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Cat coming to France


sclarke2208
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Hi,

Can anyone on this forum confirm that all I need to do before I come over is to get my cat , a) michochipped and  b) rabies vaccinated. I wrote to Defra and they say that is all I need to get a Pet Passport for PERMANENTLY coming to France. However, my vets are insisting that she has a blood test even though I have shown them the reply from Defra stating that it is not required for ENTRY into France. Interestingly, there are several posts on this subject where the animal hadn't even been checked on exiting the UK!! I do wish this ( and other subjects ) could be made simpler.[8-)]

roseysan

 

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hi

 ok there are 2 ways to fetch your cat over , you can just export it  and by pass the pet passport system , if I remember you do not even need a rabies jab to bring them here because there is none in the uk, tell your vet you just want to export them .

     Dave

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We moved (a year ago today!) with our 3 cats, who all had pet passports - & each one was checked (the dates of their jabs & blood test results etc.), by the airport cargo staff, before we were able to have them flown over.  "Dave & Olive" are correct in saying that you don't need it - but if you get an official who wants to do everything by the book (& beyond) you may run into difficulties.  There are so many stories of people being told different regulations & rules I would play it as safe as possible & get the blood tests.

I couldn't agree more that it should be simpler - but when do the Civil Servants, who write legislation, ever make life simple (speaking as an ex-Civil Servant ..... from the Department of Agriculture [8-)]!!)

 

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There is only ONE way that you can legally bring a cat from the UK to France.  (The old export certificate which Dave talks of was discontinued some time ago).

To enter France, you need an EU Pets Passport (this is the ONLY document you need and is the ONLY document which will legally allow your pet entry into France at this time. To get this, you need to have your cat microchipped and then vaccinated against rabies.  There may be a wait (I think it is three weeks) before the passport can be issued after the rabies jab, but your pet most definitely does not have to have a positive blood test result to leave the UK and enter France.

In many circumstamces you will find that the paperwork isn't checked upon entry into France but it is more likely to be checked by the ferry/train/plane operator before you travel (as they would be liable for the costs if the pet is refused entry into France). You may need to point out to them that you are on a one way ticket and will not be returning to the UK - in which case you may even get away without having to "scan" the microchip.

If you ever want to bring your cat back into the UK however, under current legislation, then it would need to have the blood test and receive a positive result. The cat cannot re-enter the UK until a period of six months has elapsed from the date that the blood sample was taken.  In view of the timescale attached to this condition, it is strongly advisable to have the blood test done anyway - just in case unforeseen circumstances give need to you having to return to the UK. You can, however, wait until you arrive in France and have this done by a French vet (which may well be significantly cheaper than in the UK) and the details can still be entered into your UK issued EU Passport.

It can all become very confusing because, quite often, even DEFRA give out wrong advice and UK vets regularly give out wrong advice - or if one wanted to be cynical, one could suggest that they prefer to recommend the course of action which nets them the biggest fee !

If you still fell you need any further help and advice then I can reccomend this company:

http://www.cani-excel.com/pet_passport_helpline.asp

which will help you out with confirmation of any regulations that are giving you cause for concern.

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