Bringing Cat to America!

[Rich and Lenochka 0]

My fiancee informs me of certain hurdles in getting her cat out of the country in Russia; there don't seem to be any obstacles for bringing "Unix" into the U.S., only a rabies shot is necessary and an inspection by the verterinarian at LAX. My fiancee is being informed by an official at the government office for veterinary affairs that the cat needs all available vaccinations, needs to have implanted microchip with history of vaccinations, and needs to adhere to a timeline over the next month. The document processing takes a minimum of one month. Now, the kicker...she can only leave with the cat EXACTLY 30 days after the documents have been processed. Not 29 days, not 31 days. So, she must be a psychic and be able to guess exactly when she will be leaving. And this is before the embassy interview, so it is impossible for a mortal to know exactly when she is leaving.

Now I think I know why she wants to leave.

Has anybody out there on VJ had any experiences like this? If so, what happened next?

Thank you for your input.

[milimelo 4,571]

My fiancee informs me of certain hurdles in getting her cat out of the country in Russia; there don't seem to be any obstacles for bringing "Unix" into the U.S., only a rabies shot is necessary and an inspection by the verterinarian at LAX. My fiancee is being informed by an official at the government office for veterinary affairs that the cat needs all available vaccinations, needs to have implanted microchip with history of vaccinations, and needs to adhere to a timeline over the next month. The document processing takes a minimum of one month. Now, the kicker...she can only leave with the cat EXACTLY 30 days after the documents have been processed. Not 29 days, not 31 days. So, she must be a psychic and be able to guess exactly when she will be leaving. And this is before the embassy interview, so it is impossible for a mortal to know exactly when she is leaving.

Now I think I know why she wants to leave.

Has anybody out there on VJ had any experiences like this? If so, what happened next?

Thank you for your input.

Ah the infamous EU rules for pet transportation that nobody in the US cares about... been there, done that.

Just get the chipping done and the rabies shot then get the anti-bodies test. Get a vet to fill out the form based on when she has the plane ticket to leave Russia. We got all this done a month before my flight - all the hassle for nothing - paperwork not even properly looked at from my starting airport, let alone the destination airport. The vet lady at Ohare just peeked in their box, said cute kitties and let us go.

[Rob_Lesya 4]

My fiancee informs me of certain hurdles in getting her cat out of the country in Russia; there don't seem to be any obstacles for bringing "Unix" into the U.S., only a rabies shot is necessary and an inspection by the verterinarian at LAX. My fiancee is being informed by an official at the government office for veterinary affairs that the cat needs all available vaccinations, needs to have implanted microchip with history of vaccinations, and needs to adhere to a timeline over the next month. The document processing takes a minimum of one month. Now, the kicker...she can only leave with the cat EXACTLY 30 days after the documents have been processed. Not 29 days, not 31 days. So, she must be a psychic and be able to guess exactly when she will be leaving. And this is before the embassy interview, so it is impossible for a mortal to know exactly when she is leaving.

Now I think I know why she wants to leave.

Has anybody out there on VJ had any experiences like this? If so, what happened next?

Thank you for your input.

It's possible your fiancee is being given incorrect information, but I think it's more likely that she's simply misunderstanding what they're telling her. If her international flight is originating from Russia, there is nothing about EXACTLY 30 days in the process. The cat needs to have been vaccinated within the past 12 months and AT LEAST one month prior to departure (in other words, AT LEAST 30 days before departure) --- I suspect this may be where the misunderstading is coming in. The cat must also be microchipped.

The one "catch" is that she must go back to vet within 3 DAYS before her departure to receive a certficate saying the cat is healthy and fit for travel. Also she will need to present this certificate at the international departure airport (probably either SVO or DME) and receive an International Health Certificate for the animal ---- so it's important to allow enough time between flights for her to accomplish this.

A good website explaining the process can be found here----

http://www.moscowanimals.org/advice/import.html

It begins with information regarding IMPORTING animals INTO Russia. Scroll down to the middle of the page where it begins to talk about the EXPORT of animals FROM Russia.

We did this with our Fisa back in February and it was no problem. I would suggest when you buy the tickets that you do it over the phone with the airline directly so that you can confirm that there is space available on the flight for a pet and you can reserve a spot for your pet. Most airlines only allow a limited number of pets to fly within the cabin. And note that some do not allow ANY pets. And also double-check with them regarding the fees you'll need to pay in order for the pet to fly so that there will be no surprises when you/she get(s) to the airport.

btw-- while the anti-bodies test is required when exporting/importing animals from certain countries ---- it is generally NOT required when exporting a cat FROM Russia and importing INTO the United States.

If you're already at a point where timing of getting these vaccinations, documents, etc is a problem ---- you can search on VJ and find many examples of people who did it the "old fashioned" Russian way The right gift can go a long way. She'll understand what that means.

[Raluca805 1]

My fiancee informs me of certain hurdles in getting her cat out of the country in Russia; there don't seem to be any obstacles for bringing "Unix" into the U.S., only a rabies shot is necessary and an inspection by the verterinarian at LAX. My fiancee is being informed by an official at the government office for veterinary affairs that the cat needs all available vaccinations, needs to have implanted microchip with history of vaccinations, and needs to adhere to a timeline over the next month. The document processing takes a minimum of one month. Now, the kicker...she can only leave with the cat EXACTLY 30 days after the documents have been processed. Not 29 days, not 31 days. So, she must be a psychic and be able to guess exactly when she will be leaving. And this is before the embassy interview, so it is impossible for a mortal to know exactly when she is leaving.

Now I think I know why she wants to leave.

Has anybody out there on VJ had any experiences like this? If so, what happened next?

Thank you for your input.

I hear ya there, i am moving next month in US with my small dog.Besides the fact that my dog has a passport for about 3 years now, which includes all the shots and treatments she got, i recently took her to the vet and implanted her a microchip.As some other fellow was saying, only EU has alot of stupid regulations regarding traveling with pet, however i read that US is pretty much pet friendly and all the cat would need is a rabies shot (took AT LEAST 30 days be4 the trip) and a microcip, which is actually very helpful for you, as pet owners.But you better read this, it will help:

http://www.cdc.gov/animalimportation/cats.html

Good luck to you!