We just left the UK and moved back to Canada with our cat and dog. Moving the animals was complicated and stressful but I thought I'd write it out here for future reference.
I booked their flight (same flight as us, which was a direct flight) a month before and gave AirCanada Cargo Live the dimensions of the crates and combined weight of crate and animal.
Our cat moved to the UK with us in 2005 and we went through the whole DEFRA process with her then. It was much simpler satisfying the customs requirements on the Canada end as far as shots etc.. They just needed their Rabies and a health certificate issued within a week of travel. The only complication is that the cat had an anyphalatic reaction to her vaccines and almost died. She recovered really well though and passed the pre-travel health check.
Our dog is about 35 kg and he needed the vari-kennel extra-large crate. It was big enough for him to stand up comfortably, sit and turn around. I obsessed about the size and referred to the IATA website a lot for measurement guidelines and this was the most stressful part of the whole process for me.
http://www.iata.org/whatwedo/cargo/live_animals/Pages/pets.aspxFor the cat, she could have gone in a small crate and did so on the trip to the UK but she is 12 now and not in the best of health so I opted to get the medium Vari-kennel that would fit her favourite bed and still give her space to pee if needed. It was absolutely the right decision and she came through the trip like a champ - I was really, really worried about her!
I lined their crates with puppy pads and then Vet Bed
http://www.petstuffonline.co.uk/dog-supplies/dog-bedding/vetbed/I also put some of that no-slip lining that you use under carpets on the bottom of each crate to keep the pads in place. I gave the dog his blanket and a toy and the cat had her favourite bed.
I used the bowls that came with the crate for the cat and for the dog, I got him a large no-spill bowl.
http://www.roadrefresher.com/ which worked brilliantly! I attached it to the door and not an ounce was spilled. The cat's spilled a lot but the puppy pad absorbed it all quite well. The small no-spill bowl was too big for her crate which is why we didn't use it for her.
And zip ties. I used tons of zip ties. We used them to reinforce the crates, attach the water bowl, and for the dog, we zip tied the door shut, just in case. He had a bit of a freak out at first and we were all scared he'd break down the door!
For transporting them, we needed to get from our house to Heathrow so we called a local airport taxi company who had a van big enough to take the animals, us and our luggage and went the day before and stayed in a hotel. We booked the taxi about one month before departure. The hotel was great and although we were all squished in one room, everyone did fine.
Our flight was at 3:00 PM and the animals were booked on the same flight. They needed to be at the cargo terminal 4 hours before so we booked a taxi van for 10:15 AM. I took the animals and my DH and son took the luggage directly to Heathrow so I only had to worry about the animals and getting myself to Terminal three once they were sorted.
When we got to the cargo terminal, I did all the paperwork left the cat inside and walked the dog for about 20 minutes around the parking lot. The dog was really anxious so this was good for calming him down. We then finished the paperwork, took the cat and dog crate into the warehouse, quietly and calmly got the dog in his crate, calmed him down, zip-tied his door shut and by the time I left, he was more-or-less settled. The only glich with the cat is that her bed has a pillow and she hid underneath it and I was worried that there wouldn't be enough air flow for her, so I took it out. I did wish I would have had a blanket for her but she was fine in the pillowless bed as it was still cozy for her.
On the other end, it took forever to clear customs and the right limiting step was getting a customs officer over to the cargo terminal. From getting off the flight, it took about 3 hours to get everyone sorted. Neither animal had relieved themselves in their crates. They were locked in for over 16 hours total from door-to-door. We let the dog out for a brief walk before loading him up again in my dad's van for the final 30 minute drive home.
Both animals handled the travel marvelously recovered really quickly.
Moving the animals was expensive - it was about 90 pounds for the dog's crate, 60, for the cat's and another 50 pounds or so for bedding, water bowls etc.. For shipping..... it cost me a whopping 1265 pounds for both pets. When we brought our cat over, it was only $300 CDN!!!!
I have to say it was worth it though and the transition on the other end has been much easier with them around.
