Moving Cat to the UK

[cjmoving]

Hi,

I'm moving in the spring and currently working on getting all of the necessary steps done with my feline friend.

I'm very skeptical of putting him in the cargo area of the plane. I'm very, very worried about it in fact and not really sure what to do. Does anyone know of any methods to get a cat into the main area of the plane.

He's such a well-behaved animal, no meowing, spazzes, no peeing not in a litterbox, etc. I don't want to put him through the freak-iness of being in cargo for a 5+ hour flight.

Any ideas are much appreciated.

Thanks!

[Bevdeforges]

We've had a number of people inquiring lately about transporting pets.

I would contact a pet transporter. (It has been a while, but I actually found the one I used in the Yellow Pages under "pet transport.") The one I used (Pet Express in San Francisco) had all the information about the various airlines, airports and the regulations for getting my cats into and out of the countries. They were really good about explaining all the options and they were perfectly willing to give out information before I committed to having them handle all the arrangements for my two cats.

They even did the pre-flight boarding - I had to fly over a week before my apartment in Germany would be available, and since I couldn't have them in the hotel with me, they had to fly later. I got a little "report card" on their experience in the boarding kennel - details of whether or not they ate and how they behaved. It was obvious that the staff there were all animal lovers and took excellent care of my "babies" while I was gone.

A good animal transporter will know which airlines will and won't allow your cat in the passenger cabin and under what conditions. Ask your vet if they can recommend a transporter - or if you have a local zoo, ask them. (The place I used also did large animal transport for zoos and wild animal parks.)
Cheers,
Bev

[Minuvweyna]

I just brought my cat with me from the US to the UK. It is very hard to avoid putting your cat in cargo, but I found a way, because I am a very nervous cat-mother. No airlines flying to or in the UK are allowed to have animals in cabin.

Instead I flew Air France (Air France) from the US to Paris, they allowed me to have my cat with me in the plane, for $150. They required a soft sided case, and I would recommend StudriBags (SturdiProducts). Other airlines may allow this as well, I believe Lufthansa may also allow cats on their flights as long as the destination country allows it.

After I landed in Paris I took a train to Calais (Rail Europe). They do not mind cats, but you do have to buy a pet ticket, it cost about 7 euro I believe. I then stayed the night in Calais. French hotels are very pet friendly; places that do not accept animals are the exception.

In the morning I took the ferry (P&O Ferries) from Calais to Dover. The ferry requires a hard sided carrier, so you either need to bring an extra carrier or buy one in Calais; there are at least 2 pet stores in town that should have an acceptable carrier. On the ferry my cat was secured with cargo, and I had to go upstairs, but she did fine, and I was not concerned about heating and air issues, so it was alright.

Once in Dover I took a train to London (National Rail), then used the Underground (Transport for London) to switch stations in order to catch my train to Edinburgh. There is no charge for transporting an animal on trains in the UK, they just count as part of your baggage allowance. If you need more baggage than is allowed then you will pay an excess baggage fee. You are allowed 3 bags on UK trains, including the pet carrier. This is why I bought a cheap hard sided carrier in Calais and then simply threw it away when I arrived in Dover.

I will warn you, it is a VERY long trip and more expensive too, and flying a cat in cargo is probably safe, so I consider myself quite mad for having gone through all of this. However, in the end, I had a safe cat who was very eager to get out of her carrier and explore our new flat.

I absolutely do not recommend sedating a cat whether in cargo (dangerous!) or in the cabin of the plane. I tried valium before our trip, and it had a very frightening and entirely opposite effect on my cat. She became very agitated and upset and uncoordinated. I was very worried she would hurt herself, and she howled almost non-stop for about 15 hours until it wore off. Some cats may do fine on it, but definitely try it well before your trip, and still never sedate an animal in cargo, it can depress their breathing and be fatal.

If you need any other advice concerning my crazy trip to the UK, please feel free to ask, I'd be happy to provide any help concerning transportation, as well as what is required to import a cat into the UK (it's a long, involved process no matter where you are coming from, other than I believe Ireland.)

Best wishes,
Elizabeth

[Eliska]

Originally Posted by cjmoving

Hi,

I'm moving in the spring and currently working on getting all of the necessary steps done with my feline friend.

I'm very skeptical of putting him in the cargo area of the plane. I'm very, very worried about it in fact and not really sure what to do. Does anyone know of any methods to get a cat into the main area of the plane.

He's such a well-behaved animal, no meowing, spazzes, no peeing not in a litterbox, etc. I don't want to put him through the freak-iness of being in cargo for a 5+ hour flight.

Any ideas are much appreciated.

Thanks!

Where are you moving from? If it's from Europe you could take the train or ferry. I understand your fears, I would not want to put my cat in cargo at all. How long is the flight?

[kygirlinlndn]

Minuvweyna/Elizabeth - I am getting ready to make plans to do the EXACT same thing! Only, I will hopefully be picked up at Dover and I am moving to London, not Edinburgh. I was wondering if you had to get the tick and tapeworm treatment readministered in France before you were allowed on the ferry? I have been looking through the information for transporting pets for months now, and I was unsure of whether the route you described would work given that the parasite treatments are supposed to be administered 24-48 hrs before your connection to the UK. Apparently you got through! Great post!!

Thanks,
Susan

[Minuvweyna]

Originally Posted by kygirlinlndn

Minuvweyna/Elizabeth - I am getting ready to make plans to do the EXACT same thing! Only, I will hopefully be picked up at Dover and I am moving to London, not Edinburgh. I was wondering if you had to get the tick and tapeworm treatment readministered in France before you were allowed on the ferry? I have been looking through the information for transporting pets for months now, and I was unsure of whether the route you described would work given that the parasite treatments are supposed to be administered 24-48 hrs before your connection to the UK. Apparently you got through! Great post!!

Thanks,
Susan

I did not have to readminister tick/tapeworm, but only because I did not need it for arrival in France, and I timed it and my trip very carefully. I had the treatment done 36 or 40 hours before we landed in Dover (so the afternoon before we got on the plane to France). The treatment is to be given between 24 and 48 hours of your ARRIVAL in the UK. This gives the treatment time to kill any pests, I suppose. So with careful timing you can do this, provided your time in France doesn't last too long. If it does, you will need to have it readministered, and then wait at least 24 hours in France before arriving in the UK, so I would try to do it in one fell swoop.

[kygirlinlndn]

Originally Posted by Minuvweyna

I did not have to readminister tick/tapeworm, but only because I did not need it for arrival in France, and I timed it and my trip very carefully. I had the treatment done 36 or 40 hours before we landed in Dover (so the afternoon before we got on the plane to France). The treatment is to be given between 24 and 48 hours of your ARRIVAL in the UK. This gives the treatment time to kill any pests, I suppose. So with careful timing you can do this, provided your time in France doesn't last too long. If it does, you will need to have it readministered, and then wait at least 24 hours in France before arriving in the UK, so I would try to do it in one fell swoop.

Hello again! I am planning my trip in just a few days with my cat. I have all the necessary tickets and I get my official health certificate on Thursday! Did you have an English only health certificate or the dual French/English one? Was there any harassment when you arrived in Paris? I am terrified they won't want to let my cat in! Also, you referred to a "pet ticket" for the train from Paris to Calais. Did you purchase this directly from the conductor or is there some other way to purchase it? I currently don't have one, but I thought I read somewhere that they are purchased in cash once you are on the train.

Thanks for any information you can give me!!

[Minuvweyna]

Originally Posted by kygirlinlndn

Hello again! I am planning my trip in just a few days with my cat. I have all the necessary tickets and I get my official health certificate on Thursday! Did you have an English only health certificate or the dual French/English one? Was there any harassment when you arrived in Paris? I am terrified they won't want to let my cat in! Also, you referred to a "pet ticket" for the train from Paris to Calais. Did you purchase this directly from the conductor or is there some other way to purchase it? I currently don't have one, but I thought I read somewhere that they are purchased in cash once you are on the train.

Thanks for any information you can give me!!

You need to use the French bilingual form. The UK officials will take it without question and the French require that the form appear in French (which is odd, because there is no requirement that it be filled out in French, only that the questions appear in French) - they are a strange country...

Paris completely ignored me. I went LOOKING for a customs person to check all my paperwork, like a good little traveler. When I finally could make the bored customs people understand that I HAD a cat, with me, and wanted to know if they would like to see her papers, they said "no, we don't need to see anything, go catch your train" I don't know if they will want to see YOUR cat's papers, but they didn't care about mine...

You may be able to purchase a cat ticket on the train, I'm not sure, but I bought one at the station in CDG airport. Give yourself a lot of time to do this, because the lines are long. Also be careful in that train station, things are not labeled quite as you expect and I actually managed to miss a train while being on the right platform (at least I was under the right platform number) - be the stupid American and ask people if they are waiting for the train you are, it might save you 60 euro.

Also, be sure that you have the carrier your airline wants (probably a soft sided carrier) but you will need a HARD sided carrier for the ferry (since your cat will be with luggage (it's secure and all was fine, but you cannot take the cat up to the passenger area). There are pet stores in Calais, and you can get a cheap hard sided carrier, but make sure you have it for your ferry, I had a panic filled morning trying to find one when all the stores were still closed.

Hope your travel goes smoothly, and that you, and kitty, enjoy the UK.


Cheers,
Elizabeth

[kygirlinlndn]

Originally Posted by Minuvweyna

You need to use the French bilingual form. The UK officials will take it without question and the French require that the form appear in French (which is odd, because there is no requirement that it be filled out in French, only that the questions appear in French) - they are a strange country...

Paris completely ignored me. I went LOOKING for a customs person to check all my paperwork, like a good little traveler. When I finally could make the bored customs people understand that I HAD a cat, with me, and wanted to know if they would like to see her papers, they said "no, we don't need to see anything, go catch your train" I don't know if they will want to see YOUR cat's papers, but they didn't care about mine...

You may be able to purchase a cat ticket on the train, I'm not sure, but I bought one at the station in CDG airport. Give yourself a lot of time to do this, because the lines are long. Also be careful in that train station, things are not labeled quite as you expect and I actually managed to miss a train while being on the right platform (at least I was under the right platform number) - be the stupid American and ask people if they are waiting for the train you are, it might save you 60 euro.

Also, be sure that you have the carrier your airline wants (probably a soft sided carrier) but you will need a HARD sided carrier for the ferry (since your cat will be with luggage (it's secure and all was fine, but you cannot take the cat up to the passenger area). There are pet stores in Calais, and you can get a cheap hard sided carrier, but make sure you have it for your ferry, I had a panic filled morning trying to find one when all the stores were still closed.

Hope your travel goes smoothly, and that you, and kitty, enjoy the UK.


Cheers,
Elizabeth

Thank you! I think the only thing I don't have is the hard-sided carrier, which I didn't think I would need. My husband is picking me up at the Calais and we are all going into the car. Do you think that the kitty will be able to stay in the car? If not, my husband can bring a hard-sided carrier with him, perhaps.

Thanks again for all your help!!

Susan

[Minuvweyna]

If you are taking the ferry as a car passenger I actually think you HAVE to leave her in the car, so the soft sided carrier should be fine. I was a foot passenger so she had to go with my suitcase, so it needed to be hard sided.

You should be fine, disregard the hard carrier.

Good luck!
Elizabeth