Advice on pets

[jc&jh]

Hello all,
My girlfriend and I are considering a move to Australia (Sydney) and our currently looking at the considerable ordeal of moving our two dogs with us. Our primary concern is the lonnnnng flight constrained to a crate without relief. We're curious how many people have done this with their pets and how it went? overall feelings? advice?
Thanks in advance for your replies!

-jeff & jackie

[Stravinsky]

Originally Posted by jc&jh

Hello all,
My girlfriend and I are considering a move to Australia (Sydney) and our currently looking at the considerable ordeal of moving our two dogs with us. Our primary concern is the lonnnnng flight constrained to a crate without relief. We're curious how many people have done this with their pets and how it went? overall feelings? advice?
Thanks in advance for your replies!

-jeff & jackie

How old are they? Our cat made the journey here to Spain at age 10 and the stress was too much for it. It became jumpy and died 2 months later. Our neighbours dog made a similar journey aged about the same and it also died within a short time frame

[Akatrin]

plus, remember the six months or so quarantine... I'm doing the journey in reverse and have come to the difficult decision to leave my cat (who is my usericon) with relatives. She's an experienced flyer and has spent time on the east and west coasts of Australia (~5 hour journey), but I don't think she could handle nearly 24 hours travel.

[cmallon]

Originally Posted by jc&jh

Hello all,
My girlfriend and I are considering a move to Australia (Sydney) and our currently looking at the considerable ordeal of moving our two dogs with us. Our primary concern is the lonnnnng flight constrained to a crate without relief. We're curious how many people have done this with their pets and how it went? overall feelings? advice?
Thanks in advance for your replies!

-jeff & jackie

Hi,

Sorry to add to the negative points, I'm sure there are people who have taken there pets and they have been fine, but we were thinking of taking our dog with us and our vet advised against it if we had someone that we knew would be able to look after him for us. He is a 7 year old staffordshire bull terrier, they get easily distressed, and the vet said that although he would get over the stress of the flight and would probably be fine if we had someone we knew would care for him then we should leave him. The considerable cost was another factor, we were quoted between £1700 and £2500 to get thim there and you then have $800 quarantine costs on top of that. We obviously just want what is best for our dog and after looking at everything we have decided to leave him with my partners mum and dad. It is going to be just as difficult saying goodbye to him as it will be our other family but at least we know he will be well cared for.
I hope you find the solution that is best for you all.

[Bevdeforges]

I moved my two cats from the US to Germany, and they did fine on the trip. I found a company that handles shipping of animals (from pets to large zoo animals) and they had all sorts of information about the various airlines, the requirements for crates, and stops en route.

However, there was no quarantine to worry about, and it's in quarantine that I've heard some real horror stories. The worst part is that if you move two animals together, they will keep them quarantined together - and if one dies in quarantine for any reason, they have to put the other animal down. That's what made up my mind NOT to try and take my cats to the UK when I went there. Left them at home with the renters (for rent, house, fully furnished complete with cats). Not the best solution, but for a fairly short-term arrangement, it worked.
Cheers,
Bev

[golde]

We brought our two labradors over (aged 8 and 9) in 1997. Quarantine was fantastic as were shipping staff. Both dogs survived to the age of sixteen! and seemed to love Australia.If you want more details of shippers etc. just ask.

[Loeske17]

hey,

here's me asking! hehe. I want to take my cat with me very badly. found him in a box at 1 week and he survived against all odds, so he's like my baby. he'll be about 8 when we would leave, but i'm so worried about him. he's so attached to us i don't want to leave him, but i'm also really worried about the quarentine and flight. if he gets some attention he'll live with the 30 day quarentine, but what about the 22 hour flight from the netherlands?? can i drug him for that long? i'm most worried about the 4-9 hour lay over... i don't get to see him do i? some more info would be great!

thanks

[Bevdeforges]

Whatever you do, don't drug him for the flight!!! The animal shipment people I used in the US said that it was more dangerous to drug a cat than to send him "strictly sober." High altitude can do funny things to drugs in a cat's system and there are some cats who get hyper from commonly used "tranquilizers."

Google "pet transport" and see if you can find a pet transport or pet relocation service in your area. Or ask your vet if they know of such a thing. They exist and they can take much of the anxiety out of the process (for you and your cat).

The place I used (in San Francisco - 15 years ago) could even book your pet on a different flight, if they thought that the transfer or holding services at another airport along the way were better than where your flight was landing.

[scottishcelts]

Hey, never mind if all else fails, you could always get a pet lizard!!!

Apparently it's quite common!!!

[cmallon]

Originally Posted by Bevdeforges

Whatever you do, don't drug him for the flight!!! The animal shipment people I used in the US said that it was more dangerous to drug a cat than to send him "strictly sober." High altitude can do funny things to drugs in a cat's system and there are some cats who get hyper from commonly used "tranquilizers."

Google "pet transport" and see if you can find a pet transport or pet relocation service in your area. Or ask your vet if they know of such a thing. They exist and they can take much of the anxiety out of the process (for you and your cat).

The place I used (in San Francisco - 15 years ago) could even book your pet on a different flight, if they thought that the transfer or holding services at another airport along the way were better than where your flight was landing.

I agree with this post. All of the carriers that we got quotes from actually said that we were not allowed to use any tranqullizers because of the dangers involved.