On the form you get with your pet carrier, there's a part that says about food and when to feed them. You can put some food on the carrier, like one of those pouches but no one's going to climb into the hold to feed them. I think the cats will be a little too unsettled to eat straight after you collect them so wouldn't worry too much about that.

USBound

Before we brought our dogs over we were told lots and lots of stuff... including the one about only buying an approved animal carrying box from X places at (insert high price here)... we brought 3 dogs over so the total would have been huge.

When we took the dogs for their checkup the vet, who was a Defra vet, told us that all carriers in the UK are approved for carriage on a plane. So the ones we bought over were the 21.99 ones from petsathome rather than the 79.99 ones we had been told we should get.

this kinda thing always gets me... why do people tell us these things?

We had no problems at the airports at all... was just tiresome is all.

whatever

~Oh sh*t! Do you think they look at he cats faces when you say they are from the same litter? One of mine is an apricot persian and the other a traditional British tiger stripe tabby!!!!! :scared:

whatever

Yeah... pretty much like sibsie said, we're going to keep some food in the little compartment inside the top of the cage. If you don't have one of those - don't worry, just keep some in your hand luggage.... but to be on the safe side, only carry food that hasn't been opened (plus it would probably sticnk your bag out) LOL!!!