4 cats to France?

[suein56]

As we intend spending a long holiday in France - at least 3 months - we want to take our 4 cats with us. The cats have their passports - what I need to know is: can we take all 4 with us?

Defra is quite happy, but what about the French equivalent? I am sure I read somewhere, but cannot remember where, that you could only take 3 pets into France. If that is so, would it be better to export them and then re-import them to the UK later?

Any help/ advice/ info gratefully received.

Sue

[Dog]

All I can say is that the French didn't even look at our dog or ask for his papers. All they seem to ask for is that animals arriving are healthy.

[suein56]

Dog

I would love to think that would happen to us - it would make the journey a lot easier. Our cats are healthy, it's just that there are so many of them!

I recall someone posting that they had to get dispensation from a Paris official for their myriad of pets - I could try that route if anyone can remember who that official was and/or the contact number?

Sue

 

[Dave&Olive]

We are in the processes of taking our three cats with us to france in march so sure someone will say i am wrong but still.!!!

1 you are allowed to take 3 pets to france. ( but this is per person)

2 rabies jabs then 4 weeks later back to the vets for blood tests. 3 weeks later you get the results if they prove positive to the antibodies they will issue you your passports and you can take them to France (or any e.u. country) but you cannot bring them back to the uk for 6 months from the date the passport was issued

3 rabies jabs in the uk last for 2 years but in france only 1 year

4 brittany ferries (we have just come back today st-malo-portsmouth) will let you leave your cats in your car in cages and if you see the night porter will let you visit your cats because the bars in the kennels are too wide

if this is gibberish please excuse me just set of from 79 at 5 am french time and got home at 10 10 pm local time

[Will]

A couple of things about ferries to add to Dave & Olive's post.

Brittany Ferries is normally very good about letting owners check pets, while crew members also carry out regular checks on all vehicles carrying animals. Other operators are not so good - P&O for example on the western channel would not allow access to the vehicle deck at any time. Pont Aven (which is currently operating the St Malo service) is the only BF ferry with built-in kennels, for the other ships your pets stay in your vehicle, in their cages.

All cross-channel carriers have limits on the number of animals that can be carried per voyage. This can be as low as 10 or 12, depending on the operator's licence. So if you need to take three or four, particularly at popular times, it's a good idea to book well in advance.

[suein56]

Thanks to everyone for the helpful replies.

I am going to ring BF - I think we will be going Plymouth to Roscoff or Portsmouth to St Malo - re the number of cats question. One Defra official said that the French rules were: max of 3 cats per person into France, another said 3 cats per journey (not a problem taking 2 cars so should be regarded as 2 separate journeys), another said 3 cats, in total, per family - that was when I became worried as I do not want to arrive on French soil and be refused entry for 1 of the cats.

I haven't managed to contact the pet booking department of BF yet - they seem to be v busy - but when I do I also want to ask about pet carrier sizes. Does anyone know if there is a recommended size of carrier for the size of the pet?

Sue

[I1]

I’ve always discussed all my (pet related transport) questions with the normal Brittany Ferries ticket line. I was not even aware there was a separate phone number.

Brittany Ferries do limit the number of animals of each ferry (20 each trip I think) so you might need to book in plenty of time if you are booking for 4 (almost a quarter of the limit for the ferry).

I would try asking you local vet about carrier sizes.

I have heard that the Pont Aven kennels are not used for the cross-channel trips but only for the longer trips to e.g. Spain. I’ve never travelled on that boat so don’t have personal experience.

If you are two cars, I don’t see how they would associate the two together so whatever the rules may be (which I don’t know), I cannot see how they would be enforced. That said, every time I have entered France with my dogs they have been totally ignored by customs. Certainly, arriving at Caen (and Portsmouth) you don’t have to stop and declare your pets. All the paperwork is checked by Brittany Ferries and nobody else worries though I suppose they probably do spot checks occasionally).