SallyC

Yes, we have brought the cat to France twice now and even I am satisfied that nothing is required other than passport, rabies vaccine and chip. I did however take him to the French vet prior to returning to Uk on first trip with cat and they were absolutely adamant that he needed to be treated for ticks and worms. They knew nothing about the changes from the start of 2012.

Thanks for your reply. How Long do you have to vacate the room for after applying this stuff?

We have a Lot of new wood in our house and not much of the old Wood left. Do we need to spray it with something repellant for various Wood boring creatures Prior to varnishing etc. If so, what do you suggest? Sorry about the capitals by the way, it's the computer trying to be clever!

You haven't annoyed me Martin! I didn't mean to provoke such discussion! I work in the world of human medicine and such ambiguity wouldn't be acceptable there so ditto where my cat is concerned. It is my Professional nature to have the facts clear and nailed Down! I am Off to the Wood Department now!

Hi, i have just received our predeparture Email from Brittany Ferries. They are far more expliicit than DEFRA. They say cats do Not Need any tick or tapeworm treatment just rabies vaccine, chip and passport.

Hmmm, thanks for all the replies and discussion. Actually, I feel no further forward, the English vet did tell me that DEFRA were 'difficult'!! Cat will be visiting French vet 4 days prior to departure for appropriate treatments and a nice note in his passport. I don't want any trouble at Calais/ Caen or anywhere else thanks! Thanks again all.

Yes, the woman I spoke to gave me the call reference number that can be accessed if there are problems. Does anyone actually have any experience of them still checking the pet passport for evidence of de-ticking and worming?

Hello again. I spoke to DEFRA today and the lady confirmed that cats DO NOT have to be treated by a vet in France prior to returning to the uk. I mentioned that the advice on the website was rather ambiguous and suggested they should add a statement along the lines of 'cats do not need to have tick or worm treatment administered by a vet in France' ! I think the ferrets are exempted now too but don't quote me on that!

Thanks for replying Idun. I have looked at DEFRA website and they say worm and tick pre return to uk only applies to dogs. I think I will ring them tomorrow!

Hi, I am sure this has been covered before but I can't seem to find it. We are bringing our cat to France soon and there is confusion around the need for tapeworm and tick treatment prior to re-entry to the UK. I have spoken to my UK vet today and he says the cat needs to be treated by a French vet 1-5 days before return and his passport stamped accordingly by said vet. DEFRA only talks about dogs and worms and vets etc. my interpretation of this is that cats only need to have a microchip, a passport and a rabies vaccine within the last 3 years and no extra treatments. He does of course have his routine monthly treatments for ticks and fleas etc . Can anyone who has brought a uk prepared cat back in to uk since the DEFRA requirements changed this January please advise me? Many thanks......

Hi, We decided to employ a project manager (he is an architect) mainly because we envisaged there would be lots of problems with progression of works if we didn't.We live in the UK and knew we wouldn't be able to visit all the time. We already had devis from various artisans for masonry, plumbing, electrics, carpentry before we appointed the architect. With the exception of one of the artisans, we went with the ones we had the original devis from. Using the architect has turned out to be the best decision we could have made. There are all sorts of things that you don't realise need to be done to achieve the result you envisage and the architect knows about all this and can guide you, hence you go into the actual work with a fairly accurate idea of the costs involved. The architect handles all the contracts with the artisans and time manages the work very tightly. We are about half way through the contracted works now and things seem to be well on schedule. We have a detailed gant chart (which all the artisans have to sign prior to work starting to agree they will attend at those times) and we get weekly reports from the weekly site meetings, plus photos from the architect. Our original devis changed an awful lot between the initial ones commissioned by us and the ones now contracted for. Of course, the cost has changed (upwards of course) but I can imagine if we had tried to do it without the architect, we would have kept falling across unforeseen major issues with huge expense. The architect also exercised his creative views (at our invitation) and has greatly improved and enhanced the property as a result of this. We definitely get a thrill of excitement whenever we see photos or even better, get to visit. Yes, the architect does cost money but if you can't be there yourself and more to the point, don't know EXACTLY what you want to do and how it needs to be achieved, and want to avoid going nuts, I would suggest getting one. Good luck!

I agree. The bay has been dead without Barfleur's comings and goings and for us it is the most convenient crossing - just 10 minutes from home to the ferry. I wonder what their schedule is going to be. The late night crossings were particularly useful. We were bereft for lots of reasons when the service was withdrawn. I did think that Barfleur had been scrapped though.....

Jimmy, reason I phrased the question in the way I did is because we have been fairly 'assuredly' advised that a certain (in my opinion, rather high) price was standard connection fee. Your response has at least assisted us in that there is obviously no 'standard' fee and therefore it would not be possible for anyone other than EDF to say what this is. Obviously I would expect the electricians to have some idea but its not their work to give a devi or quote on.

How much do EDF charge for connection? Our newly acquired property currently has no electricity supply to it (there is a box right outside which the electricians say they can use) and no internal wiring. We have devis for the actual installation of the electrics but wondering about final connection. I know that the installed system has to be inspected by a body prior to EDF and there is a charge for this... Thanks in anticipation!

We need an English speaking project manager to oversee a renovation project in the La Roche Chalais area north of Bordeaux. Does anyone know of anyone suitable in the area they could recommend please? Many thanks