Pet Passport??

Would I be right in thinking because it states 'I have SEEN an official record...etc, etc' that we don't need the vet that carried out the tests and blood work to sign ans stamp it?  We could ask any other approved vet to do it for us as long as we have showed them the seriological test results?

Thanks again1

As far as I know, yes you are correct.  The same vet does not need to follow you through the process.    But you will have to show them the test results AND the rabies vaccination certificate for them to complete the form.

Nearly ready to have the cats sent over to us finally!!!!!  Now that we can afford to!!

Is there any time needed to wait to fly, from the date we get the USDA Endorsement?

The cats were allowed to travel six months after the rabies titer (March 11th)...we would like them to fly on or around July 28th. We were wondering if there will be any problems with them flying so long after the six month mark or are they able to fly any time after the six months?

Thanks!!

They can go anytime, provided their rabies vaccination hasn't lapsed.

My pets were done with the 6 month wait in December 2009 and they flew in April 2010 with no problems. You just need to fly within the 4-month window (based on the USDA endorsement). And, presumably, you'll need at least 24 hours between the USDA endorsement and the flight because you need to get the tick/tapeworm treatment done.

Hope that helps.

They can go anytime, provided their rabies vaccination hasn't lapsed.

My pets were done with the 6 month wait in December 2009 and they flew in April 2010 with no problems. You just need to fly within the 4-month window (based on the USDA endorsement). And, presumably, you'll need at least 24 hours between the USDA endorsement and the flight because you need to get the tick/tapeworm treatment done.

Hope that helps.

...and we would be correct in thinking that the USDA endorse it before the tick/tapeworm?  Do the USDA not need to endorse it after the tick and tapeworm treatment?

Thanks again

I think the USDA can endorse it whenever. They're endorsing the bloodwork/6-month timeframe, not the tick/tapeworm treatment. So it's probably easier to get the USDA thing done first, then the tick/tapeworm since that's got the 24-48hr window and you'll be rushed trying to get all of that squeezed in pre-flight.

Plus, once the USDA endorses it, your 4-month travel window starts, so you'd have plenty of time to book the flight and do the tick/tapeworm stuff.

OK...FINALLY we are ready to book the flights for our kitties. 

We were just doing some last minute checks and found that the Rabies Vaccination Certificate does not have the microchip number on there.  Is this going to cause a problem?

Also the website that we have been looking at states: Letter From Your Vet: Please have a typed letter, on the Vet’s Company Letterhead, which states the date the microchip was implanted.  Please include the microchip number and the Pet(s) information (name, breed, sex & age) * Please note – if the Rabies Vaccination and the blood draw date were done on the same day, please state that the vaccination was given BEFORE the blood was drawn.  We will need this letter signed by your Vet – in BLUE ink.

We do not have this.  What we have is the rabies Vaccination Certificate, the FAVN Report and the stamped FAVN-OIE Rabies antibody test results and stamped EC998.

We are due for booking the flights in a couple of days once the USDA have endorsed the paperwork.

This is the website we found this information on - it's slightly worrying that we haven't heard some of it: http://www.petrelocation.com/pet-travel-scheme-or-pets

Please could you let us know if there is anything else you believe we may need?

Thanks

Can you get another copy of your rabies certificate with the microchip number on it? All of the PETS stuff needs the microchip on it, basically, so that it's really obvious what happened to what animal (and everything can be cross-checked against the actual chip in the animal).

I don't know if it will be a problem, because my vet put the chip #s on the certificates, but I do know that my vet here in London said that if they weren't on the certificate, she wouldn't have been able to issue a pet passport (EU) for my pets without re-doing everything (including the bloodwork/6 month wait, I think).

If you have documentation from your vet clearly stating the date the microchipping was done for your kitties, and that date is before the date on the rabies vaccine, you should be fine. Otherwise, I would go ahead and get the letter from your vet, just to be on the safe side.

You do not NEED the letter, but the USDA will most likely not sign off your paperwork unless they are certain about the microchip number and that the chip was implanted before the rabies vaccination.
 
I would agree with equestrianerd that the easiest thing would be to get a new certificate printed from your vet.  I had to do the same thing when I realized the number wasnt on there anywhere and was told that the certificate format that my vet uses does not have a line for the number, so I had my vet add the microchip number to my dog's name (Mirra - 123456789) so that the number would always be printed on any paperwork.   If they cannot do this, then the letter would serve the same purpose.

So...we have just tried to book the flight with Delta and they have told us that the cats cannot fly by themselves as they need to be accompanied.  Since we are in the UK and the cats are in the USA, we were hoping for them to be taken to the airport by the parents and then we would pick them up at Heathrow.

We were just told by Delta that they must be accompanied or booked in with an IPATA pet transport company.

Please could you let us know what are the possibilites...nobody even told us that they weren't able to fly alone.

Thanks for all your help up to now.

C&K

Each airline has their own requirements for travel. When I was looking into it, British Airways didn't care either way and the price was the same whether they were accompanied or not, and Virgin didn't care either but it was more expensive for them to fly unaccompanied.

If Delta won't let you fly them unaccompanied, try calling other airlines to see what your options are. You could also see if you could fly them domestically somewhere and then fly to the UK from there (i.e. rather than fly DC->London fly DC->NY->London, if NY gave you different flight/airline/route options).

Good luck!

Has anyone seen this article about flying a cat to UK via Amsterdam? Granted it's from 2001 but wonder if it's still a possibility to take your cat as cabin luggage, assuming you have the Pet Passport.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/1274035.stm