Help with Pet Flying Schedule/ Forms!

I am just freaking out over this whole PETS situation.  I'm a Ph.D. student with no money and no time and this has been such a nightmare!!

OK, here's the situation:  I'm getting married to my English fiance on July 30 and will be changing my name, getting all new documents and applying for a spousal visa.  Fingers crossed that I have it in hand by Sept. 28, which is when I fly over to London.

However, my cat did not have her blood test done until May 19 2011.  So I'm leaving her with a friend in NYC to wait out her quarantine until Nov 18.  I fly back here on Nov 18, but have not yet booked her return travel or mine because of these hugely complicated forms that need to be done before she travels.

I have a couple of questions:

1)  I understand that I need both the EC 998 and APHIS forms to fly with her.  From what I gather, the APHIS form is simply to get her out of the country.  If I take her to the vet on Nov 19 to get this check done, how long do I have to wait before I can fly back with her?  My vet is USDA-approved, but doesn't he have to send the forms off to the state USDA vet or something?  How long will that take?  If it takes a while, then...

2)  Should I just ask a couple of friends to try to take her to the vet in my stead a week or so before I get there, and then take her for her last deworming/ flea check 24h before I fly?


Thanks for any thoughts on this - it is truly, hugely, ridiculously complicated.  I am almost not worried about my own visa because this situation is such a freakin' headache.

I just need to know a potential date in November when I could possibly fly back to London - thanks for any help!

Also, is the APHIS form required across the board??  Virgin Atlantic cargo pets did not mention it when I talked to them.  Has anyone flown pets with them recently?

My vet is adamant that I need the APHIS form, and I don't want to fight with him, but at the same time it would solve a lot of problems if I could just do her tick and tapeworm treatment, get a letter of good health from the vet and put her on a flight the next day so I don't have to wait out a whole week with her....!

1)  I understand that I need both the EC 998 and APHIS forms to fly with her.  From what I gather, the APHIS form is simply to get her out of the country.  If I take her to the vet on Nov 19 to get this check done, how long do I have to wait before I can fly back with her?  My vet is USDA-approved, but doesn't he have to send the forms off to the state USDA vet or something?  How long will that take?  If it takes a while, then…

You'll need to check with your airline if they require the APHIS 7001 form. Some do, some don't. You can get the USDA vet to sign off on the EC 998 form anytime after you have the bloodwork results back, but it's only valid for 4 months (so if the plan is to fly out in November, get it done no earlier than July). You'll need to check with your state's USDA vet, but most of them can handle the form in person or via mail/fax.

2)  Should I just ask a couple of friends to try to take her to the vet in my stead a week or so before I get there, and then take her for her last deworming/ flea check 24h before I fly?

You shouldn't need to go a week in advance. Even if you need the APHIS form, it's valid for 10 days, so you could get it done the same day as the tick/tapeworm treatment.

Also, is the APHIS form required across the board??  Virgin Atlantic cargo pets did not mention it when I talked to them.  Has anyone flown pets with them recently?

My vet is adamant that I need the APHIS form, and I don't want to fight with him, but at the same time it would solve a lot of problems if I could just do her tick and tapeworm treatment, get a letter of good health from the vet and put her on a flight the next day so I don't have to wait out a whole week with her....!

Like I said, it varies by airline, so you should check with them. I don't think it has a break-in period or anything, though, so you could get the APHIS filled out on the way to the airport and it should be valid. So doing the one vet visit should be fine, regardless of whether you need the APHIS or not.

Note: Some people have reported that the APHIS form needs to be signed off by the USDA vet, though, which would add to the timeline (in theory it could still be done in the one visit, though, if you went closer to the 48 hour mark and faxed the forms).

Hope that helps.

Also, is the APHIS form required across the board??  Virgin Atlantic cargo pets did not mention it when I talked to them.  Has anyone flown pets with them recently?

My vet is adamant that I need the APHIS form, and I don't want to fight with him, but at the same time it would solve a lot of problems if I could just do her tick and tapeworm treatment, get a letter of good health from the vet and put her on a flight the next day so I don't have to wait out a whole week with her....!

I flew with Virgin Atlantic in July 2010, and I did need to have the APHIS form. You should call Virgin and ask them specifically though, they were generally pretty helpful when I called them up to ask questions.

Thanks for the helpful responses!  I have contacted Virgin Atlantic and I'm waiting to hear back.

My vet is a USDA vet, so would it be OK for him to approve the APHIS form, or would we need to fax it to the state USDA vet for approval?

My vet is a USDA vet, so would it be OK for him to approve the APHIS form, or would we need to fax it to the state USDA vet for approval?

You would need to see what Virgin expects. Some airlines are fine with any vet filling out the APHIS form, some want it signed off by a USDA vet as well.