Practicalities of taking a cat to England

[olive]

We have sort of adopted a feral cat, which we believe to be a female.

We have got various family members ill in the UK and it won't be long before we all have to go back to help out.

What to do with the cat? We haven't any close neighbours that I would feel comfortable asking to feed the cat regularly.

If we drove and took it with us what is required to get a pet passport?

The only other alternative is a cattery. How much might that be a week?

olive

[El Cid]

If she hasn't been "rabied" then you would have to wait 6 months after she has had the jabs. She would have to be chipped as well. Apart from that the process is fairly straighforward.

A cattery will charge about 6 euros a day and will also expect her to have had a full set of jabs although they would not usually insist on her having had the 6 month blood test to confirm the rabies jab.

Sid

[Miro]

Check with your vet. You definitely have to get her chipped, and get her a passport. To travel to UK, she must be vaccinated against rabies. About 6 weeks after the vaccination, she has to have a blood sample taken to ensure the vaccine has "taken". My cat was done in January. We are still waiting for the results of the blood test! There is a fast track system, I believe, which naturally will cost more, but otherwise, beware, the process can take time. The laboratory which carries out the blood tests is in Granada. Our vet has re-applied for the results, but still nothing. When the results are ready, they are sent to the Comarca Agraria office in Malaga, and you have to go there to collect them. At least, this is what our vet has told us. Anyone got a different experience?
Finally, within 24 hours before entering the UK, she will have to be checked by a vet for ticks.

[Jennifer]

Hi,
See the following site
http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/quarantine/index.htm

From the way it reads 6 months after the successful rabies test then
you can take the cat to UK, and then have special worm treatment 24 -48 hrs before landing on the green and pleasant land
Trouble test results can take months to come through, started down this route in February this year and have just got Pet Passport (August)so not a quick option. If test fails then its start over again.
Regards
J

[Miro]

Jennifer, when you say 6 months after rabies test, do you mean 6 months after the blood test, taken after the vaccination, to check it's created the antibodies? This is how I understand it. Presumably, that's why they take so long sending the results? Because you have to wait 6 months anyway? And did you have to go to a Junta Andalucia office to collect the results? Seems strange to me that they don't send them back to the vet that did the vaccination and blood sample.

[Bongtrees]

You definitely have to get her chipped, . To travel to UK, she must be vaccinated against rabies.
About 6 weeks after the vaccination, she has to have a blood sample taken to ensure the vaccine has "taken". My cat was done in January. We are still waiting for the results of the blood test!
Finally, within 24 hours before entering the UK, she will have to be checked by a vet for ticks.

I am going through the process at the moment for our dog. It took 10 days for the vet to receive the results of the blood test and the document was given to me by the vet with the passport and tag.

All the relevant info is available on the defra web site.

Miro the animal cannot travel until 6 months AFTER the date of the blood test results not the actual injection.
Looks like you need another vet...........there is no fastrack system.

[Jennifer]

Hi Bongtrees,
Sounds like its a bit of a lottery with the vets, you had a very fast turnround on your test results.
I think we had the "normal" service and the whole process took over 6 months.
Regards
J

[Bongtrees]

I was not impressed with 10 days.... I was on the vets back after 7 days.

There is no fast track where I am. I paid 34 euros for everything including the rabies shot, passport and test.

[Jennifer]

Hi Miro,
Yes you are right its 6 months from successful rabies test date, which means you have already had 6 weeks waiting for the anti bodies to kick in before you get the test done.
Like all things in Spain it takes time, so enjoy the sun ,food and wine and it will all come together
Regards
J

[Miro]

The DEFRA website makes it clear that you must wait 6 months from when the blood sample was taken, as opposed to when the vaccination was administered:
"A dog or cat may not enter ........... the UK under PETS until 6 calendar months have passed from the date that the blood sample which gave a satisfactory test result was taken."
I don't see any mention of how long you must wait from vaccination to taking a blood sample, but my vet said you need to wait 6 weeks or so to make sure it's taken. Sounds like Bongtree's vet took the sample immdiately after vaccinating?
Either way, it's now more than 6 months since the sample was taken, so assuming the result is OK when I finally get it, I (my cat, rather) should be clear to travel? Not that he has any holiday plans as yet!

[katy]

I think our Vet said it was from the actual first vaccination date. The tests take ages to return, our Vet fast tracks to Germany. We just went through Granada as no rush. I would recommend that anyone owning a pet to have everything ready as you never know what the future holds. Then we wouldn't get so many people from the UK abandoning animals because they have to return to the UK

[Jennifer]

Hi Katy,
Its definitely 6 months from successful test date as Bongtrees has quoted from DEFRA site, all the "real" info is on that site.
Like you say its best to get all the paper work done as soon as you get a Cat or Dog.
Cost for us was 42e for chip and rabies jab, and 20e for passport
Must also use approved carriers and containers if shipping over.
Regards
J

[Miro]

I was not impressed with 10 days.... I was on the vets back after 7 days.

There is no fast track where I am. I paid 34 euros for everything including the rabies shot, passport and test.

If 10 days is not "fast track" Bongtrees, you're not in Spain. At least, not the same Spain as the rest of us. Either we're all being spun a load of BS, or you've been had! Must admit, I'm curious.

[campo babe]

I think if the cat has already been having vaccinations against rabies then its possible for the blood test to show the required result. The paperwork still takes a long time and in our case it was sent to the vet.

[Miro]

If you are referring to booster jabs, the DEFRA site states that so long as the booster is given within 12 months of the previous jab, no further blood test is required. If the original vaccination consists of more than one injection, the blood sample must be taken after the last jab (obviously?). Maybe this type works quicker? My cat had just one injection.

[Bongtrees]

Looks like I have been shafted by yet another so called Spanish professional.

I am off to the vets now to ask why they stamped and signed to say the test was done in an an EU lab and issued my dog a passport when quite clearly in Spain it takes foreever and not 10 days.

Looking on the website of the lab in UK the test can be done in 48 hours so heres to another 6 months wait.

[Jennifer]

Hi Bongtrees,
When you go to your vets ask to see the form that comes back from the test lab, and check the dates.
Its possible to get things done quickly but very unusual here in Spain.
If all is in order then you could offer your services for "fast tracking" pets through the system
Regards
J

[katy]

Results also have to be stamped by the junta de andalucia.

[peteroldracer]

So there goes at least three months!!

[Miro]

Results also have to be stamped by the junta de andalucia.

Which is why I was told I have to collect them from the Comarcal Agraria in Malaga (opposite the bus terminus by the port). The Santa Fe lab in Granada does the blood testing for all of Spain (!), hence the delays. They then send the results to this office in Malaga to be stamped by the Junta, and then collected by the client. The only way around this, apparently, is to send the blood sample to, for example, Brussels. Quicker, but costlier. This is how my vet explained it to me this afternoon. So maybe Bongtree's test was sent abroad, but if so, I'm amazed the total cost for everything was only 34€