It looks like I'll finally be joining my husband in the UK this year, and that means I'll need to move our cats, too.

I'm going in circles with the DEFRA people and their website. Has anyone moved their pets to the UK? I'm trying to figure out the time frame I need to work with.

I understand they need to be chipped and have a six month period after a rabies vaccination - but how long before that six months do they need to be vaccinated? I'm trying to time it so I can leave the apartment here for the October 1st moving date, and I'm afraid we've left it too late....

I presume the same rules apply to cats as dogs. But I used to bring my dog back and forward monthly in the car by eurotunnel and I understand that the pet is chipped and have their rabies jab . Once they have the jab they can travel after 6 months. As long as you have the vaccine re -done
when it is due and before travel & they have the appropriate flea/tick treatment you should be OK. I do not know if it is different if you are importing the dog.
If you like I can visit a UK vet here to get the latest rules for you - let me know - I understand how worrying it can be.

I've jumped through the PETS qualification hoops with my dogs.

In a nutshell:

*** The steps must be done in the order given - no exceptions.

(I've met people who were refused entry because the order was wrong.)

First, your cat should be microchipped with a UK readable chip - details on the DEFRA website. If another type of chip is used, you will need to provide a scanner.

http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/quar...info/micro.htm

Once chipped, your cat needs to be vaccinated.

http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/quar...info/vacci.htm

After vaccination, blood needs to be drawn to do a rabies titre test. This is when the clock starts ticking.

http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/quar...info/blood.htm

It is usually recommended to wait 2-4 weeks after vaccination to do the test, as it takes some time for the antibodies to develop. If this is the first time that your cat has been vaccinated, you may not show sufficient antibodies if blood is drawn too early. However, if your cat has been regularly vac'd, chances are that he already has a fairly high antibody level. The waiting time between vac and blood draw is not specified by DEFRA.

(I know of one person who, faced with a shortened schedule, had her dog vac'd and then five minutes later did the blood draw.)

The results have to be interpreted by an lab recognized by DEFRA (here it will be the Tollwutzentral in Bern) - Your vet wil organize this for you, and you will receive an official form with your cat's titre levels.

http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/quar...-info/labs.htm

(I have no idea what the cat range is - for dogs, DEFRA mandates a minimum level of 0.5 international units. To give you an idea, my guys showed titre levels ranging from 2.3 (youngster who had had puppy vacs and then 1 annual booster) to 14.7. (10 year old, regularly vac'd.)

Assuming you meet the minimum antibody level, you now have to wait 6 months (and not one minute less) from the date of the blood draw.

You will need a pet passport to record all info; your vet will give you this. I always keep copies of any supporting document with the passport.

http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/quar.../documents.htm

Once you have met the waiting period, you are almost good to go.

Last step: no less that 24 and no more than 48 hours before entry to the UK you will have to treat your cat for ticks and tapeworm.

http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/quar.../parasites.htm

You must use a recognized preparation - a substitute might not be accepted. (I know of someone who was refused because of this, and had to do a day's quarantine to be re-treated.)

If you are driving, be sure your travel time allows for the 24/48 rule. (We usually drive through France, spend a night somewhere nice, and have a vet at Calais do the tick/tapeworm treatment before taking the Tunnel. )

You must enter the UK via an authorized route.

http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/quar...nfo/routes.htm

The important thing is to do everything exactly as listed on the DEFRA site, in the order specified.

My vets here have all been fairly conversant in the process - if yours isn't you might want to use someone who is familiar with PETS to help you.

Your passport is good as long as the vac is kept up to date according the the manufacturer's specifications. If you re-vac one day late, however, you have to start the process all over again.

Bon voyage!



For further advise and commiseration, see the UK-Yankee website (a forum for American expats in the UK). Lots of posters there are going through, or have successfully navigated, the process:

http://talk.uk-yankee.com/

(Bear in mind though, coming from the EU/Switzerland is easier than from the US)


ETA: Oops, cross-posted with Smackerjack.

Thank you both for the great advice! What an ordeal...ah well, the things we do for our pets.

I'm not sure our vet in Switzerland is up on the procedures - has anyone in Basel used a vet to take a pet to the UK?

I do plan on driving them over and taking a ferry - I don't relish the idea of having to stick one very scared of everything human that isn't family cat and letting him go alone and in a very scary airplane hold (the doorbell sets him off in terror and he hides for at least a half hour after it has rung, even if nobody comes in!). The other would probably be fine, but he'd not do well at all.

Unfortunately, except for their very first vaccinations, they've not had any others. They're indoor-only and don't get exposed to a lot of stuff, so I prefer not to drug them up when it isn't necessary.

Eeep. So much planning.

Meloncolie has given a good summary. When I worked in the UK we said 7months was the minimum time required so if you get started now October shouldn't be a problem.
The titre level needed on the blood test for cats is 0.5, same as dogs. We seemed to have less blood test failures in cats than dogs although they were rare in both. If they do fail the blood test we normally recommend revaccinating and repeating the blood test after 30days. This adds about 6 weeks on to the process but in 5years UK practice I have only heard of 1 cat failing the blood test, I have known at least 15 dogs that failed it, all of these passed on the 2nd attempt.
The other important thing to remember (and I can't recall if meloncolie mentioned this or not) is that 24-48hours before you enter the UK they will need to be seen by a vet for treatment against ticks and tapeworms, this should be done by the vet and recorded in the passport. If it isn't done and recorded they will treat the animals (and hold them at great expense I'm sure) for 48hours. Any other questions feel free to PM me.

Evilshell, we take the Eurotunnel rather than the ferry, as my guys are not good sailors. Sometimes the ferry crossing can be rough, and... well... it ain't pretty.

You say that you plan to take the ferry but if you have no problem with it may I suggest the Eurotunnel. I say this because the procedure before hand there is not bad and you can travel with your cats and even give them a cuddle in the car - if they are stressed and it is only half an hour or so journey time. On the ferry you are not allowed to go down and see them so they will be alone for quite a while.

I also recommend the Eurotunnel - we drove from the UK to Basel in October (if you're looking for a hotel about halfway along, the Novotel near Rheims was relatively cheap, just off the motorway and we could have the cats in the room with us). Eurotunnel was v. quick and meant we could keep the cats calm during the crossing.

Neither cat is a particularly happy traveller and I was loathe to tranquilise them. The UK vet recommended something which mimics a substance in their mother's milk which can act as a sedative. I can dig through my cat file and see what it was called if you like? Not sure if it made a difference, but we got from there to here without too much trauma.

Hello - I have recently moved to Bristol from Zurich and would now like to take my lovely two cats over, too! They are chipped and vaccinated and basically ready for travel, but i am going CRAZY about any pet travel agent's fees to get them here, yikes! Does anybody have an idea what the cheapest (but safe) way by air would be? Or would you generally recommend going by car? They are fit but old and not used to travelling much at all, so any journey will be traumatic for them, and I would like to make it as painless for them as possible.
Thanks for any inputs!

I bought my two Persian cats over from the UK in October last year. We flew Swiss Air and booked direct with them and the cat can go on board with you as hand luggage. You have to pay excess baggage for them but it is much better for them to travel with you.

You will need to notify Swiss by email the measurements of the cat carrier and weight of the cats but other than that they are absolutley fine.

Hope this helps!

I think you would be best flying back to Switzerland and bringing the cats on a flight with you back to the UK.
When we moved out to Switzerland we brought the cats with us on the flight. They had to travel in the hold though and as far as I know there wasn't the possibility of having them in the cabin, but this may depend on who you fly with, so probably good idea to call a few different airlines and find out their policy. We flew British Airways.

You will have to have a special travel approved container for them and I think there are minimum sizes. We had to change flights in Heathrow (I think) as we were flying from Edinburgh so we checked the cats right through. We could have collected and re-checked them in but didn't have enough connection time really. Anyway the airport animal people had obviously taken good care of them and changed the bedding and everything for them. And the cats arrived in Switzerland looking very perky indeed whilst most of our luggage was lost in transit!

Having travelled with our cats on approx 4 hour journeys in the car before I wouldn't recommend it! The cats were either sick or pooed in their cages or both and it smelled horrendous. Took a long time to get rid of the smell too. So unless they are already used to this sort of travel then don't do it!!

Good luck.

Can you not get your cats sedated before travel. That would reduce their stress, I'd have thought.

Hi - thanks for all the input. Animals may not be sedated as per the latest IATA rules, I guess despite the stress it is better for them to be fully "there" and can react to their environment... Well, unless I find someone who drives me because they are going to the UK anyway, I will take a Swiss flight to London and then hire a car ...!

There are some animal couriers that will take a passenger at no extra cost with them

I will be moving to England end of this year with my family. Since you moved back to the UK this year maybe you can help me with one information... I am trying to figure out how much it cost to relocate from Zurich to London. I just need a very rough estimate about relocating from a 3 room apartment, maybe based on what you had to pay...

Thanks a lot in advance

Do you have any names for these? Thanks!

Hey everyone,

In the event that we might have to leave Switzerland back to the UK, how would the procedure go?

I got the cat here in Switzerland, he is 6 months old now. He is scheduled for his chip and rabies injection tonight at the vets.

Does it mean that in 6 months, I could bring him to the UK (as it takes 6 months to test the blood samples etc) without him having to be in quarantine?

Also, any rough ideas of how much it would cost from Zurich to B'ham? Would he be able to live with me in the UK permanently?

Sorry if people have already asked any of these questions, I had a quick look but I had several queries and just thought I'd post this straight out!

Thanks in advance guys!

this will help... failing this, ask the Vet, he'd be able to tell you

Thanks, I checked that out a bit earlier too. I guess I'm just trying to find as much info as possible

if you dig up a few sub-pages, they have an updated list of air carrier that'd take your puss to the UK - remember that CH is not EU when you look at the docs needed