bringing your pet

[MeekMeek 3]

Hello,

My fiancee and I are planning to fly from Frankfurt, Germany to Boston mid-january as we got petition

approved this morning.

Has anybody any experience with bringing your cat into the US?

What were the requirements for them regarding vaccinations, health certificate, etc?

Thank you very much for your help.

Vanessa

[Pishi_Pishi 63]

I brought a dog, but it was very long time ago. We just had paper from vey that he was healthy and up to date with all vaccinations. Nobody questioned anything. Some airlines allow small dogs/cats on board in cage.

[icv21 110]

What kind of cat is it????

I'm asking because they won't allow persian cats I know it by first hand.....

Every air company has different requirement about size, weight, kennel... Cabin or not.

You have to check with them. Also lots of times they won't allow traveling in the colder and hottest months....

The U.S. border and customs protection website has a list with the requirements to bring your cat here

[MeekMeek 3]

it's two sphynx cats, i already settled with Lufthansa that they are fine to travel in the cabin, since they have no hair to

keep them warm if they'd fly cargo.

Thanks for the info though, I will contact the U.S. border and customs protection to check what they can tell me.

[StrawberryKiss 170]

Vaccinations have to be up-to-date, your cat needs to get a chip (mandatory for the US) and a statement from the vet about its health status is very useful. Sometimes your cat also needs to be under quarantine for a few weeks in rare cases, so definitely plan ahead. Plus, you need to let your airline know a certain amount of days beforehand.

Lufthansa lets you carry your cat with you in the cabin if the cat and the box don't weigh more than 8 kg. It costs around 70€ for small animals on long distance flights.

http://www.lufthansa.com/de/de/Tiere

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

We've just brought our cat in. It seems airline requirements /export requirements from other countries are more stringent than actual US entry requirements!

Good luck with the process.

[yvy23 11]

I brought my 2 cats in from the UK last year - I also flew with Lufthansa so the cats could be in the cabin. They need their vaccinations, including the rabies vaccine, to be up to date and if they're already chipped, the vet should check to make sure the chip is still readable and is the right type for the US (there are 2 types and only one is good but I don't remember which now as the ones my 2 already had were fine). If they're not chipped, then that will need to be done too. Your vet should be able to issue them with a pet passport once the vaccinations and microchips are good and also a fit to fly certificate (Lufthansa didn't ask me for this, but they can do so). Depending on the rules of the country you're flying them from, they MIGHT need an export certificate from your original country (mine did, but that was from the Isle of Man so I don't know what the rules are for other places).

When I got to POE, the cats were taken from me by a CDC agent as I got off the plane. They were held by CDC while I went through immigration, then CDC checked their papers and handed them back. I'd asked that no-one disturb them until I or my friend could be there as they were pretty stressed from the traveling by that point and might not have reacted well to a stranger trying to handle them if that had been necessary. In the end, they didn't need the cats brought out of their carriers at all and were happy just to look at the paperwork. The US side of things was actually really straightforward in the end - the time consuming and expensive part was getting the required paperwork on the UK side.

[MeekMeek 3]

Are you sure they need a chip? I contacted Lufthansa and checked the CDC Website and nothing mentioned a chip.

I'd hate to chip them as they are furless cats and the chip would be visible.

[yvy23 11]

Are you sure they need a chip? I contacted Lufthansa and checked the CDC Website and nothing mentioned a chip.

I'd hate to chip them as they are furless cats and the chip would be visible.

On checking again, you could be right - mine were already chipped as kittens because they were rescues and it's standard practice on the Isle of Man to chip all rescue kittens and cats so it wasn't an issue. I can't see it mentioned on the site either, nor on the standard list of countries that requires them. My old vet said it was needed for the USA, but it is possible that that's because they needed it for the European side of things as we changed planes in Frankfurt. I'd double check it to avoid any problems on the way in, but you might not have to get it done - I don't know how visible the chip is on a hairless cat but I can see how you might well be able to see it and not want to get them done. You might also want to check with your current vet to make sure they're not needed for export requirements.

Edited December 21, 2014 by yvy23

[MeekMeek 3]

Thank you. We have an appointment on the 29th this month, I am still waiting on my passport to be send to me anyway. I read that the only way you get a EU Vaccination booklet is to have them chipped but it seems from other people experiences that the regular german vaccination booklet is enough for them. I'll be getting a health certificate, their shots and get it all translated into english. I'll call Lufthansa again on monday though to double check wether they require a chip or not to fly them.

[yvy23 11]

I agree, checking twice now is worth it to save any possible trouble later. I hope all goes well and you and your cats have a safe journey. Lufthansa were great with my cats - having flown with them to get here, I can completely recommend them for travel with pets in the cabin - they even gave me a large bottle of water to share between them on the flight as I'd had to rush between flights to go through security in Frankfurt and hadn't had time to buy any.

[MeekMeek 3]

Yes we're so glad Lufthansa has an awesome connection to the Boston Airport. It will at least save us the trouble of having a layover with those two.

What kind of transportation bad did you use? A hardcover box or a soft bag (similar to SturdiBags)?

[yvy23 11]

I bought a Sturdibag large for each of my 2 cats. That way they had plenty of space for me to give them small bowls of food and water and to put a blanket in each bag so they could sleep comfortably or hide under the blanket if they wanted to. They fit just fine under the seats on the plane too. I don't think there are many hard carriers that meet regulations for bringing them in the cabin as they have to be able to stand up and turn around in the bag. A hard box would have to be so low to fit under the seat that they might not be able to do that. Oh, and don't forget to buy puppy training pads to go in the bags - it's much easier to deal with any mess they make when you can just change those out instead of trying to clean up the carrier on the flight.

[TBoneTX 45,313]

*** Thread moved from General Immigration Discussion forum to the "Moving to the US & Your New Life" forum, where similar issues have been discussed. ***

[MeekMeek 3]

Yes I was going to buy those training pads for them. Thank you so much for your help!!