Emigrating and then returning with pets

siobhan.m

Hi, I wonder if anyone has experienced emigrating and then returning to Ireland with their pets. I'm asking because my boyfriend recently left Ireland to work in the UAE; it was going to be a temporary move but he's been asked to stay out there more permanently and I will be joining him if that's the case.

The problem is we have 3 cats who will be coming with me, there's no way I will be leaving them behind and I've already done a lot of research into bringing them over with me. To bring them into the UAE there are no quarantine restrictions and they would be able to come directly home with me when they landed. But I'm thinking about the fact that I don't want to live there forever and will more than likely come back to Ireland within the cats lifetimes - 2 of them are 3 years old and the other is around 5, he was a stray so not sure. Has anyone done this? I guess there will be quarantine when they come back but I'm worried that they wouldn't get back in at all.

fatmammycat

I moved to Spain and back with three cats, it is totally doable. When I knew I was returning to ireland I had to begin the travel process 6 months in advance, I got in touch with the dep of agriculture and they told me exactly what was needed, forms etc. The animals are weighed, bloods taken, assigned a number, given a rabies vaccine and I then filed papers for their passports, 10 days before they were due to travel they were given a tablet by the vet for a stomach parasite and had bloods checked again, the passports are then stamped and signed by the vet.
Arriving in Ireland the animals were taken from the place directly to Lissadell BY the vet's carrier people where all paperwork was checked against each animal, mine had to stay over night as one of the passports was missing one date on a signature- totally pain in the ass an cost an extra 80 Euros!

But like I say, all totally doable. Good luck!

zyndacyclone

http://www.agriculture.gov.ie/pets/

UAE is on the list of approved non-eu countries, so you would be able to get a pet passport. Most vets with a large practice will have enough experience with this to fill you in on the details. If your current vet hasn't dealt with it before, it's worth using one that has done. The list: (http://www.agriculture.gov.ie/media/migration/animalhealthwelfare/eupetpassport/qualifyingcountriesandterritories/listqualifyingcountries200910.pdf)

As regards personal experience: Your cats seem to be young enough to handle to travel well. I flew from the USA to Ireland with a cat under a similar scheme and it was stressful as hell. I had nightmares for a month. The cat was fine. I got a seat with a window over the luggage bay of the transatlantic flight and saw the cat loading. I was having panic attacks and the cat was having a blast inspecting the suitcases. Wouldn't recommend it with an older or unhealthy cat, but fine with a youngish one.

This is just an after thought, but I think that the EU Pet Passport requires 6 months after the initial date of travel before you return. So, return travel dates would have to be planned well as vaccinations take weeks to clear. But quite doable. http://www.agriculture.gov.ie/pets/getapetpassport/

siobhan.m

zyndacyclone wrote: »

http://www.agriculture.gov.ie/pets/

UAE is on the list of approved non-eu countries, so you would be able to get a pet passport. Most vets with a large practice will have enough experience with this to fill you in on the details. If your current vet hasn't dealt with it before, it's worth using one that has done. The list: (http://www.agriculture.gov.ie/media/migration/animalhealthwelfare/eupetpassport/qualifyingcountriesandterritories/listqualifyingcountries200910.pdf)

As regards personal experience: Your cats seem to be young enough to handle to travel well. I flew from the USA to Ireland with a cat under a similar scheme and it was stressful as hell. I had nightmares for a month. The cat was fine. I got a seat with a window over the luggage bay of the transatlantic flight and saw the cat loading. I was having panic attacks and the cat was having a blast inspecting the suitcases. Wouldn't recommend it with an older or unhealthy cat, but fine with a youngish one.

This is just an after thought, but I think that the EU Pet Passport requires 6 months after the initial date of travel before you return. So, return travel dates would have to be planned well as vaccinations take weeks to clear. But quite doable. http://www.agriculture.gov.ie/pets/getapetpassport/

Thanks, that's put my mind at rest - l. I think it'll be me stressing more than them as well! Were you allowed to sedate your cat at all? I have one cat who is extremely nervous and doesn't handle stress well. I used the Feliway plug-in on him before and it worked wonders so was going to get the spray for his cage or look at sedatives.

teeky

I am planning a similar trip with my two dogs to Canada and can completely identify with the worries associated with it.
The main problem I am having is trusting the crew assigned to look after them if they need to transfer flights or are ill etc during the flight.
Considering Canada is so far and there are no direct flights from Ireland, I am nervous about handing them over to strangers to take of. They are the two most precious things in the world to me.
Any reassurance or advise would be really appreciated.

siobhan.m

teeky wrote: »

I am planning a similar trip with my two dogs to Canada and can completely identify with the worries associated with it.
The main problem I am having is trusting the crew assigned to look after them if they need to transfer flights or are ill etc during the flight.
Considering Canada is so far and there are no direct flights from Ireland, I am nervous about handing them over to strangers to take of. They are the two most precious things in the world to me.
Any reassurance or advise would be really appreciated.

I'm the same, it's the thought of someone else being in charge of them that reall/ worries me. I know you can pay to send them with pet transporters carriers who will look after them but I don't know if this is available on all flights. I have started looking at these companies, such as http://www.transworldgb.com/pet.php but I am only in the very early planning stage so haven't made enquiries yet and don't really know how it works. I would guess it would be relatively expensive but for peace of mind it might be worth it.