Pets and transatlantic travel

[macd 1]

Hello all,

I moved to the States to be with my American husband, and I am now considering adopting a kitten or a cat. However, we may re-locate back to Scotland in the near future (if I have my way!). If we move back there, I would like to take the cat with us, so I am wondering what the procedure is for taking pets from the USA to the UK.

Does anyone have experience of this or can anyone link me to some resources on the topic? Any advice you can offer would be great!

[Love Eth 14]

About the cat, try contacting your local airport they could tell you what paperwork you need to fill out.I don't believe it's a international issue but I could be wrong,best of luck to you.

[Lainie B 465]

You'll need to look into the quarantine requirements for bringing animals from the US to the UK. Since the UK is rabies-free there will probably be a lengthy procedure and/or quarantine in the UK involved.

Try this website:

http://www.defra.gov.uk/wildlife-pets/pets/travel/

There are usually companies that specialise in transporting pets between countries, there are sure to be some in the US, they take care of all the arrangements but are usually very expensive.

[Heather&Paul 7]

Hey! I actually did this but the other way around! I brought my dog back to the states from Ireland but am planning to move back there at some point. They have made it a lot easier over the last few years. I believe the rules for Ireland are practically the same for the UK. So you need to apply for a pet passport, here is the Irish website explaining how to do that, http://www.agriculture.gov.ie/pets/getapetpassport/ . Once you have the passport make sure any future vaccinations are recorded in this. Within a 6 month time span before you leave you need to also have her rabies vaccinated and then also have her blood tested for the antibody levels. Once the test comes back ok they record that in the passport. 48 hours before you depart you need to have a health examination done by a vet to make sure she is healthy to travel and they stamp the passport. Also make sure you check with the airline you fly with for cost and also for the crate size requirements. That is the procedure for Ireland, so I would just double check to make sure that everything is correct. There should be a government website for the UK and they should have a section on importing pets. Best of luck. :-)

[Flames9_RN 358]

We just moved to Nicaragua withour 2 cats and dog! Each country has their own requirements which sometimes can be found on the embassy page or on here:

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/regulations/vs/iregs/animals/ Scroll down to "List of Countries" And ouch, Scotland is not there,oops! But thi smay help others! As well you can email that countries Embassy and they can help. I know many airlines want a phsyical within 10 days of flying!! Quite often airlines can point you in the right direction as well. Continental uses a Company called PertSafe that handles the dogs--not the cats as they can go with u in the cabin!

Keep in mind most airlines have a limit on how many cats/dogs they can take on a plane, so its best to book early!

For those with Dogs--Continental keeps them in a special storage area down below that is temperature and pressure controlled. So it does not matter how hot it is in the receiving city!! Of course u have cats, so its not a problem!

[RUSSandRACHEL 3]

Hi there,

My husband (the USC) and I bought our labrador over here to NJ from the UK 18 months ago and we applied for the pet passport back home, before we moved. In doing so, as long as we keep up with her vaccinations and rabies shots here we can return to the UK without her having to be kept in quarantine for 6 months.

Unfortunately, if you don't have that (you can't obtain the pet passport in the United States as its regulated mainly within the EU) a pet would have to remain in quarantine. We haven't moved back yet but are keeping our options open for the future.

Hope that helps!

[macd 1]

Thanks everyone for all your replies!

Taking pets abroad is a big factor in our decision to adopt a cat. From what I can tell so far, it isn't exactly cheap to travel with pets. That said, my man & I will have to weigh the expense against all the benefits of having a sweet cat to call our own

[RUSSandRACHEL 3]

Thanks everyone for all your replies!

Taking pets abroad is a big factor in our decision to adopt a cat. From what I can tell so far, it isn't exactly cheap to travel with pets. That said, my man & I will have to weigh the expense against all the benefits of having a sweet cat to call our own

No problem. If you need any further help, please drop me a message. Our dog Honey, is a labrador and the majority of the cost depended on weight for the actual journey but all in all we spent just over £1500 on moving Honey here. A cat however, would be a fractiopn of that cost especially if you took them with you to your seat instead of in the hold like we did.

Best of luck!

[Alex & Rachel 78]

We just moved to Nicaragua withour 2 cats and dog! Each country has their own requirements which sometimes can be found on the embassy page or on here:

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/regulations/vs/iregs/animals/ Scroll down to "List of Countries" And ouch, Scotland is not there,oops! But thi smay help others! As well you can email that countries Embassy and they can help. I know many airlines want a phsyical within 10 days of flying!! Quite often airlines can point you in the right direction as well. Continental uses a Company called PertSafe that handles the dogs--not the cats as they can go with u in the cabin!

Keep in mind most airlines have a limit on how many cats/dogs they can take on a plane, so its best to book early!

For those with Dogs--Continental keeps them in a special storage area down below that is temperature and pressure controlled. So it does not matter how hot it is in the receiving city!! Of course u have cats, so its not a problem!

Scotland is under United Kingdom.

[macd 1]

Scotland is under United Kingdom.

[Flames9_RN 358]

Forget to look there,lol oh well!!