Leaving for UK before my cats are eligible

Should I use a pet shipper or have a friend put them on a plane??

I'm in the process now of finding someone to watch my two meow-meows, Annie and Sophie, since I will be heading for the UK in 5 weeks, and I don't know which is less expensive/more reliable. I have spoken with a VERY nice and helpful man from PetRelocation.com who has quoted me $3300-3500 from RDU to LGW door-to-door (US) and we would pick them up at Gatwick.

I'm struggling trying to decide if this would be better or if I should trust to have them sent on plane on their own (not to mention the limited options with where they can fly from in the US and with which airlines).

HELP!!

My cat came over with me, so I don't have any direct experience. However, I think a few people here on UKY had pets sent over on their own without any problems. I'm sure someone will chime in with advice for you. 

I think it depends if your friends are trustworthy enough to do all the stressful and faffy bits at the end. There's a lot of last minute stuff to do and it has to be done properly. If you think your friends are up for it and willing to do it all, then I say go for it. Otherwise, I'd use a shipping company. That being said, it would be A LOT cheaper if your friends do it. I think when it was all said and done, I spent about $1800 or so to ship my two cats and I did it all myself.

I spent about $1800 or so to ship my two cats and I did it all myself.

May I ask how you did this? What airline did you use where your cats could fly without being accompanied?

May I ask how you did this? What airline did you use where your cats could fly without being accompanied?

You can go here to see all of the approved routes via air:
http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/quarantine/pets/pdf/noneu-air.pdf

Just scroll down to USA and it will have departure/arrival choices and tell you if the pets must be accompanied or if they can be unaccompanied. 

I appreciate the link, however, I am familiar with the website. I'm just curious about the cost from anyone who has had the personal experience before.

I appreciate the link, however, I am familiar with the website. I'm just curious about the cost from anyone who has had the personal experience before.

Your best bet is to look at which airlines allow unaccompanied pet travel, and then phone them for prices. Good luck!

I'm sending my dog from the UK to the US next week unaccompanied and I did all the travel arrangements myself. Its with BA. I guess the difference is that we will be able to drop them off ourselves (we're not leaving until the 20th) so its an opposite situation. To me it seems like its more important who is picking them up than who is dropping them off as that's what they have to make sure they get right (as well as any customs clearance stuff like PETS scheme, etc but that's up to you to make sure you get right).

On the way over to the UK last year we did fly on the same flight but I still did all the arrangements myself as well.

I shipped my cats separately from myself.  Because I'd be shipping them into quarantine on the UK side, the quarantine (4PawsUK-- they're GREAT!) took care of the DEFRA side paperwork and sent me their boarding paperwork and crate stickers for the final Chicago --> Manchester leg. 

I did try to contact DEFRA myself to get the paperwork in order, but DEFRA wouldn't respond to me-- I'm guessing they handle inquiries only from folks in the business... so you might contact PetRelocation or a specialist UK side to see if they will quote you for handling just the paperwork piece.  I'm not sure if 4Paws could/would, but it never hurts to ask.

Then I took the list of approved route providers for the destination, and I phoned them for quotes and policies, because each one has their own policies as well.

For example, one carrier absolutely required that in order for me to ship my cats through them, the cats needed to be delivered to their carrier office in Chicago (I couldn't start their trip from elsewhere in the States through them and it had to be -me- not a courier in their office) no later than noon on the date of their flight... which would have been an impossibility for me.

I ended up going with Continental PetSafe -- of all the carriers I talked to, they were not only the least expensive ($1340 for both cats), they were also the most knowledgeable about how the process works.  Their requirements for me included dropping them off 2 hours before their first flight and having their DEFRA and USDA paperwork in order.

USDA Paperwork (for the cats as they were flying through the US into Chicago before the final hop) included a Health Certification from my vet that needed to be sent to the State Vet for signature.  This requirement might be different for you since you're in a different state, so give your vet a call to double check.  My State Vet office also said that they needed to sign a EU Health Certification as well.  4PawsUK disagreed, but the State Vet was going to charge me $24 for signatures regardless of how many papers they were endorsing, so I went ahead and got both the US and the EU Health Certifications signed.

Customs UK side was handled by 4PawsUK who picked them up to deliver them into quarantine where the cats are sitting happily today.


Might be worth a think to go ahead and send the cats before you leave or as you leave and have them sit in quarantine for the remainder of their time on the PetScheme, which you can do.  Instead of 6 months, they're just waiting the remainder of their wait time.  4PawsUK quoted us at ₤11/day for a single unit housing both cats and a ₤50 Administrative fee for all the DEFRA related paperwork.  Another benefit of sending the cats ahead of you is that if there's something wrong or missing in their paperwork, you might have a little bit more agility getting it handled States side than UK side.  Plus you wouldn't have to put this off on friends to handle while you're in the UK.  I think it would be heartbreaking if something happened and the cats couldn't go and your family's separated  =(


edited: my DH reminded me of a few items...

not sure why DEFRA didn't respond to you but they definitely talk to individuals. Some have even faxed their paperwork to DEFRA to have them point out any possible mistakes before the flight. Myself, I just called a time or two and never had problems getting answers. That said, if you can/want to afford it a pet transport company assuredly would make it easier.

Just a supporting post for Julia_Atlanta.. DEFRA took many calls from me, checked my papers, made suggestions when I was having trouble getting the last-minute treatments.. and they seemed happy to do so.