about to start PETS, few questions

My kitty has an Italian Pet Passport from when I moved from Italy to California. She was able to fly as my carry-on from Italy via Germany to San Francisco. It was such a relief for me being able to pet and see her anytime I wanted.

My question is, if I decide to take the train into the UK not to avoid any steps because I know that is not possible, will she be able to fly as my carry-on again instead of as excess baggage? Or does that ruin her quarantine process? Example; flew direct SFO to CDG(paris) as my carry-on and took the eurostar into London. Is that do-able or am I being completely rediculous?

Are there any advantages to her having a passport now?

Also, are most vets USDA certified? To double check, just find the USDA number and call and give the details of the vets?

This may be a stupid question as well, but when she is quarantined that means no going outside, right? Not even on my balcony?

I think that's it for now...I know I will have plenty more!
Thanks in advance

My question is, if I decide to take the train into the UK not to avoid any steps because I know that is not possible, will she be able to fly as my carry-on again instead of as excess baggage? Or does that ruin her quarantine process? Example; flew direct SFO to CDG(paris) as my carry-on and took the eurostar into London. Is that do-able or am I being completely rediculous?

I'm not sure about carry-on. I looked into it for my cat and dog and had the option to fly them as "excess baggage" (basically the exact same thing as if she went cargo, but at 1/10th the price). I think carry-on for pets is being phased out (because the crates required are tiny), but I don't think DEFRA cares how the kitty gets to France as long as she comes in from France the correct way.

Looking at DEFRA's site, though, the only approved rail route from France is Calais -> Folkstone, so you can't take the EuroStar from Paris. You'd need to look into that further. (My plan was to fly to Paris, train to Calais, ferry to Dover, train to London, FWIW.)

Are there any advantages to her having a passport now?

Definitely. Assuming that her rabies has been kept up-to-date, that counts as all her documentation. Come to think of it, if her rabies is up-to-date you may be able to skip the 6-month quarantine altogether, since she has the proper documentation already. I'd call DEFRA and ask. (I know if I took my pets to the US for a visit and came back, they wouldn't need a quarantine, but they've already been approved to come into the UK.)

Also, are most vets USDA certified? To double check, just find the USDA number and call and give the details of the vets?

I think most are, but yes, just call and give the vet's details. Make sure to identify the person - my local vet practice had 4 vets but only one of them was certified.

This may be a stupid question as well, but when she is quarantined that means no going outside, right? Not even on my balcony?

Assuming you mean the at-home part, no. My cat and dog lived their normal lives for 6 months at my house. The 6-month wait is purely to make sure they don't contract rabies (as its incubation period is 6 months, so they could've been bitten by a rabid animal 5 minutes before vaccination and still become rabid 5 months and 29 days later).

Good luck!

Thank you so much!

I guess I should have looked at the approved rail/ferries first before assuming it was that easy. It was just in December that I had her as my carry-on but after thinking about trying to catch all the different trains, I'm not sure if I want to do that and now I know how she acts on a flight. Might just be easier to have the direct SFO to LHR.

I'm definitely going to call DEFRA about her passport. Sure would be nice if I could skip all this!

Another questions, I'm currently living with my mom who has 3 cats of her own, is she allowed to interact/live (although they don't like her and avoid her!!) in the same house while she is quarantined? I honestly don't know when the last time they were vaccinated and my mom doesn't keep them up to date. (trust me I had a nice discussion with my mother on that!) They are indoor/outdoor cats.

Another question, as I'm looking at her medical records...

She received a Rabies Killed Virus on 29 Dec 2008 for 1 year, same day also received her Microchip with the 15 digit number. Then received on 11 Jan 2010 (due to appt difficulties) a FVRCPC (just a vaccine correct?) and her rabies shot for 3 years.

The thing is, each vaccine she has received, they put a sticker stating if it was live or killed but the recent rabies shot she received was handwritten by the vet with a stamp and number, no sticker. How do I know if the last rabies shot is a live or killed virus?

Correct me if I'm wrong but the rabies vaccine must be an INACTIVE virus.

Also, is it time for her yearly vaccine again? How often are you suppose to vaccine your pet?


AHA! I just found her Health Certificate for when she flew over to the states... In the rabies immunization data it states as follows..

a. PRODUCER  b. LOT NUMBER  c. VIRUS TYPE  d. DATE VACCINATED  e.VACCINATION DURATION
     MER              12531B            KIL                 11JAN10                    3 year(s)



which means it was inactive? and I can just go to the vets and do the blood draw that's if her passport doesn't suffice?

Sorry for all this, I'm heading to the vets today but I live in a small town and want to be prepared if they have no clue!

We flew my cat carry-on from CA -> DC in the 90s, and our vet gave us kitty valium for her. I don't think being carry-on made any difference to her (though the valium certainly did! took her about 3 days to "come to" , but sedation isn't allowed anymore for health risk reasons). Anyway, I don't know that it's necessarily any easier for them if they're in the cabin with people or in the hold - it's still a very strange, scary experience. (Talking to the airline people about the hold, they've learned the best environment for them so that they're most likely to settle down and sleep for the trip...I don't know if that's as likely if they're in the cabin.)

Another questions, I'm currently living with my mom who has 3 cats of her own, is she allowed to interact/live (although they don't like her and avoid her!!) in the same house while she is quarantined? I honestly don't know when the last time they were vaccinated and my mom doesn't keep them up to date. (trust me I had a nice discussion with my mother on that!) They are indoor/outdoor cats.

My cat was indoor/outdoor during his quarantine, and he lived with 2 other cats who weren't doing the PETS process. Like I said, the wait is purely to rule out any last-minute rabies infection, not to act as a "real" quarantine (like if you skipped the PETS process). My dog and cat lived a completely normal life (aside from extra vet visits) until they flew to the UK.

Also, is it time for her yearly vaccine again? How often are you suppose to vaccine your pet?

Since it's a 3-year vaccine you should be good until January 2013. "KIL" should equate to killed/inactive.

I would double-check with DEFRA to see if your passport would be OK (though going by your dates, it looks like vaccination may have lapsed between December 29, 2009 and January 11, 2010). If not, you should be good to go with the blood draw.

Also, are most vets USDA certified? To double check, just find the USDA number and call and give the details of the vets?

as equestrianerd said do call to verify........i called usda in raleigh to see if they had a list of nc usda vets.........he said i would have to call him back with a name and he would check it.......but did stress to me to call him back as many vets say they are usda when they actually arent.........come to find out my city only had two actual usda vets of the six names i gave him

This forum is definitely a life saver!

I can't thank you enough equestrianerd!

I contacted the USDA, my vet is certified. woo hoo! I'll be contacting Defra soon. I'm in the process of writing an email, as I wanted to make sure they understood all the dates but I think I will call them beginning of next week. If the passport is a no go, my kitty is at least scheduled to get the blood drawn on Tuesday. That means the 6 months starts on the day it is drawn, correct? So, 6 months from 8 February which, if passed, she can fly after 8 August?

Also, equestrianerd or anyone else, what brand cat crate did you use? I read that their paws can't go through any openings. How did you attach food and water? Can anyone attach a picture or I can google if you let me know the brand and such. She has only used a soft kennel and I want to buy her hard kennel asap so she can get use to it.

One last thing, for now , has anyone flown out of SFO? Experiences out of there? I'm also trying to decide between British Airways or Virgin. Any suggestions or experiences with either airline? I'm leaning more towards BA.

I used this kennel, in size intermediate for each of my 2 cats.  I ordered it from PetSmart online.  It's probably larger than my small cat needed, but it was a good fit for my giant monster kitty.  

I bought food and water dishes that attached to the crate door -- each had a lip to help prevent splashing.  Some people had success with a water bottle like you'd use for a bunny or hamster, but we just went with the little bowls.  I filled and froze them in advance so they'd melt gradually and spill less.  The airline told me they'd top them up through the door once the cats were on board the plane.

We flew out of Boston on Virgin and had an excellent experience.  

I contacted the USDA, my vet is certified. woo hoo! I'll be contacting Defra soon. I'm in the process of writing an email, as I wanted to make sure they understood all the dates but I think I will call them beginning of next week. If the passport is a no go, my kitty is at least scheduled to get the blood drawn on Tuesday. That means the 6 months starts on the day it is drawn, correct? So, 6 months from 8 February which, if passed, she can fly after 8 August?

That is correct. If your rabies vaccine wasn't lapsed from Dec 09-Jan 10, you should be good to go (aside from getting the tick/tapeworm stuff done). Otherwise you'll be done by August.

I flew BA out of DC, and they were great. I debated using Virgin, but BA ended up being cheaper, so that's what I went with.