Moving cat more than 5 days after my arrival

My beloved cat, who I've had for 14 years, is moving with me to the UK. Unfortunately, due to poor planning, she cannot travel within 5 days of me. She'll have to come a few weeks after I've already moved. Can anyone recommend how I go about getting her to the UK after I've already moved there?

(And while we're at it, I'm open to recommendations on how to find pet-friendly housing in London!)

I think it's good that you aren't on the same flight.  Dealing with your pet is stressful and once less thing to worry about on the day.  I see you are coming on a Tier 2 (what I did with my two cats).  Are you staying in corporate housing initially?  As mine didn't allow pets, so I had to wait until I had a permanent address to move mine.

Your employer should be providing you with someone to help you settle.  My company hired Sirva.  The woman from Sirva found out the location I was interested in, what I wanted in a property, and my budget.  She then contacted local agents for me and arraned for me to only view properties that would allow pets (the landlords had all already given the go-ahead).  Housing is quite different in the UK, in that each property has their own point of contact, so it's not like you can walk in and view any property with a single agent.  That's where the service my company hired really came into it's own.  It's tough to find places that allow animals - but not impossible.  You just might have 3 choices and someone without pets might have 30.  You'll have a larger deposit (two months rent versus 1.5 months rent).

@Kfdancer, how is it possible to move a pet 5 days after arrival? I'm really confused as I'm trying to do the same thing as OP - move a 15year old cat with my husband who is leaving on April 15. The time is super tight and I'm getting stressed that we wouldn't make the window of the cat arriving within 5 days of him landing. Is there a way to have said cat come after my husband (say 10-20 days) without another family member traveling there?

I just want to make sure I'm interpreting the U.K. guidance correctly. Many thanks!


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The only time I've heard that a pet has to move within 5 days of your arrival is on this thread.  Is this new information?  Or is the requirement for the Fit to Fly, vet checks, etc., being confused with a mandatory fly date?

I was a corporate relocation to the UK, so I had corporate housing when I arrived which didn't allow pets and also I needed to find somewhere to live.  I was living in Colorado.  I flew my kitties with me to Florida to my parents house and left them there.  I then flew onto the UK and started work and looking for a place.  My parents were instrumental in working with my vet to get the kitties ready to fly.  My cats arrived about 5/6 weeks after I did.  I am definitely not the only person on this forum to have done something similar.  Some people don't move their animals for a couple of years!

Had I not had people in the US who could help, I would have had no choice but to move the kitties at the same time.

The only time I've heard that a pet has to move within 5 days of your arrival is on this thread.  Is this new information?  Or is the requirement for the Fit to Fly, vet checks, etc., being confused with a mandatory fly date?

It looks like it's from the official gov.uk website (https://www.gov.uk/take-pet-abroad/overview):

Travelling with your pet
Your pet must arrive in the UK no more than 5 days before or after you, or you’ll have to follow different rules.

You must use an approved transport company and route unless you’re travelling between the UK and Ireland.

You need to fill in a declaration confirming that you aren’t going to sell or transfer the ownership of your pet.

And the different rules you need to follow if it's more than 5 days are here:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/balai-directive-moving-live-animals-semen-and-embryos

If I'm reading it right, it's just an extra form that has to be filed.  Doesn't seem too scary. 

Its an extra form to be filed (TRACES I believe its called - we are working on it today), but I think your pet still has to fly within (at least for cats) that period after the final vet check and the paperwork is filed (a week?)

We are (finally!) moving our cats from Sweden to the UK in May (by couriered car) and have a bunch of paperwork to fill out for them (unsurprising). We have been working with Animal Couriers here in the UK - they I believe also run a service to pick up your pet from heathrow and deliver to your door, which could be helpful for some. They also do worldwide pet freight and can arrange pet housing pre-travel on either end, so maybe have a look at their website or give them a call and see what options they have available.

Oh yippee for your kitties making the move!

I know, right! Three years later! We are going out to visit them beginning of May and will return home 14 May... they travel in somewhere around the 28th we think, the trip schedule is still being finalised.

I have asked Animal Couriers a question about the +5 days thing, so will report back when they respond.