Things To Prepare Before Exporting Your Pet

Please feel free to print this guide and refer to it while you’re preparing for your pet’s travel.

1. First things first, make sure your pet is fit and healthy enough to travel by air. We send pets of all shapes and sizes all around the world. We have sent 20-year-old cats to New Zealand, 10-week-old puppies to Bermuda and everything in between. We also fly plenty of pets with existing medical conditions. As we are owned and run by vets, we are more than happy to take a look at your pets history, to make sure they will be safe and sound throughout their journey.

2. Research the requirements for your chosen destination. Choose where you want to go and when. Some destinations require months of planning.

3. Make sure your pet has a working, ISO compatible, microchip.

4. Ensure your pet has all the necessary vaccinations to travel to your destination. Contact us for a list of requirements.

5. Treat your pet for internal and external parasites. If you don’t already treat your pet regularly, start now. If they show any signs of internal or external parasites (even flea dirt) on their final health check, they won’t be allowed to travel. Some destinations require treatment just before flight. However, if your pet has obvious parasites prior to this, you need to treat them.

6. Consider getting your pet a haircut and/or a warm coat. If you are going somewhere hotter than the UK (most do!) then your pet may appreciate a short back and sides prior to flight date. Equally, if you are travelling to a much colder climate, your pet may appreciate a coat while he/she acclimatises to the weather.

7. Organise a travel crate for your pet. Make sure you check regulations from the UK prior to purchase. Lots of websites state that their kennels are safe for air travel, when in fact they wouldn’t be accepted at check-in. At PetAir, we build bespoke travel kennels to suit all shapes and sizes as part of our service.

8. Make sure you have all the correct paperwork in place. Different destinations require different paperwork. These vary from a fitness to fly certificate to DEFRA health certificates; import permits to CITES documents.

9. Book your pet onto a flight. There are some airlines that will let you do this yourself. However, most require the use of an agent such as PetAir to do this on your behalf.

10. If you are planning on returning to the UK with your pet, check the regulations to return before you go. They can be quite different coming the other way.

PetAir can help you with all of the above. We offer a bespoke service, which covers every aspect of shipping your pet to another country. We can offer everything from a simple flight booking to a full door-to-door service. Get a free online quote today or call us on 01725 551124. 

Mon Aug 22 2016