Thinking of flying my 2 cats to France to avoid huge UK fees?

Hi everyone! I have two tabby cats in America that I really want to move to London. I have completed all the necessary bits for their PETS passport. They now have both microchips, to be safe, all their shots and rabies stuff done. I know that I have to have the vet give them the proper paperwork 24-48 hours before they fly. I am happy to do this as well.
However, never did I think it will cost me nearly $3000 to ship these cats from Texas to London. I discovered that its not really the cargo fee (though that is high) but the animal reception fee-something like $600 depending what day/time they arrive.
I am now considering the option of flying with my cats from USA to France, possibly as checked bags instead of cargo for a better rate and then driving over to the UK.
Has anyone out there done this? If so, can you please tell me how this works. Like I said, I am not trying to skip out on the UK requirements, I just need to find a cheaper option to get them here.
Was it cheaper in the end? How did your pet handle the transition? When you went through customs in the UK, did they charge additional fees? Were there any restrictions on how long you had to stay in France before moving them to the UK?
I am getting really discouraged about this whole process. Just hoping somebody out there has figured out a way to get beloved pets to the UK without going through too much emotional turmoil or deplete the savings account for it. Thanks!

My friend did this a few years ago for her small dog, I'm not sure of the fees.

The only issue was that you couldn't return the hire car in England, obviously because the driving on the wrong side issue.  So her husband drove them over, dropped her and the dog off, then he drove back to France, returned the car and then took the ferry back.  It took forever just to type it!

I think they were allowed to take the dog on the ferry, or something.  So if you only have one person you need to look into that aspect.  She was really happy though.

Thanks bookgrl!
I have a car here so I thought that perhaps I can drive to Paris, put the car in the long term parking. Pick up the cats in Texas and fly back to Paris to drive home via ferry. Or I thought I could have a friend fly with them to Paris and just pick them up there. I am just wondering what sort of hassles I will face getting the cats off the plane in France and then at UK customs when I cross over again.
If your friend has any more details, please let me know. I am getting desperate. Just joking, but it is quite an ordeal.
Who would have thought moving your pets is more stressful than moving yourself?!

I moved myself, household contents and two cats from Switzerland to the UK by road. The person who did the move was kind enough to let the cats and me tag along for the ride with the household contents.

We took the train, which was definitely the best option. On the ferry, you cannot stay with your car, so your cats will be alone in the car. From others who have done the journey, apparently the ferry is a much tougher ride for pets because the ride can get very rough down where the cars are stored.

When arriving at the train station, you first go through customs and they'll give you a sticker to put on the car for animals on board. You then follow the signs to check in animals. It is a small building on its own. You take them in, the staff will check their passports and microchips and just make sure all is ok. One of mine was absolutely terrified, beyond words (the poor boy!) and was very stiff and hiding his head. The staff asked if he was drugged, so I needed to pull his head up so they could see him (and his wide-eyed full-pupil look of pure terror!). That was it, the check was complete and they could enter the UK. Back in the van, in line to get on the train and drive on the train. Once the train gets underway, it is about 20 or 30 minutes to the UK. You drive off the train and on your way.

Just make sure that if your vet makes a mistake on their passport that they start a new page and not cross out info and correct it! We nearly needed to stay 24 hours because when I had the flea/tick treatment, my vet put down the wrong date of the treatment and corrected it on the same page. They let me through mostly as a courtesy, I think, after seeing terror-filled cat (and a second cat with a perfect passport from the same vet), and did mention what to do next time if the vet makes a mistake.

This was in March 2010

Thanks for that evilshell!

So, would you say that all the required documents for travelling with the cats to the UK would be the same as if they flew directly to the UK?

I am now seriously considering this to be the most viable option. Have any of you heard which country is the "friendliest" for pet travel. Wondering if I should consider Switzerland since you had a good experience there. I am hoping to avoid major hassles-I have heard that even though proper paperwork is done, problems will occur sometimes.

Do you recall what the total cost was last year to do this? I imagine the costs have increased but if you can give me an estimate, that would be helpful.

Thanks!

The cats were both born in Switzerland, that is where I was living, so I don't have costs on transport. I don't *think* the train cost more because they were along, but I didn't pay the fees (the driver had a pass as he does that route several times a week). I had standard documentation for them - pet passport with proof of vaccination, microchip, titre test and flea/tick treatment (all done in Switzerland).

Thanks for that evilshell!

So, would you say that all the required documents for travelling with the cats to the UK would be the same as if they flew directly to the UK?

Hmm - I would be careful with this. I don't know for sure, and I'm still learning the in-s and out-s of pet passports (I'm now a vet in the UK, I moved my four cats from the US last year) but the paperwork from the US ie the "third country certificate" is NOT the same as a pet passport. You may find that if you go to an EU country, to then get into the UK you may have to have your EC998 form turned into a pet passport. This should be easily enough done if you can budget some time to find a vet in France and get them to convert it. In the UK (at the clinics I work at) it costs about £60 to get a pet passport issued, so I imagine the cost would be somewhere around that mark, but in Euros. Probably less because I work in London.

Again - just want to stress that I don't know if this is the case, you should call DEFRA and ask them just to be sure.

We plan to do this with our 2 cats and dog in July, because I want to take two of my animals in the airplane cabin with us.  We are hiring a pet transport company from the UK to pick us all up in Paris and drive us (via the train) to our new home.  The people at the Eurotunnel office have been very quick to reply to my emails (I had lots of microchip questions), and they said they see American animals travel to the UK via France all the time.  We are not planning to get a pet passport, as we are traveling into the UK the same day we arrive in France, but will use the EC 998 form.  Good luck!

I found my email from the very helpful people at the Eurotunnel (from May 10, 2011).  In case it helps:


"We regularly have customers travelling from the USA to the UK via Paris and the onus is on them to organise for the ticks and tapeworms treatment to be completed at the correct time, whether this be in the USA or in France.  Should the treatment be done in the USA, we would calculate the time of the treatment equivalent in France and then apply the 24/48 hours windows we have to respect.

For Example:

If the treatment is done at 12:00 local on a Monday in New York, we would calculate the time difference between New York and Paris at that time and then calculate the 24 - 48 hour window when travel would be allowed.  If your arrival in Calais does not fall within the required period you will need to have the treatment done in Calais and wait the required 24 hours before travel can take place.

Please be aware that the treatment named STRONGHOLD cannot be accepted.

You already know that as you are travelling from the USA a Third Country Certificate will also be required.  The normal Pets passport is not acceptable in the scenario USA -> France -> UK.

As for the microchip, I am told that our readers can scan the ISO Standard microchips of 11084 & 11085."