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Speedferries now take pets!!


Stuart
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Great news!

I've just checked the Speedferries site and they have finally been given the go ahead to carry pets on the Pet Travel Scheme.

They are charging £15 per pet each way.  Usual rules apply - i.e. pets stay in the vehicle.  Still, with a 50 minute crossing this is much better than most other carriers.

Also, the prices are really cheap.  You can get a £50 return at the moment for travelling anytime from now to end of 2005

http://www.speedferries.com/ 

 

Stuart

 

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I've been a bit reserved about taking my dogs on the "Fast catamaran" services after I saw P&O warn about it being noisy which might trouble your pet.

Does anybody have experience of taking their pet (dogs) on these fast catamarans ? and if so, what is the "nature" of their dog ("really laid-back", hyper active, excitable, etc.).

I tend to get nervous as there is little you can do once on-board is there are problems (given that you are not allowed to stay in the vehicle to help keep the pet calm).
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I have taken my two dogs (a Jack Russell and a Collie X) on the Hoverspeed Seacat from Newhaven to Dieppe several times.  This is a 2+ hours crossing and we have been over in smooth and rough seas.  The dogs have always seemed to have fared better than us, so I don't have too many worries about Speedferries (fingers crossed!).

 

Stuart

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[quote]We have often taken the Sea Cat with Hoverspeed and had no problems with the dog at all. The good thing is that it is quick from Calais to Douvres. Our dog isn't nervous though, she is very relaxed.[/quote]

Hi Fanatic!

this time we came out to France on the Sea Cat from Dover to Calais in 3 metre seas! I think our cats were better sailors than a lot of the people aboard! We have a large cage for them and we give them food, drink and a litter tray. Normally we travel overnight on the Portsmouth to St Malo, Brittany Ferries crossing but I think they found the fast crossing better as we are a long time apart with the BF one.

It cost us £30 return for each cat though which is more than BF!

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Quote: we are a long time apart with the BF one

I don't know if you are aware (or maybe already take advantage of it), though on the Brittany Ferries crossings you are allowed to visit your pets in your vehicle.  I have only used the Portsmouth/Caen crossings overnight and every time have gone and asked the night steward if I can visit the animals and he has taken me to the car deck, let me in and allowed me to check they are well.  This is not an informal "if he is cooperative" but is an official thing (as I asked at the information desk on a crossing before taking my pets).  I don't know if it applied to other crossings or daytime crossings but may be worth asking if it would suit you (etc.).

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[quote]Quote: we are a long time apart with the BF one I don't know if[/quote]

Yes I always check on the cats with the steward but I still think that from 8.30 pm to 7.30am the following morning is an xxx long time for them to be on their own in their cage even though we do break it up with a visit before we turn in.

With the Speed Cat they are only on their own for an hour. Yes the journey by car is longer but they do sleep most of the way, waking up for snacks at service stations when we need comfort breaks ourselves.

It is interesting that on uneven English roads they mew and complain but get onto smooth autoroutes and we hear nothing from them! Have you found the same?

 

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  • 2 years later...
To those of you that have taken cats - how large a travel cage have you used - one just big enough for a litter tray cat bed and a feed / water staion - or something larger....and have you used "feliway spray" a sort of aromatherapy for cats to keep them calm. We're taking ours via BF to Caen overnight at the end of the month and he usually sleeps with us - so is not going to enjoy being stuck in the car - but he hates driving even more.....
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Yes, the topic was started over two years ago now.

It can be hot and noisy on the car decks of the catamarans, and by their very nature you can get more diesel fumes, but most are well ventilated. In fact if the ships are not suitable, the carrier will not be granted a licence to carry animals under the pet passport scheme.

Regarding visiting the animals during longer crossings, I would like to correct one misapprehension in an earlier post. Maritime rules do not allow passengers on to the vehicle decks during the voyage. But there is a concession in that pets can be visited, but only under the supervision of a responsible crew member. If and when this allowed is up to the carrier, with the final decision down to the master of the ship. P&O tended not to allow visits when it was running on the western channel, whereas Brittany Ferries generally does, though sometimes the master will decide that the conditions are not right, or that he cannot spare a crew member.

Most animals are surprisingly tolerant of ferry travel. One of our rescued dogs now lives with my sister in England. He has always been distressed when left alone - so when he came back to visit France, sister chose to travel via St Malo on the Pont Aven so that she could use the on-deck kennels. But dog was far happier on his next journey, in his cage in the car down below.

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  • 2 weeks later...

We have been using the PETS scheme on speedferries for over 2 years now.  We travel approxiamtly every 6 weeks. The pets are put on last so that they spend the least time on the boat so that they do not get over stressed. We have never had any problems travelling except for once when the vet had wrongly stamped the pssport and we could not travel.  Speedferries were first class. They found us a hotel in Boulogne that took pets and found us a vet to sort out the other vets error.  All this happened on a Sunday night.  We only have good to say about them and will continue hopefully to be satisfied customers.  We know some people sometimes say that the PETS system is complex but we have never had any issues and look forward to travelling regularly.

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  • 2 weeks later...
We took our dog on a fast Catemeran: they were handing out leaflets concerning the bad sea conditions upon entry: too late by then though!

We'd been advised to give her 40mg of diazepam -- I gave her 10mg: she looked shocked at the end of the trip!

Wouldn't do it again. Or maybe I would, but test her on gradually increasing amounts at home first to make sure she could handle the therapeautic dose first.

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