Bringing Pets From the UK

[tanithw 5]

Thanks for the tips... anyone know who the cheapest pet transporters will be (obviously good quality too) - or is it worth trying to take them as excess baggage with me? DIY dog transport, cheaper?

I have two German Shepherds one 42kg and one who will be 36+ when she grows up.

[RUSSandRACHEL 3]

Hi everyone, sorry I lost this thread and it took me ages to find it again... Honey had her rabies vaccination the other week and her blood titre test last week. In a couple more weeks we find out the blood test results and they will issue us with the pet passport. Cant wait to get everything all sorted. Then, we've arranged with the vet to return 48 hours before flying to have an another appointment where they'll give us the health certificate and give her tick and tapeworm treatment. Then we're all good to go!!!

If anyone needs any further advice please PM me!

[Ricky+Vanessa 43]

Hi everyone, sorry I lost this thread and it took me ages to find it again... Honey had her rabies vaccination the other week and her blood titre test last week. In a couple more weeks we find out the blood test results and they will issue us with the pet passport. Cant wait to get everything all sorted. Then, we've arranged with the vet to return 48 hours before flying to have an another appointment where they'll give us the health certificate and give her tick and tapeworm treatment. Then we're all good to go!!!

If anyone needs any further advice please PM me!

Who are you using to transport her or are you doing it yourself. I wanted to bring my cat but the prices I've been quoted are ridiculous........

[RUSSandRACHEL 3]

Who are you using to transport her or are you doing it yourself. I wanted to bring my cat but the prices I've been quoted are ridiculous........

Hi there, we are using PBS Freight International. Their website is www.shipyourpet.com. They've been amazing so far! I had a bad experience with Pet Air UK so would urge anyone to stay away from them. It is expensive wherever you go but I cant recommend going with a pet shipping company enough. There are so many rules and regulations, its definitely best to be in someone elses experienced hands rather than go it alone. Good luck!

Edited January 6, 2010 by RUSSandRACHEL

[FrostyMist 1]

Now that I'm in the process of waiting for my visa to arrive (we're hoping maybe Wednesday) my fiance and I have begun the somewhat daunting task of figuring out what needs to be done to move me over to the U.S.

I have a dog (Lady) and a cat (Sally), and I'd like to bring them both with me. Unfortunately, my little doggy is very eldery, and suffers from a heart condition. I doubt any vet would be willing to say she is fit to fly, but I am going to take her to see her vet and discuss with him whether her condition is serious enough to prevent her from being allowed to fly. The prospect of having to leave her behind is heartbreaking for both myself, and my fiance.

Fortunately, my cat is a simpler matter, so my fiance and I are currently in the process of trying to decide how best to transport her over to the U.S.. We'd love to have been able to hire a pet transport company to take care of all the stress of moving her over for us, but unfortunately costs are already mounting up and my fiance and I are confident that we can transport her ourselves.

United Airlines already offer an animal cage that is approved by them for transporting pets. So we're probably going to try and see about getting that.

Can anyone that's taken their cat themselves tell me what other paperwork is required? And... where on earth do I get those documents from? I saw somewhere online that was charging to download copies of the forms---is that right??

Edited January 18, 2010 by FrostyMist

[RUSSandRACHEL 3]

Hi Frosty Mist, congrats again on your successful interview! Mine is Monday uhhhhhh! Can't wait til this is all over. I didn't know you were planning on taking over your animals to the US? You may have seen on here already that everythings in full swing in taking my Honey (a labrador) over to the states, fingers crossed on 27th April... What breed of dog do you have?

Im sorry to hear about your doggy. I seem to remember reading somewhere that it is not recommended to transport a dog overseas over the age of 7. Im not sure if the airline will refuse them but see what your vet says. It may be too much for her...

I don't know about downloading forms off the internet either I'm afraid. We are going with pet shipping company, PBS Freight International, who have been fantastic. Maybe if your budget cant stretch that far (but in my opinion its WELL worth it!) then just email them for some advice. Have you already had a quotation from the airline on a price to fly anyway? Why dont you ask for a quotation from PBS to see if its much more?

We already have Honeys crate and it was included in the quotation from them. It also came with all of the live animal labels. We'll also be recieving her Pet Passport soon so that will be another thing sorted and all other documentation, PBS will send us nearer the time.

Good luck! It is incredibly stressful transporting animals but we seem to be getting there with the planning step by step. B)

[doghandler 2]

Hi Frosty Mist, congrats again on your successful interview! Mine is Monday uhhhhhh! Can't wait til this is all over. I didn't know you were planning on taking over your animals to the US? You may have seen on here already that everythings in full swing in taking my Honey (a labrador) over to the states, fingers crossed on 27th April... What breed of dog do you have?

Im sorry to hear about your doggy. I seem to remember reading somewhere that it is not recommended to transport a dog overseas over the age of 7. Im not sure if the airline will refuse them but see what your vet says. It may be too much for her...

I don't know about downloading forms off the internet either I'm afraid. We are going with pet shipping company, PBS Freight International, who have been fantastic. Maybe if your budget cant stretch that far (but in my opinion its WELL worth it!) then just email them for some advice. Have you already had a quotation from the airline on a price to fly anyway? Why dont you ask for a quotation from PBS to see if its much more?

We already have Honeys crate and it was included in the quotation from them. It also came with all of the live animal labels. We'll also be recieving her Pet Passport soon so that will be another thing sorted and all other documentation, PBS will send us nearer the time.

Good luck! It is incredibly stressful transporting animals but we seem to be getting there with the planning step by step. B)

Hi Rachel & FrostyMist

With regard to the age thing - one of my dogs is 12 and I discussed this with my vet last week when both my dogs were getting their rabies shot. He said it's not about age at all, purely about the health of the animal. He said my 12 year old is fit as a butchers dog, strong as an ox, no heart problems etc and as he is such a chilled out dog, the flight would not cause any problems and he would pass the fitness to fly exam before flight. My other dog is 7 and there is more concern about him coping with the flight only because he has an an anxious disposition and recommended a new natural product called Zylikene which is highly effective in reducing symptoms of anxiety and stress. It's not a sedative and therefore is allowed to be administered pre-flight.

The whole animal thing is the biggest stress for all of us. I'm actually thinking about finding out the price of chartering a private plane to do it. I am not joking! Anyone got any idea whether what ball park price we are talking? (if Paris Hilton or the likes of her on this site perhaps they can advise? lol!) If I can get one for £10k, I'm doing it and I'll take all yours on board for free. But it's more likely to be way more than that...but am gonna try and find out!

[RUSSandRACHEL 3]

Hi Rachel & FrostyMist

With regard to the age thing - one of my dogs is 12 and I discussed this with my vet last week when both my dogs were getting their rabies shot. He said it's not about age at all, purely about the health of the animal. He said my 12 year old is fit as a butchers dog, strong as an ox, no heart problems etc and as he is such a chilled out dog, the flight would not cause any problems and he would pass the fitness to fly exam before flight. My other dog is 7 and there is more concern about him coping with the flight only because he has an an anxious disposition and recommended a new natural product called Zylikene which is highly effective in reducing symptoms of anxiety and stress. It's not a sedative and therefore is allowed to be administered pre-flight.

The whole animal thing is the biggest stress for all of us. I'm actually thinking about finding out the price of chartering a private plane to do it. I am not joking! Anyone got any idea whether what ball park price we are talking? (if Paris Hilton or the likes of her on this site perhaps they can advise? lol!) If I can get one for £10k, I'm doing it and I'll take all yours on board for free. But it's more likely to be way more than that...but am gonna try and find out!

Hi again Christine! Thats great the vet advised that. I'm sure we will all be fine. I have to say I think I'm feeling quite stressed about the whole process... (my interview is next week!) particuarly the doggy part. Around christmas time Honey was ill and after my vet did some invesigative work they've told us that she has a mild epilepsy condition, only brought on by stress. She is a very anxious, sensitive dog and we were advised to try Zylikene too. I dont know if you have to take it for a month or so for it to work but we're going to try it. The vet also said you cannot overdose on it too as its natural, she didnt seem too keen on DAP which is another treatment for stress. But we're flying with Continental who I've heard are the best airline for travelling with animals. Russ even met an ex cabin crew recently who assured him to tell every single member of staff we meet that Honey is flying with us. Uuuuh I cant wait til this is all sorted. We're off to the vets tonight actually... Honeys blood test after the rabies shot was ineffective so she needs another...

And private jet?!!!!! Woooooow! Wish I had 10k floating around hehe

Good luck everyone! Keep us posted

[FrostyMist 1]

Hi Frosty Mist, congrats again on your successful interview! Mine is Monday uhhhhhh! Can't wait til this is all over. I didn't know you were planning on taking over your animals to the US? You may have seen on here already that everythings in full swing in taking my Honey (a labrador) over to the states, fingers crossed on 27th April... What breed of dog do you have?

I've been so busy stressing about the interview that I hadn't given much thought to the animals save "I'm taking them with me".

My dog, Lady, is a Shih Tzu. She had a stroke last new years day, (gladly recovered, though her balance is bad and we have to watch her on the stairs now) and in May she was extremely sick because of her heart. We thought we would lose her, and the vet told us we'd be lucky to have more than a month or so left with her. I guess her recovery has been miraculous, but I seriously doubt any vet would say she was fit to fly. The problem is, if I can't take her with me, I don't know what I'm going to do with her. Even though she's an expensive dog to keep on account of the massive mounting vet bills, my mum is willing to take over her care. But Lady has become so attached to me that I cannot leave her on her own. She cries and goes into a panic even when I leave the room. When I went to my interview last Friday, my mum said she just trembled and cried. Eventually, she started howling. She paces and barks, and I worry myself to death every time we have to go out that she's going to have a heart attack from the stress of being left alone. No matter what we do, she cannot be calmed. She just wants me. (Our vet said she's a real mummy's girl!)

I don't know about downloading forms off the internet either I'm afraid. We are going with pet shipping company, PBS Freight International, who have been fantastic. Maybe if your budget cant stretch that far (but in my opinion its WELL worth it!) then just email them for some advice. Have you already had a quotation from the airline on a price to fly anyway? Why dont you ask for a quotation from PBS to see if its much more?

We already have Honeys crate and it was included in the quotation from them. It also came with all of the live animal labels. We'll also be recieving her Pet Passport soon so that will be another thing sorted and all other documentation, PBS will send us nearer the time.

I've had quotes from most places. Compared to the costs of taking my cat ourselves when we fly, it's 3 or 4 times more money to have them do it. I'd like to have gone with a company rather than us do it, but it's just not practical financially.

Good luck on your interview on Monday.

Edited January 19, 2010 by FrostyMist

[RUSSandRACHEL 3]

How is everyone getting on with thei doggy move? Honey now has her shiny new blue pet passport (matches Russ' USC one) haha! Yay! Oh and all three of us are booked for 31st May! Can't wait!!!!!

[doghandler 2]

How is everyone getting on with thei doggy move? Honey now has her shiny new blue pet passport (matches Russ' USC one) haha! Yay! Oh and all three of us are booked for 31st May! Can't wait!!!!!

Hey Rachel

You are so nearly there! You must be so excited...but also stressed about how Honey is gonna take the journey. I know I am. I was disappointed no one replied to your post about experiences of pet arrivals at Newark.

I ended up using a US pet relocator. I know PBS has a wonderful reputation, even the US company I am using confirms this. I actually emailed PBS, used the email contact on their site info@... - and got no reply! Anyway, the US company is equally as good, but due to the drop in the exchange rate recently (and going to worsen because of our looming election), it's more expensive. But in the grand scheme of things, I am past caring.

I am also using Continental, best reputation for pets, as you found out all those months ago. My dogs will also be passing through Newark, then connecting flight to Charlotte. My pet relocator tells me there is an animal reception area in Newark for transit animals, where they will take the dogs out of their crates into kennels with experienced staff who look after them. But if there is less than a 2 hour wait for connecting flight, they just stay in their crates. I guess you just want to know how quickly you can get to Honey when you get through immigration and where to find her etc!

Do let me know how it all goes and how Honey was when she arrives. This is the only bit of the whole process I can't stand the thought of! Am sure you're the same.

love

Christine x

ps - read about Russ's boss. Nasty, nasty. If I open any dog business in South Carolina, I'll head hunt him to work for me. Can have as many holidays as he likes.

[RUSSandRACHEL 3]

Hi Christine,

I came across this great video today. Its about Continentals Petsafe programme. Thought you might like to see...

Time is ticking on now and I am feeling very apprehensive about Honeys travel but her crate is now in our living room and shes actually going in there of her own accord almost every day to sleep!! So I'm really pleased about that! But as everyone keeps reminding me, you cant pass on your nerves to the dogs cos they'll pick up on it and I don't want to make things worse for her. We'vealso bought a herbal liquid to give her to make her feel calmer. Think I need some too

Thats great you've found another company. I'm sorry about PBS! I tried to contact them when the lady who's looking after us was on holiday and they were quite useless, but Emma Worley has been fantastic! Glad she is back now. And of course I'll let you know how we get on at Newark!

Whats your leaving date and where are you flying from?

Rachel x

Thank you for the sympathy about Russ. He really hates it at his current job, they are still making life hell for him. He is currently the only department manager there now as three other managers all walked out last week (!) So hes still on the job hunt! Wish us luck

Edited March 16, 2010 by RUSSandRACHEL

[Susan Taylor 0]

Okay, I am in a bit of a urgent situation here and am doing my best to research the #### out it today. My husband is in the USAF and we were originally going to be returning to the USA in March 2011 (we're in England)... Now it looks like it's going to be June or September THIS YEAR! We are a bit silly and originally thought we'd have enough time over the next year to save enough money to bring our two large dogs with us back to the USA. I was quoted $4,000 by a company to fly the dogs back.. But I was recently told that if I go direct to an airline, for example Delta, that we can have the dogs checked as cargo for only $550 per dog - Which would be a lot better than $4,000 I can tell you! All it'd mean is we'd have to pick up airline approved crates, but even then that's no problem.

I got my info from here and here. Now the airline we fly back with might not be Delta, we don't decide it, the military do and they wont tell us who we're flying with until the last bloody minute. It looks like Delta will fly dogs as cargo (meaning, without a passenger present) which is a bonus. It does say that they wont fly dogs from May - Sept, which does put a damper on our plans a bit, but I have my parents and siblings here in England who would have no problems keeping hold of our dogs until September if we were to leave in June.

Basically I'm wanting to know if anyone here can tell me if the $550 quote on that website is correct? I don't want to get my hopes up only for them to be dashed

[RUSSandRACHEL 3]

It's costing us about £1,300 for us to fly Honey under Continental's PetSafe scheme and as cargo (they have no heat embargo like other airlines). We are going through PBS, a pet shipping company to do this as we wanted as little stress as possible and they take care of all the requirements. So I don't know about $550, it also depends on the size of dog.Our Honey is a labrador so has the 'giant size' crate and is therefore the most expensive tarrif. I would do your research a bit more before deciding. You need to actually speak to them in person and you also need to know a date of travel - your dogs need to be examined by a vet within 10 days of departure and need to have tick & tapeworm treatment within 48 hours. Hope that helps!

[doghandler 2]

Hey Rachel!

Always the guru you, when it comes to this subject! Tick treatment? Neither my vet nor petreolcator has mentioned that, so, thanks to you, I will be getting it done at the fitness to fly visit to the vet, as like you, so do not want any hitches with the pooches journey.

Thanks for the youtube of what goes on at Continental. Really helpful.

And for the previous poster, I have 2 large dogs flying from UK to South Carolina (2 flights). Cost £2,000 each, but that includes services from petreolcator, the crates, and transport from my home to the airport etc, etc.