Cats to USA from France

[CarolineM]

Is there anyone out there who has experience of relocating from France to the US? I will need to get my cats there at some stage in the next year, and I thought I had better investigate the feasibilty of relocating them.

If anyone has any advice or knows where I would find out the procedures, I'd be very grateful.

Thanks
Caroline

[Jsensiba]

LAST EDITED ON 15-Jun-04 AT 10:59 PM (BST)

Hi;

Should not have a problem - just make sure the shots are current and to be safe get a letter stating the health of the cats.

We have friends who fly back and forth with their dog often!

Be aware that some airlines are more pet friendly than others - Britair is pretty good.

Send/take the cats in the winter months, summer is hellish in the hold!

The airlines should have some information about what is required. NO quarantine scam in the USA, vet bills are high but not as grim as the UK.

Julia

[Tink]

>Is there anyone out there who
>has experience of relocating from
>France to the US? I

Hi Caroline,

We relocated last year with our 2 dogs and a cat from California to France.
If you check the French embassy website in the US you will find the regulations.
http://www.info-france-usa.org/intheus/customs/7000.asp

Your cats need to be microchipped and vaccinated against rabies. You'll also need a health certificate no more than 10 days before departure for each cat you'll be taking. Your vet has the health certificates and will fill them out for you.

I wrote some tips in an earlier thread, 2 years ago, about flying with pets. You can read them here: http://www.livingfrance.com/cgi-bin/dcforum/dcboard.cgi?az=show_thread&om=138&forum=DCForumID24&archive=yes

Things you have to look out for are; the temperature when flying, US shippers won't fly pets below or above certain temperatures, check with your airline, and always try to have a direct flight as a lot of pets go missing or escape during lay-overs.

We couldn't get a direct flight and choose to fly from SF to Amsterdam instead with KLM/Northwest. I have flew with them before and they have excellent service.

Please feel free to ask more questions if needed, I'll be happy to answer them.

--
Tink (22)

[CarolineM]

Thank you both for your help. Yes, we will be leaving France (I can't quite believe it myself!) but the information is still useful.

The cats have had a wonderful time here, living between three farms. My new partner is emailing them photos of chipmunks so they know what their new life will bring!

Thanks again
Caroline