English speaking vet near gemozac

[Guest CFrost]

Hi Everyone, we will shortly be signing for our house near gemozac dept 17, and we are taking our pooch on holidays!! Does anyone know of an english speaking vet in the local area?  Our french is coming on, but it would help if the vet spoke a little english and we could communicate about fleas and ticks!  As we will be moving permanently to France once we have sold out house in blighty, would we be better to register her when we go in a couple of weeks, or should we wait??(we could be back and forth for a couple of months) Also, for anyone who has had there pet tatooed, how long did it take, did they do under anesthetic or numb the area? our pooch is microchipped, but when we register her, we were thinking of having her tatooed as well as it may be easier if she got lost. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

many thanks

Kimberley and Dusty the pooch

[Guest CFrost]

oops, posted twice..............sorry

[I1]

From my personal experience (not in your area):

If your pet is micro chipped s/he does not need to be tattooed. Micro chips are not that uncommon in France and everybody knows that they are an option. Without personal experience, I would suggest that you get a French vet to check they can read the chip (i.e. it is of a type that the French scanners can read) and that should be fine. When I got my French pup I asked the breeder to have her micro chipped rather than tattooed as I was not keen to have a “dual identity” (e.g. rabies vaccination recorded against the tattoo number and not the micro chip number and then issues returning to UK because whilst they are the same dog, the numbers recorded on certificates is different, etc.). Probably not a problem but I wanted to avoid the potential source of confusion. My UK dog is just micro chipped and his chip read fine every time with French vets scanner.

Once your pet has been in France for 3 months they become French resident and should be registered with the SCC (normally through a vet). The reaction you get when you ask about this can be varied (my local vet has taken over a year to stop giving reasons why this is not necessary and is now supposed to have the forms). My UK dog is still not registered (though vet should have the paperwork by now). Petlog (UK database) can record a French address for your pets chip.

French vets are generally pretty aware of the re-entry to UK requirements and know what is needed. DEFRA produce an A4 sheet with the relevant English/French phrases (a phrase “sheet” for getting your pet sorted for re-entry to UK).

My vet (and a couple of others I’ve visited) do not “register” your pet with their surgery. They don’t tend to keep much in the way of records of treatment for your pet (exception being rabies vaccination certificates and expiry dates). They do have vaccination certificates but just one booklet for all vaccinations (in the UK I ended up with one vaccination record for the CHPPi2L and another for rabies). In France the first time your dog is vaccinated for rabies you will get a blue certificate. In subsequent years red/pink (this is quite important document and my dog club advised me to carry it with me when I was going places with my dogs). Unsure about the legal requirement for being rabies vaccinated in France but in practice you will want to do it (just to maintain the ability to return to UK assuming your done the blood test, etc.). In France rabies vaccinations are every year despite what UK and many vaccine manufacturers say about vaccination frequencies.

None of the above in any way suggests that French veterinary care is inadequate. My experience is that it is excellent, vets helpful, etc. and have no criticisms. Based on personal experience and what I read and been told. I’m not professionally involved – just have a couple of dogs.

If I can be of further help, do ask.

[Chas]

We have used Dr Lebon and Dr Gobert in Cozes (about 15 min from Gemozac) for the last four years. Their surgery is at the start of the town, just off the roundabout on the D730 Royan road. They both speak good English if necessary and have a good reputation locally. Telephone number is 05 46 90 81 01. Hours are Lundi au Vendredi 0900 - 1030, 1400 - 1600 and 1800 - 1930. Samedi 0900 - 1030 and 1400 - 1600 or by appointment everyday 1030 - 1200 and 1600 - 1800.  Hope that is of some use. 

[Mjc]

Confirm that the two vets near Cozes are excellent. She speaks English better than he. I think that they are actually Belgian - whatever difference that makes!

[Guest CFrost]

Many thanks for your replies.  It looks like the vet in Cozes will be getting some new business!!

Thanks again

Kimberley and Dusty the pooch!