To begin or not to begin?

5 years??  You're my hero Julia!

5 years??  You're my hero Julia!

well we did our paperwork the very 1st year the PETS scheme was introduced and we didn't move until 2007 so i'll let someone else do the math. It was a number of years.

Our beagle arrived under PETS on Christmas Eve. Here are some things I learned about the process and bringing a pet over in general (not necessarily in order):
1) Petey, the beagle, absolutely was terrified and disoriented coming off that plane. Poor guy.
2) The first thing is to make sure your vet is accredited/licensed and USDA certified. As you have done, make sure they are willing to go through the process with you.
3) Get international microchip (10 digit)
4) Get rabies vaccination at least six months before fly date, results will be sent to the only lab in the US that can certify them (Univ of Kansas I believe).
5) Make sure that you follow the specs for the size of your pet travel crate. Petey weighs 25 pounds and was able to turn around within the crate just fine. However, they were not happy with the head clearance so we had to upgrade him TWO sizes because they were out of the next size up. An expensive lesson. I had the unfortunate logistics of picking him up at Heathrow and then taking him through the tube and (finally) on the train to Brighton. Point being: I could not take the crate with me and they were happy to take it off my hands, presumably for resale.
6) Plan an air route. DEFRA has a list of approved carriers. Your pet will have to fly cargo. Be aware of temperature restrictions. The temperature restrictions are in place ONLY to make sure that the animal is comfortable while the plane is being loaded/unloaded. The cargo hold itself is pressurized and climate controlled. Be prepared to pay in the ballpark of up to $1000 for your pet to travel.
7) Make sure that you (or the person picking up the dog) has a lead, some treats, and anything else to make your dog cosy.
Do not assume your dog will easily fall into his old habits & routines. Petey is having a rough time acclimating due to the bustle and major disruption in his schedule. Also, renting a flat where a dog used to live does not help with marking. Argh.

It really is an easy process. But it is expensive. Another expense to consider is any costs that you may have to pay when you travel- whether kenneling or otherwise.

Good luck!

We did begin... went to the vet yesterday and gave him all kinds of printed information so that he was on the right page (he had NO idea what he was doing, so I had to walk him thru it). 
I have a paranoid question though - For the rabies vaccination certificate, he just put the microchip number sticker (Bayer ResQ chips come with those little stickers with the number and a scan bar) on the piece of paper and signed it at the bottom since there is not a place on their certificate for the microchip number to be printed.  This seems ok to me... is it?

We are going in again in 21 days for the blood draw. How exciting

4) Get rabies vaccination at least six months before fly date, results will be sent to the only lab in the US that can certify them (Univ of Kansas I believe).

You get the rabies vaccine. Then you get the rabies titer test. That blood sample is sent off to be tested. Its six months after the blood draw that resulted in a good test result that you can enter with your dog. Not from the vaccine date. Just to be clear.

Mirr

I have a paranoid question though - For the rabies vaccination certificate, he just put the microchip number sticker (Bayer ResQ chips come with those little stickers with the number and a scan bar) on the piece of paper and signed it at the bottom since there is not a place on their certificate for the microchip number to be printed.  This seems ok to me... is it?

My vet was just going to put the sticker on, and I asked him to type the number into the certificate as well--it is typed in right after their names.  Now, I haven't traveled yet, so I don't know if it was necessary.  I am seriously paranoid, though, so I asked him to make the change.  People have said that they've had luck e-mailing/calling DEFRA and asking them for clarification on issues like that.  If I were you, I'd call just for peace of mind. 

For the record, I think it's stuff like this that makes my vet look at me with fear and dread in his eyes when I walk in the door. . .

Ahhh I just had an epiphany... I wonder if I should have her name changed in the vet's system to  "Mirra - #####" (microchip number) so that she is always refered to by her name and number.  I will ask them if they can do this and hopefully print a new certificate with this information displayed.  I have also emailed DEFRA to see if this is necessary (thanks for the advice Mungo - I apologize that I just noticed you had already told me about getting it typed on the cert before. Must pay attention!!).

my microchip numbers were handwritten on so i think a sticker should be ok Ideally its typed in but not all systems can accomodate.

The name change is interesting and clever. Couldn't hurt for sure.

To ask Defra questions, I had no response to an e-mail, but great response from a phone call -- someone spoke to melive without my going through too much automated menu nonsense, and answered all my questions very comfortingly. That phone call cleared up more stuff than even my so-called pet export specialist person!

We did begin... went to the vet yesterday and gave him all kinds of printed information so that he was on the right page (he had NO idea what he was doing, so I had to walk him thru it). 
I have a paranoid question though - For the rabies vaccination certificate, he just put the microchip number sticker (Bayer ResQ chips come with those little stickers with the number and a scan bar) on the piece of paper and signed it at the bottom since there is not a place on their certificate for the microchip number to be printed.  This seems ok to me... is it?

Mirr
My vet was just going to put the sticker on, and I asked him to type the number into the certificate as well--it is typed in right after their names. 

My vet initially did the exact same thing... took the sticker from the vial and placed it on the form.  I didn't take any chances and wrote it all out.  Basically, I redid the form about 5 times for each cat before my vet signed it....  I wanted there to be absolutely no doubt about it.

Ahhh I just had an epiphany... I wonder if I should have her name changed in the vet's system to  "Mirra - #####" (microchip number) so that she is always refered to by her name and number.  I will ask them if they can do this and hopefully print a new certificate with this information displayed.  I have also emailed DEFRA to see if this is necessary (thanks for the advice Mungo - I apologize that I just noticed you had already told me about getting it typed on the cert before. Must pay attention!!).

My vet had this exact issue as well (no place on their vaccination record form to insert a microchip #).  I think that your work-around is a good one (it was what I was going to do) - however, the office manager at my vet's practice discovered that the version of the software that they used for those vaccination records simply hadn't been updated with the microchip record module (or something like that).   You might want to ask the office/practice manager to check and see if they have a software update out there for their rabies certificates that might include the microchip field.

I also had my vet include two letters (one for each of my two cats) documenting everything (date/time microchipping, date/time vaccination, etc) just as a CYA (cover your a$$) measure.

That is a good idea about the microchip number in the name field.  I had my vet reprint my last two vaccinations because they didn't fill in any of the vaccine manufacturer, etc. fields.  I got a "we don't usually include that."  The vet tech somehow recalled all their old vaccine data (made it up?) and inserted it. 

However, she was firm about not entering the microchip number on the certificate.  There is a blank field for "ID No." but she said that was only for collar tag numbers.  I guess the third time will be a charm when I ask to rename my cats to name+number.

My vet was able to go back and change to the "Name - ####" on my dog's rabies vaccination record and now that will appear on all her records that are printed from now on.  Now I dont have to remind him to write the microchip number on everything.  The staff at the office still dont exactly understand why all of this is important, but they are just willing to do what I ask at this point

The staff at the office still dont exactly understand why all of this is important, but they are just willing to do what I ask at this point

Soooo much better than people who fight you every step of the way because of COURSE they know best, even though they've never heard of the PETS scheme!

...its been 3 weeks since her blood draw and no word from the vet with the results.  I called them yesterday and they said, they'd check on it and call me back. Still havent heard from them this afternoon.

Should I call the lab in Kansas?  Or is 3 weeks normal??

...its been 3 weeks since her blood draw and no word from the vet with the results.  I called them yesterday and they said, they'd check on it and call me back. Still havent heard from them this afternoon.

Should I call the lab in Kansas?  Or is 3 weeks normal??

Don't panic just yet. 

I was antsy at this point too, called my vet's clinic more than I would like to admit to while waiting!

But it turned out to be four weeks, which my clinic, who had done many titers for the UK requirements, told me was normal. Give it another week.