Guide to bringing your pet into the UK

Take heed: Many vets do not know or understand the procedures. Make sure that you know and understand them so that you can guide your vet.

Exactly.  My vet was quite UNhelpful throughout the whole process, which is why I used a pet shipper.  Yes, it was considerably more expensive than doing it myself, but communicating with my vet was nearly impossible and I relied on my shipper to make all the calls for me (as bad as it was, I couldn't bring myself to switch away from my long-time poorly communicating vet).  The shipper also worked well with my mother, who handled all the 11th hour procedures to get my cat on the road, as I was already in the UK.  Bottom line: if you're doing it yourself, make sure you trust your vet and can communicate well with him/her about what needs to get done.

Stumbled across this site a few days ago, then sat down today to get understanding before first vet visit Monday (today is Friday). Whew.  I've spent almost 7 hours now reading several websites, ended up finding DEFRA and this site to be the right combination.

I still cannot locate the USDA Form 7001 when doing a google search.  Forgive me if its in another string, but I wanted to reply on this string to properly thank everyone here.  You guys are freakin awesome.  But can any one help me with the USDA Form 7001?

My anticipated move date is loosely based on when I can get my baby ready, which, based on everything I've read, looks to be @ August of this year.

AGAIN, MANY THANKS TO EVERYONE ON THIS SITE AND THEIR INVALUABLE INSIGHTS & EXPERIENCE! 

the 7001 is a paper form (in triplicate) so you need to ask the USDA to send it to you (unless they can tell you where else it maybe available, ie.  a vets office)

ETA: I personally did not have to use this form.  BA would accept a 'fit to fly' letter from my vet instead.

Between my vet and the USDA, I got all the forms I needed without going online.

My vet hadn't done the UK before (which is stricter than most), but she had done other overseas pet transfers. Between us, we muddled through without a hitch.

I hope at some point you ladies are going to post piccys of you furry family the forum...there is a thread for it somewhere.  It always brightens my day seeing people pets 

WOW THAT WAS FAST!  Thank you everyone!  I'll just hold off on the Form 7001 until I book transport and get that handled then.  Unbelieveably, even though I'm in Philadelphia, I havent come across a knowledgeable full service veterinary/resource for international pet immigration.  My local vet referred me to Girard Animal Hospital, which I've read various things about, both good and bad, but again, unbelieveably, they don't have internet access at their facility, so they're telling me to make sure and bring all the instructions and paperwork.  Makes me feel uneasy, so that's why I've done so much homework online.

Again, a Million Thanks!

My local vet referred me to Girard Animal Hospital, which I've read various things about, both good and bad, but again, unbelieveably, they don't have internet access at their facility, so they're telling me to make sure and bring all the instructions and paperwork.�  Makes me feel uneasy, so that's why I've done so much homework online.

That would make me feel uneasy, too.  Our vet had just sent a cat to the UK when we got started, but they were definitely double checking with the Defra site every step of the way. 

Good luck!  It's such a nerve wracking process, but just make sure you're on top of everything and it'll be just fine!

WOW THAT WAS FAST!  Thank you everyone!  I'll just hold off on the Form 7001 until I book transport and get that handled then.  Unbelieveably, even though I'm in Philadelphia, I havent come across a knowledgeable full service veterinary/resource for international pet immigration.  My local vet referred me to Girard Animal Hospital, which I've read various things about, both good and bad, but again, unbelieveably, they don't have internet access at their facility, so they're telling me to make sure and bring all the instructions and paperwork.  Makes me feel uneasy, so that's why I've done so much homework online.

Again, a Million Thanks!

Based on personal experience and what I've seen happen on this forum, the only way to get through this experience is either to pay an company like Pets on Jets or just figure it out for yourself and walk your vet through the process.

It's not THAT bad  - you just have to take the time to figure it out and pay attention to the details.  I got all the info I needed on this forum (between scouring old posts and asking questions). 

Just do your homework and stay on top of it, and you'll be fine 

 

I used VIP Pet Transport (http://www.vippettransport.com/)
and cannot say enough good things about them.

They provided nearly all the forms and gave me clear, concise step-by-step instructions, and found the best flights.  For a fee of course, which was lower than all the other pet transport companies and to me worth every penny.  I think it just depends on your circumstances.  My vet was not versed at all on the process, and there was no way my cat could have flown non-stop from where I was in the States, so I was very concerned about getting her the best connection.  With all the planning I had going on at the time just with getting my move sorted, I decided to work with VIP just to alleviate one worry and hassle. 

I too used VIP Pet Transport. She was extremely helpful about some things but also got a couple of things wrong which I myself had to correct. In the end I think my own efforts got my cat through, not particularly this company's.

It IS actually pretty freaking harrowing. I am a very intelligent person who can grasp most things and so is my vet, and we both gathered all the information we could, consulted Defra, PLUS used VIP Pet Transport, yet STILL the form 998 wound up having mistakes five times, but which were of course saved in a timely fashion.

It IS horrendous and doesn't feel like a picnic, but at the same time it can be done succesfully and all can go smoothly. It's the "devil in the details" that makes the whole thing so damn frazzling even though basically the overview is that there are only three things that have to happen -- chip, vaccine, blooddraw -- but there's just so much more going on including that bloody blue ink and even the stupid date format.......

You can do it yourself but yeah it's no breeze and is anxiety producing.

Just an update- after a few months, I had a local UK vet convert my DEFRA paperwork into an EU passport, so he can freely travel throughout the EU without any problems.  The conversion process was quick and easy, we might spend a summer on the continent so it will be helpful to have, and best of all its a fun dinner-party conversation to say your dog has a govt issued passport!

Just an update- after a few months, I had a local UK vet convert my DEFRA paperwork into an EU passport, so he can freely travel throughout the EU without any problems.  The conversion process was quick and easy, we might spend a summer on the continent so it will be helpful to have, and best of all its a fun dinner-party conversation to say your dog has a govt issued passport!

We did the same.  Our cats had 1 year rabies vaccines back in the US, so a few months after we got here, it was getting to be time to re-vax.  It was easy (and comparatively cheap!) to just do the passport at the same time that they got re-vaxed.  It was a massive relief to do a 3 year vax and put the passports away and know that I don't have to think about it for 3 years, and then it'll just be a re-vax and a new stamp in the passport.