Had the first vet appointment on Friday afternoon...

And it went horrible, I think.  The vet still had no idea of what to do and I don't know if he did everything right.  I told him to chip them and then vaccinate them.  But he took them to a different room, so I'm not sure in what order he did it, but he didn't write down the times, like I asked him too.     Then he gave me the rabies certificate, but it did not have their chip # on them.  I asked and they said that there isn't room for it with the program they use and we can just write it on.  Would that be ok???  And what if I don't have the times to prove the chip was before the vaccination???  I'm getting a little worried about this now.  They said they had talked with the USDA vet in Iowa, but if they did, they sure didn't get much out of it.  Anyone know if I can write the chip number on the paper??  And without times, will they accept the certificate for the rabies vaccination?   

Is there a place in the program they use for the pet's name?  Or general notes?  Tell the vet that you need a new copy of each rabies certificate with the correct microchip number shown in print on the certificate.  There MUST be a way to enter that information, even if it's on the "2nd address line" - and DEFRA isn't going to accept "the program didn't have room" as an excuse.  Your vet could probably hand-write it on the certificate, but why should you have to worry?  You're paying him or her to do what you need done.   

As far as the times are concerned, as long as that information is written on the EEC 998/2003 form - the third country health certificate, that's then endorsed by the USDA vet - you'll be fine.  They can make up the times, if necessary - they just need to be noted on the form.

If you're really concerned, I'd phone DEFRA and ask them. If your vet is truly clueless about the whole thing, is it too late to switch to another vet who might be a bit more knowledgeable about PETS?

I'm not too sure about this vet.  He said he had done this earlier this year for some people moving overseas, but didn't seem to know much.  I'll see if he can reprint the forms with the chip # after the pet's name.  That would probably be the best I would think.  It was so hard to find one vet that even knew what PETS was, so I think I'll try to stick it out with them.  But, I think that I'll have to take in the papers I have printed off on how exactly to follow through on the rest of this.  He wanted to know if they have to be in quarantine here then or what.  I told him we do all this to avoid quarantine!  Thought he'd know that one.  Just one question though, when can we do the blood draw to get our 6 months rolling??  They needed their shots anyways when we went in, so I'm not sure if it's in their systems yet.  Do we have to wait the 21 days??  OR is this something he should have been able to tell me depending on what the vaccination says?

If they were due for their rabies boosters when you brought them in, I'd wait the full 21 days, just to make sure the levels are right when the titre tests are done.

As far as this vet goes, I'd give him a copy of all of those pages and ask him to read over them before your next visit (for the blood draw).  He'll probably think you're being a control freak, but honestly?  He's a vet, he ought to understand that your first priority is making sure things go right for your pets.  If he's still resistant or still seems "confused," I'd switch to another vet.  You definitely don't want this guy screwing up the blood test appointment!

Definitely not!  The only thing he did seem to know is that he had to send the blood to Kansas!  I was surprised he knew that.  I will definitely take  a copy of all the papers I have and make sure that he reads them very well.  I would think he could follow directions and he seemed to be somewhat familiar with the forms, but fumbled through the chipping and vaccination stuff.  Not good at all!  We'll keep on top of him and give it some time before we get them in for the blood draw.  That is the part that I don't want to have to watch!  Thanks for the input!

No problem!   Good luck with everything.

i have the chip number hand written on their vaccination certificates. I got the vet to sign them. the USDA didn't bat an eye. I was told the same by someone else and they had no problem in England either.

I'm being tough on this one as well. My vet wasn't originally able to print the chip number on the vaccination record either and they adapted their system so that I could have that on there. They also figured that if anyone wants to do this scheme in the future through their office, they'd have it set. If people have made it through with the chip number handwritten, then I'd say it's ok, but I wouldn't risk it. My vet asked if it could just be written in and I said "no." I'm also requesting that all of my receipts for this PETS scheme stuff have her chip number on them.

My record of Chloë's chipping and vaccination don't have times on it, but the order of the services say that the chip was inserted first.

In this case, it's perfectly fine to be firm and assertive. You are doing this to avoid quarantine and it's understandable that you would want everything to be just so. A good vet will understand this and work with you.

I keep all of the paperwork for the PETS scheme in one folder and I carefully read through the list of requirements each time I have an appointment for it and check everything.

Good luck!

I'm being tough on this one as well. [...] If people have made it through with the chip number handwritten, then I'd say it's ok, but I wouldn't risk it. My vet asked if it could just be written in and I said "no." I'm also requesting that all of my receipts for this PETS scheme stuff have her chip number on them.

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In this case, it's perfectly fine to be firm and assertive. You are doing this to avoid quarantine and it's understandable that you would want everything to be just so. A good vet will understand this and work with you.

I agree totally.  The way I see it is, well, we already know that the behavior and decisions of IOs at the port of entry can vary widely - I just operated on the assumption that DEFRA officials can and will act in a similar fashion, and prepared everything PETS-related to the highest standard possible, to minimize risk of refusal.