Moving to Edinburgh with 2 cats

Hi everyone-

I am moving to Scotland in September with my boyfriend and 2 cats. I have done exhaustive research on the PETS Scheme but I still have a few questions considering this is the most complicated process I've ever been through! I am hoping some of you that have gone through this will be able to help me.

1) One of my cats already has an AVID chip and one is not chipped. I am trying to figure out if AVID chips are acceptable to get them into the UK (without me having to buy a scanner). If so, I am just going to get my un-chipped cat chipped with AVID and then get them chipped again in Scotland in case they get lost. My understanding is that standard U.S. AVID chips are readable by customs officials in the London airport. Does anyone know if this is true/not true?

2) The cats are going to the vet in a couple days to get their rabies shots. As it is, we are behind on the whole 6 month blood test thing and my boyfriend may have to stay behind a couple weeks until their 6 months are up. Does anybody know approximately how long vets wait to do the titer/blood test after giving the rabies shots?? I have heard up to thirty days but I was wondering if people have had different experiences....?

3) I have been looking at apartment listings in Edinburgh on the web and it seems that nearly all of the apartments there say "No Pets Allowed". Has anybody had much experience living in Edinburgh with cats? It is so strange to me, seeing as though in Atlanta you can live almost anywhere with a cat as long as you pay a pet deposit.


Thanks in advance for any advice. I am under the impression that Defra leaves out A LOT of information on their website, and I'm trying not to learn the hard way.

Have you spoken with your vet about this?  My vet had moved two pets to the UK just a few months before I shipped my cat over (to Glasgow, actually - we'll be neighbors!), so he knew a few things to get started, but he certainly didn't know everything about the PETS process.  I found myself at a dead end when it came time to send the rabies titer blood to Kansas - have you done that part yet?!  After so much research and frustration, I ultimately decided to use a pet shipper.  He was pretty expensive, but he did everything right and got my Frida to me when he said he would.

Have you considered using a pet shipper?

But to answer your questions,
1) AVID is read in the UK
2) You can do the rabies shot and the titer in the same day

Best of luck to you!

Unfortunately my vet's office is completely clueless. They gave me the number to the Federal Vet (i.e. the local USDA vet) so that they could give me advice, but they haven't gotten back to me yet. I am taking both the cats (Sneak and Prudence) into the vet to get their rabies shots in 2 days- so no, I haven't done the blood test yet. Sneak is getting microchipped as well.

I suppose I will have to wait and talk to the vet on Friday and see what he says about when we can do the titer, but I wanted to have a general idea first, since that will dictate when my boyfriend is able to come over with the kitties.

Thanks!!!

We did chipping and vax the same day for our cats.  Just make sure they chip first THEN vax.  Because my cats were behind on their rabies shots, we waited 3 weeks to do the titer.  If they'd not lapsed, we could have done the titer the same day (after the chip and vax).

I found DEFRA to be more helpful than USDA, and I called them.  More than a few times, too.

As for flats, we're not in Edinburgh, but after being in cat-friendly Boston, we were suprised to be met with a lot of pet resistance in London.  We ended up offering to pay an extra 2 weeks of deposit and got a statement from our then-landlord saying our cats were well-behaved. (who knows what that means!)  One estate agent told us just not to mention the cats, but since they like to sit and sun in the windows, I figured that wasn't the best course of action.   

Make sure your vet who is doing the rabies titer blood draw is certified by your USDA veterinary office -- their name should be on the USDA list -- I think this part requires that your vet be on their list though not necessarily the other parts of the process.

Make sure the chip is put in before the rabies shot, and that the titer blood draw is (naturally) done after both of these. So the order must be: chip, rabies vac or booster, blood draw. Equally important is to ensure that some written record is made to confirm that one came before the other; if the UK authorities looking at your paperwork can't see clearly that the correct order was followed, it's going to be a problem. They've got to see that the chip came first basically, so that they know this was the "same animal" all the way through the process.

The Defra website is not updated very well, but if you actually give them a call, you get to speak to usually a live person ultimately, and they can clear up any doubts, queries or potential mistakes. The person I spoke to was great and tolerated a very long series of questions and double-checking of my facts that I needed to do to be sure I wasn't messing up.

As long as all rabise booster shots are up to date, the titer blood draw can be done the same day as that newest shot -- but if your previous shots have lapsed for any reason, the antibodies may not be up to a good level already, and if this is so, that day's new booster will need time to work it's magic and raise your cats' antibodies to a level that will pass the titer. In this case, you may have to wait a couple of weeks to let the levels rise --- I was advised to do this...after which, when the results eventually came back, my cat passed with sky high levels plenty beyond the "pass" level. But usually, yes, if all shot are up to date already, you can do the "new" one and the blooddraw right after it, same day. You need the FAVN document for your vet to fill out and send with the blood sample to the Kansas State University, the only lab in the US acceptable to the UK for the results.

Just be sure that chip is the very first thing, and is recorded as being so.

I just spoke with the Georgia USDA office, and she emailed me some helpful information about what THEY require from the vet. She also answered my first two questions and I will put her answers here in case anyone else wants to know.

1) The microchip does need to conform to ISO 11784-11785. She suggested I call AVID to find out if Prudence's chip conforms to this. If it doesn't, this is going to be somewhat of a problem because my vet's office didn't seem to know where to get these. Then again, I was talking to the secretary, not the vet.

She may be wrong about this. I have heard from various sources that all AVID chips can be read at the London airports.

2) She also confirmed what the previous posters have said about the titer. The blood test can be done the same day as the vaccination if the cat is up to date. If not, the vet has to wait 3-4 weeks to do the blood test in order to give the antibodies sufficient time to build in the blood.

One of our cats is up to date with her rabies and one is not (my boyfriend's!) which stinks. I guess Prudence and I will be going to Scotland together while the "boys" stay behind for another 3 weeks  

I would be happy to forward the USDA instructions to anyone who needs them.


Thanks!!! Any further tips or recommendations would be welcome....

Thanks!!! Any further tips or recommendations would be welcome....

Blue ink!

Get handwritten-"anything" done in a blue pen and not black, because the UK authorities believe that black pen can resemble a photo copy, and they want originals in everything. They even drop water on all handwritten information, then smear it to make sure it is pen and not from a copy machine; that's how fanatical they are that everything is an original document and not a copy.

Some sources have stated that only the vets' signatures have to be in blue pen, but the person at VIP Pet Transport who guided my through some of the PETS process, insisted that everything had to be in blue ink....

....I still don't actually know if that is for real, but, I went ahead and did it anyway! My entire Eu form 998 is in blue pen, as well as all other hand written things on other paperwork. I still wonder if she was messing me around, but oh well, my cat got through with no hitches so it worked even if it was overkill.

....I still don't actually know if that is for real, but, I went ahead and did it anyway! My entire Eu form 998 is in blue pen, as well as all other hand written things on other paperwork. I still wonder if she was messing me around, but oh well, my cat got through with no hitches so it worked even if it was overkill.

Ours is all in blue ink as well!  I wasn't taking any chances.    Overkill -- or at least being fanatical about following the instructions to the letter and double and triple checking just to be on the safe side -- is definitely a good thing when every step is examined so closely.  I drove myself (and my husband) nuts, but our cats sailed through Heathrow ARC. 

Staying super organized and knowing the process backwards really helped a lot.  I didn't find this place until I was into the waiting phase, but it was/is a great resource. 

I also read somewhere (dont ask me where at this point!) that dates should be written in European date format (dd/mm/yyyy), so I have asked my vet to do this as well.  He hates me for the blue ink thing, but I've insisted on that too

I even had my vet change my pet's name in their system to "Pets Name - Microchip Number" so that her number is attached to everything as this is the ultimate identification. This way, her number is on EVERYTHING printed.  No idea if that is necessary or not, but it makes sense to me!

Hi there!

I moved two cats to the UK from Athens in October 2006, via BA World Cargo, and worked with the USDA vet in Conyers to get all my paperwork verified.  Things may have changed a bit since then, but feel free to PM me if you have any questions.  As for the ones above:

1.  My boys have HomeAgain chips which were read just fine at Gatwich ARC; I believe AVID are similarly acceptable, but don't quote me on that. 

2.  Midnight blue has answered your second question as I would have.

3.  As for cat-friendly rentals, I've found that it widely varies from place to place, and we've had luck with both letting agencies and private landlords.  Our method (we've lived in three places since moving over) has been to find a place with at least part-laminate flooring, because the major objection with pets is that they'll ruin the carpet (a lot of people seem to be confused about indoor cats!), regardless of whether or not the listing says they'll accept pets, book a viewing, make enthusiastic noises and convince the people that we're perfectly normal folks with angelic kitties (instead of holy terrors), then convince them to ask the landlord if they'll be okay with the pets.  So far we've only had to pay an extra bond once - and that was for a fully-carpeted flat!  Definitely don't offer to pay extra unless it looks like you'll be totally out of luck otherwise, and remember, it's a renter's market right now - most landlords are desperate for tenants, so will agree to things that they normally wouldn't.

Whereabouts in Atlanta are you, if you don't mind me asking?

I also read somewhere (dont ask me where at this point!) that dates should be written in European date format (dd/mm/yyyy), so I have asked my vet to do this as well.  He hates me for the blue ink thing, but I've insisted on that too

I even had my vet change my pet's name in their system to "Pets Name - Microchip Number" so that her number is attached to everything as this is the ultimate identification. This way, her number is on EVERYTHING printed.  No idea if that is necessary or not, but it makes sense to me!

Yes! Date format! To be on the safe side, ALL dates should be written in the UK format, day first, then month, then year, and not month first as the US does. My vet thought that was weird too, along with the blue pen (I became notorious for my blue pen I always brought with me!).

I agree with Ophinky, it's better to go "overkill" on all this, instead of under. There are so many tiny details like these, which will actually be enough to jeopardize the smooth entry of your pet to the UK, that it's best to just do everything in the most overkill way you've heard, to be sure to "please" the folks who have your pet's future in their hands, this side of the journey.

The whole thing drove me (and my then-partner) crazy with stress too. Personally I'm not good with any kind of change, and I didn't fare well with all this, mentally and emotionally, even though I got my cat through with flying colors in the end result. Others can take it easy handling this process but it IS so stressful thinking about being responsible for mistakes and their consequences, that it's very hard not to go a little crazy. I needed a lot of support and it helped ruin my relationship  as he got tired of giving any... (But that's just me; and I guess the relationship wasn't that strong anyway. )

Whereabouts in Atlanta are you, if you don't mind me asking?

I live in Midtown actually.

Thanks for all the advice!! Thank goodness for forums like these or else I would be completely lost. I feel a lot better now that I know the process more thoroughly.