International Pet Travel Guide

Planning a trip and want to have your pet travel with you. Use our international pet travel guide. Countries will vary but this will have some resources to help.

Disclaimer: This guide is in no way an official document for pet travel but rather a research tool to provide information from our experience. Everyone’s experience may differ and we take no responsibility for success or failure of international pet travel.

People were ecstatic to hear about our year long hiatus we were taking to travel all over Europe However, they were also very skeptical about us bringing our cats.

Now it seems strange to many but in all honesty, anything more than a few days away from our little furballs is unacceptable to us. Making it a necessity in our minds for them to come along. So, in order to make it possible there is some red tape you have to navigate.

International Pet Travel Guide: Countries

Since many countries have their own requirements there unfortunately is no universal guide. To get started go to this government website to see what your destination county requires. Then we will go over the most common requirement the health certificate:

First go to the USDA/Aphis Website to check for your individual country’s requirements.

Depending on your destination the requirements can vary. In many but not all cases it will require a health certificate. The link above has proper health certificates. Here is the process for the Health Certificate:

• Microchip: Has to be an international microchip so be sure to be specific (ISO compliant)
• Rabies vaccine: Has to be administered after the microchip is in but can be on the same day
• 21-day waiting period: After steps1-2 there is a 21-day waiting period that must happen before the next exam.

Completing the Health Certificate

• USDA accredited Vet exam: Within 10 days of entering the destination country a USDA accredited vet must complete the Health Certificate. Timing can get tricky. If you are arriving in your country on Feb. 4^th the earliest you can get the exam is Jan. 25^th . This also has to take place after the 21 day waiting period so be sure to get your dates right.
• USDA and Aphis. Completed health certificates require a USDA signature and Aphis seal. Generally, the USDA signature and Aphis seal can be done in the same location. This process was just going in with the finished health certificate paying the fees and leaving with a signature and a seal.

Here is a link to locate the nearest USDA/Aphis accreditation office.

Conclusion

This is the most common requirement when it comes to international pet travel, but be sure to check your destination country. They can have things from Import forms to a 30-day quarantine upon arrival, yikes! So, check and be thorough because we know as much as anybody, they aren’t just pets, they are family.

For anyone traveling with cats or to France specifically, we just went through the process and you can see our experience as well as some tips to keeping the kitties as happy as possible on the flight here.