Help! Considering Quarantine ~

Hi Everyone!

I've just joined the forum this morning and have been reading all of your posts about bringing animals into the UK.  There's lots of great information here!

We currently live in Egypt with our dog (and 2 young kids!) and are planning a move to London this summer.  We were originally going to fly her back to the states to do the PETS requirements there.  She can live with my folks in Montana.  However, my husband and I have been having some serious second thoughts about this as our plans are coming a bit unraveled.  The short of it is, my husband's mum might not be able to come out to look after the kids while I'm away bringing the dog back to the states.

Also, I'm super concerned about our dog flying all the way from Egypt to the states and then back to the UK.  She's nearly 8 years old now and hardly drinks anything during a normal day.  When we brought her to Egypt from Houston she didn't drink anything while in the kennel.

Does anyone have any experience using a British quarantine kennel?  How did it go?  We're thinking about the Wey Farm kennel as it looks nice and is somewhat close to where we plan to live. 

Thanks in advance for any guidance you've got! 

Laura + Trudy (the dog!)

My only experience with a quarantine kennel was when my cats had to stay for a few days to get vet clearance when we moved from Singapore 7+ years ago.  Singapore was one of the first countries on the pets scheme and at that time they had to clear through a quarantine kennel.  They were well taken care of and it looked like the dogs were as well.  The people running the kennel were a bit strange and not really 'people' people but the people that run the cattery we use when we travel are the same way but the cats are very well cared for.  Check to see if they are approved by whatever kennel associations there might be here.  Only you know what is best for your dog.

Hi ,

  I went to England with 3 cats in Dec. One of them was confiscated at London Heathrow and taken to quarantine because his mircochip had vanished.

I found the quarantine too cold, lonely and isolated for him to spend 6 moths there!I returned to the states with him a few weeks ago to wait out his quarantine at home.

The dogs did seem to have much more room than cats. They also had an outside area.
If you choose to go with quarantine, I would research them carefully and make sure it is close enough for someone to visit your dog often.

BTW quarantine is also very expensive. 200 to 300 pounds a month for a cat.

   Good luck to you and your pooch:)

Gosh, sorry to hear about your cat losing her chip ~ that's really awful.  I can only imagine how upset you were to have done everything perfect only to have something happen that was completely out of your hands.  Best of luck on this second trip in.

I appreciate all your comments about quarantine etc.  I've also been considering the PETS program more closely.  I found a direct flight from Cairo to NY so I'm thinking of flying to NY and then staying over night there.  There would only be a 1h45m layover if I continued to Salt Lake and I'm worried about getting the dog through customs and then checking her on.  I think it would be better just to spend the night in NY and travel the rest of the way to Montana in the morning.  If I traveled the next morning I found a plane that flies from NY to Montana stopping in Minneapolis.  Its an Embraer 175.  I think its a bit bigger than the CRJ 100 or 200 that United flies into Montana.  I'm a little concerned about the size of her kennel.  I'm looking at buying one here that's 33"T X 27"W X 39"L so I need to verify that it will fit on the RJ. 

And then there's all the worry and concern about dealing with a vet in Montana - not the most international of places...  Argggg!  I'm thinking of asking my brother if he could take our dog for a 6-7 month stint in Salt Lake, perhaps it would be slightly better than MT. 

Does anyone know of a good vet for the PETS program in either Billings MT or in Salt Lake?!

Thanks again, I've gathered a lot of courage to go through the PETS program from posts on this site!!!!

Laura

Oh, one more thing!  I've already had the homeagain chip put in our dog.  We did it for our trip out to Cairo.  We thought we needed it.  Turns out we didn't need any paper work to get into Egypt - but that's another story all together!!!

I've still got the receipt from the vet that did the microchipping back in Jan 2005.  I assume that I can just use this receipt for my PETS paperwork?  And, then just have the vet scan her right before the rabies jab and note it in his/her notes.  And, then again scan her right before taking the bloodwork?  Is this correct?  Does anyone have any experience with microchipping a long time in advance?...

Also, while I have your ear, I read on a "wiki how to import a dog into the UK" that said its a good idea to use one of the 4 authorised rabies vaccines in the UK: Canigen, Nobivac Rabies, Quantum Rabies and Rabisin. As the vaccine must be approved in the country of use." quoting DEFRA.  Does anyone have any experience with this?  Is this a must do or can I have her jabbed with a USDA approved rabies vaccine?

Thanks again!!!
Laura