Pets from Spain

[Graye]

We have been living in Spain for some years but will be returning to the UK more or less permanently in January next year.  We will be spending the final few months renting a friend's house in the Dordogne.

We have two beautiful Oriental cats, white with bright blue eyes, both originally Spanish.  The first, Uffy, has a full Spanish pet passport, his microchip, rabies jabs up to date with blood test (annual jab here in Spain but no need for retesting as he was re-done before the previous jab expired), etc and could travel direct to the UK.  The second one, Fito, is only about 4 months old and has his microchip, has had his rabies jab, kitten jabs and blood test but does not have his passport.  He has a booklet issued by the Provincia de Andalucia all stamped up and signed but it is definitely not a passport.  This will not be available until six months have passed since the test (ie January 2007).  I am assuming I will be able to ask our Spanish vet to mail me the full passport to France once it comes through and then we just have to sort out tick and tapeworm treatment.

Does anyone know of any legal problems we might encounter having the cats in France for a few months before we travel to the UK? We have assumed we can just drive over the border with both cats without a problem, is this right?  How difficult will it be to find a vet to deal with the tick and tapeworm treatment?  We will be staying near Riberac and probably crossing in to the UK from Calais.  My French (although it was once up to an A level pass) is horribly rusty.  I understand exactly what is said to me and then can't stop myself replying in Spanish and end up totally tongue-tied and jabbering.  I'm sure it will pick up when I'm not obliged to think in Spanish all day but info on an English/Spanish speaking vet might help us!

One final thing - Uffy has a pellet in his backside (long story but don't come to live in Spain if you value your pets!).  The vet decided against extracting it.  Will this give us problems at the UK end?  Do they scan animals in the same way they do humans?  He has a note in the back of his passport about it but it's in Spanish!

 

[Deimos]

To get your Pet Passport you need only the blood test certificate/results and rabies vaccination record (showing the rabies vaccination with microchip number) from before the blood sample to the current day. The Pet Passport can be issued by any French vet. Best thing is to take the blood test certificate into your local French vet and ask if they can understand it OK.

When the Pet Passports came out I was already in France having moved here and visited the UK using UK Pet Travel Scheme paperwork for one of my dogs (the other is French). My French vet then issued the Pet Passport for my British dog based on his vaccination record and blood test certificate (blood test done and certificate issued by a UK laboratory).

I have no idea how easy it is except in my own case where there were no problems at all - French vet happy to do it for free.

French vets are pretty familiar with the passports and what needs to be done so you should have no difficulty (I have not had any problems and my French is very limited).

On returning to the UK via ferry (Brittany Ferries anyway), it is the ferry company that checks everything before you board in France (for the UK) - including scanning the animal. On the UK side I have never been checked (except a trivial question once). My experience is that some Brittany Ferries staff know one end of the animal from the other [:)]Also, anything other than a microchip will not be read by a microchip reader and they have very limited range - thus something it its bum will not disrupt a read around the neck).

In fact a vet can issue a passport without any blood test, etc. The Pet Passport is used for travel (with your pet) throughout Europe. It is only the UK that requires the blood test and wait so it is probably worth getting you Pet Passports from your spanish vet before you come to France (where the blood test certificate will be understood without problems). The bit of the Pet Passport about the blood test just states "I have seen an official record of the result of a serological test for the animal carried out on a taken on date ..... and tested in an EU approved laboratory which states that the rabies neutralising antibody titre was equal to or greater than 0.51U/ml" - which the vet enters the date of the blood sample (from the test certificate) and signs it - no need to wait 6 months for that. The Pet Passport only records when the blood sample was taken (though clearly the section cannot be completed until the blood test results are in).

In fact, you will almost certainly need a Pet Passport to travel from Spain to France (in theory anyway as I believe there are not too many checks made on the border). To travel pretty well anywhere in Europe you need the Pet Passport - but the blood test bit is only necessary for UK (plus a couple of other countries). Same applies to tick & tapeworm treatment for entry into UK.

Ian

[Graye]

Thanks for the info.

I think the general problem with Spain is that animals here don't often travel backwards and forwards to the UK, they tend to stay here once they arrive. On that basis no-one really knows the ropes that well.   We had been dreading the 35 hour journey from Bilbao to the UK with them both locked in the car for the duration.  The long drive through Spain and France was equally as fraught as I had visions of losing one or both of them when we stop.  A stay in France for a few months seems a good compromise.  

I'll see if I can persuade the vet to let me have the blue passport now as you say and just have him mail the blood test results through when they arrive.  I'm sure the French vet will get the gist of what I need.  I did wonder about the strict legality of crossing the French border with him although I have to say that everytime we have come through at Hondarrabia it has taken me a few miles to even realise we are not in Spain (something to do with the general neatness of France I think!) as there is little or no activity or presence at the "border".

Anyone with recommendations for a vet in the Riberac region?  Should I also do something to register the microchip numbers somehow as we will have sold our house here? Will notification go the vet anyway if they get lost and are found?  If so he will have our temporary address in France and I can do a more permanent notification once we are back in the UK.

  

[Deimos]

Blood test results should only take a few weeks max. from the blood sample being taken. Some animals do fail the first test and re-vaccination and another blood sample is necessary. Thus, whilst you can enter France fine without the blood test, do not just assume it is a formality. That said, it is not normally a problem to don't worry to much about it. No idea about your time scales but, assuming you are currently in Spain and have had the blood sample(s) taken, the results should be pretty quick and if its really urgent then I'm sure they can do a "rush job" (maybe cost a little more - no idea how things work in Spain).

Once you get your hands on a Pet Passport its pretty obvious (particularly as it is both in English and the host nation's language). Maybe sit down with your vet some time and go through it with him.

I believe the Brittany Ferries ferry to Spain carries pets and has kennels on board for them for the journey. I believe its the Pont Avon (or something like that).

Best to discuss the micro-chip issue with your vet (see if he will "act on your behalf" or something). Different European countries are not very well connected when it comes to international microchip databases. There is no central European database and what european cooperation there is does not seem to include the French (as far as I'm aware anyway). For example, France (and Italy and a few others) doe snot participate in http://www.europetnet.com/home.aspx.

Dogs wise, if your dog is in France for more than 3 months he/she becomes a French resident and should be registered with the SCC. However, as it will probably take more than 9 months for the registration paperwork to be processed, this will be of little help to you. I must admit my British dog has lived here for nearly 3 years and is still not registered (I think he's just avoiding tax and working on the black).

Ian

[Wozza]

Graye

We moved to Charente from Malaga area last year with nine cats (don't ask!) and a Siberian Husky. Dog and two cats only had the Andalucian pet book, as too young for passports / rabies jabs. As soon as the required time had elapsed (for the dog) and rabies jabs etc done for the kittens, we got our vet to issue the passports here - no problems at all, he is Belgian and seemed quite happy transferring everything from the Spanish books to the passport. The vet also sent off the forms to re-register the microchips under our French address - you get the paperwork back quite quickly, which also includes a section for chenge of address to fill in when you move on.

If anyone is reading this and thinking of moving from Andalucia to France, a word of advice - get your blood tests done there! They were free when we had all ours done and they cost a fortune here. Luckily, we only had to get two of them done!

Generally, I have found the vets here much more familiar with pet passports than those in Spain, I guess because they come across them more.

The border crossing was no problem. I believe that if you have had your animals vaccinated against rabies and microchipped, then you meet all requirements for crossing the border between Spain and France - that is what we were told.

Bon Voyage

Warren

[Eslier]

You will need an EU Pets Passport for your cats to enter France from Spain - but to get this issued, all you need is the microchip and rabies jab, there is no need for the blood test. There is no reason why your Spanish vet cannot issue the passport as soon as the rabies jab has been done.

However, for onward travel to the UK you will need the passport to be endorsed by the vet with the details of the blood test result, so you will need to return it to him for this to be completed once the results are known. The blood test must be taken as cose as possible to exactly one month after the rabies jab, and entry into the UK is possible six months after the date of the blood test (assuming the blood test results are satisfactory).

Before you leave France for the UK you will need to have your cats treated for tick/flea/worms etc. between 24 and 48 hours prior to the scheduled departure time of your ferry.

[Graye]

Thank you all for your input, it's really helpful and informative.

When the first cat (Uffy) had his blood test I was told it might take up to four months to come through.  I've just checked the paperwork and the blood sample was taken on 5th August, arrived with the lab on 10th August and was all stamped up and ready to go on 20th September.  So in fact it didn't take as long as I thought originally.  It seems the vet probably kept it in his file until the 6 months was almost up because I didn't get his passport until 25th January, with instructions not to travel before 5th February.

The second cat (Fito) had his rabies jab on 14th June this year and his blood test on 17th July.  So I suppose I could expect it back sometimes in September.  I think it might be safer all round if I actually was able to take the blood test result AND the passport with us when we leave Spain (likely to be sometime in October.)  That way he will be all set to go to the UK from 17th January without me needing to ask a French vet to do anything or worry about mailing things backwards and forwards to Spain (not the best idea in the world - the postlady is still quite certain after five years that the whole English contingent living in our street live in our house no matter how often I tell her otherwise.  I sometimes think they should be paying me because I work nearly as hard as she does for Correos!).

I'm not sure whether veterinary treatment is cheaper here.  The kitten's first visit (microchip, rabies jab, worming tablet and first kitten jab) was €55 and the second (blood test and second kitten jab) was €65.  I seem to think the blood test for Uffy was €35 so it has gone up in that 12 month period.  On the other hand everything in Spain is increasing in price very rapidly, it's certainly not a cheap place to live any more!  All our Spanish neighbours (we live out in the countryside) think we are completely crazy from the way we take the cats to the vet, etc.  Their attitude is that even if they have an animal loosely regarded as a pet it doesn't live indoors and takes its chances if it becomes ill, ie it gets better or it dies!

We looked into the Pont Aven crossing because they made a big deal about putting your "pet" in kennels.  When I enquired they told me for "pet" read "dog".  Cats still have to stay in the vehicles in case they upset the dogs!

I must admit we are really excited about staying in France for 10 weeks and no dount I will be back on this forum with a host of questions.  You have been really helpful on this point, thank you all.

[Deimos]

Make sure you have the blood test certificates (don't leave them with your vet in Spain). You paid for them and they are the definitive results if there is any question about the Pet Passport (or the Passport becomes full and you need another).

Ian

[val douest]

Just a thought, Graye.  When you eventually come to leave France

for the UK you could go through the tunnel instead of using the

ferry.  That way you will be able to have the cats in the car with

you the whole time which is probably less traumatic for you even if it

doesn't make a lot of difference to them!  We did the trip with

our cat Buzby from the UK to Pau (almost as far as Spain).  We

crossed via the tunnel and made just one overnight stop, in one of the

B et B chain hotels which allow animals in the room.  I can't say

it was something I'd like to do more than very occasionally but it was

straightforward and we all felt better that Buzby was with us

throughout.

Good luck,

Val

[Graye]

Thank you ,everyone, for your help on this point.  I will be off to visit our local vet on Monday evening and hope I can at least come up with Fito's passport if not his blood test results.  We will be leaving Spain on August 10th, leaving the cats in a cattery and will not be back until September.  We had then planned on renting locally for a month or so.  Now we may just come down to Andalucia to pick the cats up and go straight to Riberac so I may need to rely on the vet mailing the blood tests results through to me to take them to a French vet to finish things off with the passport.  It seems reasonably straightforward anyway.  Any recommendations for a vet would be gratefully received though, also a cattery!

I'll look into the Tunnel crossing too.  Actually, one of the cats is very "talkative" anyway so we might be glad of the break the ferry will give us!  I don't think I would mind them being alone for a couple of hours in the car, it was the thought of 35 hours which was concerning me really!

[riberac]

We used to live near Riberac and there is  vet in Villebois Lavelette that speaks English his name is Mr.Ming.No hes not Chinese hes French and speaks English and German as well.

[Graye]

Thank you all for your help on this point, I feel much more confident now!  I'll certainly look out for M Ming as soon as we arrive. It now turns out that the house we are renting is in La Tour Blanche so I'm hoping it's not too far away.  We have a car so I don't mind travelling anyway, the cats should be pretty good in the car after coming over 1000km to get there.  Having apparently encountered your forums resident "grouch" on another part of this site I was beginning to be apprehensive about asking questions but you have all been great - must be something to do with being animal owners!