I just can bear to leave my cats here is Switzerland. I will be taking them back to the US with me in September. Has anyone relocated overseas with pets? Did everything go OK? I've heard horror stories. Please ease my mind.

You can relax - horor stories don't often happen!!

I have two cats now, and will definitely be bringing them with me when we move at the end of the month (actually they will be going to their favorite boarding cattery first and then to Switzerland, where we will pick them up at the airport, to save them the stress of being around when the actual movement of furniture takes place)

I originally had one cat when we lived in Shanghai, China, and he travelled from Shanghai to the UK, then had to do six month quarantine in the UK before he could come home. Everything went fine!! He has been home for a year, and now has qualified for his Pet Passport, so he won't have to do quarantine again (both our cats now have a passport).

There are some great pet transport people out there who will do everything for you, or you can do it all yourself. Just make sure you do your research and go with a company you trust. If you want to take them on the plane yourself, make sure you contact the airline well in advance - some no longer transport animals, some have special requirements.

We found the most stressful part for our cat was the actual packing up bit - he couldn't understand where everything was going, and what all the packing men were doing in his territory, and he got fairly stressed. So this time we have booked them a 'holiday' in a lovely cattery for a week so our furniture can be packed up, we can fly, and our furniture will arrive and be unpacked.

Any company that offers a pet transport service should be happy to talk to you about any questions or concerns you may have - if they are not, don't use them. You want someone you can feel comfortable with, and who you trust with your darling cats. We chose to go with the pet transport people rather than do it ourselves, because they took care of all the border control issues and paperwork with importing pets. Also, there was an on staff vet which took him to the plane, and made sure he was confortable and sedated before the flight, so it wouldn't stress him (the flight was 12 hours Shanghai to London, then another hours London to Belfast)

If there are any quarantine requirements, shop around for that too - not in regards to price, but in regards to services - we got a fabulous one that allowed up 'visiting rights' so we were able to go and see him whenever we liked. Some countries will also allow you to do 'in house' quarantine, which means you just keep then confined to the house for the required period of time, which is also fine, and the bet comes and checks on them at your place.

There are so many options now, just choose a company you are happy and confortable with, so you know they will care about your cats. Mine have loved the experience of getting to know a new place wehn they got to their new home!

Thanks Mepriana!!

Great idea to send them off to a cattery a few days prior to moving to save them from the stress of packing. I wouldn't have thought of that!
Also like the idea of pet relocation company with on staff vet. I wasn't sure about having them sedated, but now I think it's for the best.
Thank God in the US we don't have to put the cats in quarantine, 6 months is such a long time to be without them!!

the 6 months was awful - I can understand it, with a country like China, why it had to be 6 months, but it is such a long time!! The other thing is that cats are so resilient, that becuase it was such a nice place, and he got to see us once a week, he was happy!!

I think sedation is the best way, especially for a long flight - if it was just a couple of hours, I wouldn't worry, but my guys hate being caged up for too long. I know that I never sleep on a plane, so at least I know that they can, even if it is assisted!!

The moving of stuff is very stressful for cats, especially since they regard everything as 'theirs', watching such major changes can stress them a lot. The cattery option will take all that away this time.....

I hope all goes well for you!! Moving can be soooo stressful - we have two weeks left!

When I first moved from the U.S. to Switzerland, I brought two cats with me. They weren't happy with me at first after plucking them off the luggage belt at Kloten, but after that they settled into a happy life in Switzerland - one for 15 and the other for over 20 years.

I did go to great lengths to check up on the health regulations and get all of the required shots/papers/etc. If you haven't, I'm sure that you should check the regulations and get the required paperwork.

Get a good solid pet carrier. I had one big enough for both cats (sisters). I think the company helped.

Good luck!

My cat and my dog got each got a nice little pill from the vet for the flight over. I think they slept through the whole thing.

Hmmm... I have to fly soon. Does your vet take referrals...?

It was a vet in California. Maybe you could ask (or demand from) a vet here for something comparable.

...well... it wasn't so much for my pet...

I am sorry if i am confusing things, but feel obligated to give my own experience with a dog. i originally came from the US with my dog, and have taken her back once, then back again. My sister is a vet in the US, and she strongly recommended against sedation when going to a new place. She said that it might be different for an animal going back to someplace familiar, but if we were really relocating, she explained that it actually just confuses the animal the same way that it would a person.... they do not know how they got there, and it is harder for them to calm down once they arrive.

I have no idea if this is really true, but must say that I have been surprised at how well Molly (the pup) handled the whole situation. She's generally an adaptable dog, but she had never been in a crate before the transport, and still arrived here in switzerland in high spirits and just happy to be reunited with people once we arrived. We have travelled SWISS two of these times, and they have been really terrific - super-nice people, and they really seem to care about handling animals. The other time was continental, and they were terrible. I would pay attention to the airline you travel, and of course decisions about sedation probably depend on the individual animal.

Aren't dogs and cats different in that respect?

very probably, but thought it might be useful to share an experience. i have no real experience travelling with cats.

Hi, I've moved a cat from California to CH, (he stayed here and lived a happy life) and another one from Egypt to Switzerland to China, back to Switzerland for holiday and back to China, where he disappeared (presumed eaten, 5 years ago now). There was limited paperwork (shot records) for the California to CH cat, and he travelled in the hold for two flights.. which I swore I would not do again if I could avoid it. The paperwork experience for China was far worse and complicated,and in the end unnecessary (Moving Agents paid a fortune to get us through customs: "Mrs XXX?" "Yes" "Let's get you out of here before the police see us!") but he was able to travel with me in the cabin, all three times, (thank you Swiss Int. Airlines) and when I gave him the sedative, he was able to relax and therefore react to us and enjoy his food. I even was able to put him on my knee during a night flight, and if someone walked through the cabin, he just dived back into the bag under the seat.. My neighbour on the plane didn't mind. You do need a cage which will fit under the seat. I had one inside a softish bag with wheels and the cage went up in the overhead bin while the bag stayed on the floor. I would say a sedative is absolutely necessary, to remove the fear and confusion which the animal suffers, and travelling in the cabin reassures the animal it is not alone.

Be a little careful with cats in the cabin. On a recent flight my partner developed symptoms remarkably like her allergy to cat dander... only to find out that her seat-mate had a pet under the seat.

She swapped seats but the woman who swapped in had even more serious allergies and ended up with quite an asthmatic fit.

I'm not exactly sure what the cabin staff was thinking...

That's a good point - thankfully I don't have any such allergies. But if I did I'd be pretty upset about it. If this were allowed by the airline then they should really ask other passengers about allergy details if a cat were to be onboard? I know that they sometimes clear the plane of anything to do with nuts if there is a person with a severe nut allergy on the plane?

Just to make it clear: I love cats, so please don't attack me cat lovers - but I think cats in the cabin could have some potential implications...

I have just received a quote for relocating my 4 cats from Pro-Air (located in Zürich Airport)

Swissair: 2 kennels Zürich-New York CHF. 2,650.00 (kennels not included!)
Lufthansa: 4 kennels Zürich-Detroit CHF. 2,950.00
Continental: 4 kennels Zürich-Pittsburgh (my destination) CHF.6,000.00 ...kennels not included, so add on CHF.500.00 for that !!

I can't afford CHF.6,500.00 so, I think I'll just put them in baggage on United direct to Washington D.C. and drive 3 hours to Pittsburgh. Then the cats won't have the stress of a transfer flight and it will only cost CHF.200.00 per cat + kennel.

Does anyone have kennels that they are willing to sell. They have to meet airline regulations so they are more expensive than the regular transport boxes... around CHF.135.00. I do need 4, so anything would help in keeping cost down. Thanks!

Good GRIEF!

I brought both of mine in a pet carrier (I think it was sized for a small dog, but it fit my two cats perfectly and was very robust). At the time, it met all requirements (but then, that was some *mumbledymumbledy* years ago). I just handed them up as baggage and off I went.

Admittedly, I did drive from mid-Michigan all the way to Chicago so they would have a direct flight from ORD -> ZRH.

Just make sure that your pets don't pack any toothpaste in their carry-on.... I hope that they don't have to check their claws...

...bonus question: are your Avatar cats the cats in question? Couldn't they go two to a carrier. I (like to) believe that mine were happier together.

My carrier was a hard shell with plenty of ventilation and door the cats (obviously) couldn't open. You could easily sit on the thing (and later... the kids kind of liked trying to wedge themselves into it).

...ok, last post.

Mine was something not unlike this: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=12047&cm_mmc=Shopping%20Po rtal-_-NexTag-_-Dogs-_-Remington%20Pet%20Carrier%20(Intermediate)&ref=366 5&subref=AA&GCID=C12188x007

...assuming the link works. My case was smaller (that's one big dog in the picture), but an "intermediate" one is listed at about $35.

Or don't I understand the requirements?

We brought our cats over recently, and it was about 2,600-3,000 CHF for the two, but that did include all the vet checks required by UK law, and also all the handling fees and customs/whatever fees on this end, apart from a 48.00CHF receiving fee.... It was great from our point of view, because they were vet checked at all the stops (it was two flights) and setaded both times to keep them calm....they have settled in so well, and I don't think they even realise they have come so far!!

Our options were a bit more limited though, because quite a lot of airlines out of the UK will no longer carry live animals, whether in the cabin or in the hold.

Good luck, and let us know how you get on!!

Yes, the cats in the avatar are the ones coming with me. I would LOVE to put two together in one kennel, being that they are siblings and always sleep together, but United only excepts one cat per kennel!

I checked out the web page.....the kennels are made for international travel, but for sell in the US....as you know Switzerland is more expensive. I've been to Qualipet, My Friends and Fresnap and haven't found anything under CHF.135.00 for the smallest kennel. If I could have put two cats together the next size up is only CHF.10.00 more!