About International Pet Travel

Have you ever wondered what it takes to get a dog into Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands? Or a cat to the urban jungle of Shanghai, China?

 

Most people are familiar enough with the process of international movement of people-- a passport, sometimes a visa, a plane ticket, and a suitcase of weather appropriate clothing is generally all that is needed to see the sights of the world.

 

For cats, dogs, birds, and other pet species, the process is often much, much more involved. Some countries, like those of the European Union, have pet passport systems in place that allow for easy movement between member nations. Other countries, like Australia and New Zealand, can take months of prep time in order to have everything lined up to enter due to their lack of certain infectious diseases. The cost and extent of testing required can vary tremendously between countries. 

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If you are considering traveling the world with Fido or seeing the sights with Fluffy, it is recommended that you reach out to your veterinarian as soon as you are considering making the trip. Some destinations can require over 6 months of lead time in order to get all of the requisite testing and paperwork performed. If the process is started too late, your pet might get stuck in quarantine at their destination for months-- that’s no fun for anyone! 

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Here at VIP@Home Vet we are fortunate enough to have a veterinarian that enjoys the minutiae of pet travel-- Dr. Q. She has written health certificates for pets to every continent in the world (minus Antarctica because really other than penguins, who needs to travel there?).

 

Dr. Q is also trilingual and has studied a total of 6 languages (Latin, Portuguese, French, Italian, German, Cape Verdean Creole) over the years which means that she is probably very jealous of your pet’s final destination. Please give us a call so that we can get your pets documents underway!