[martinp]

The paperwork, vaccines etc are not a problem, and all is underway to bring a cat from the UK to NZ.

Can anyone indicate please what the events and time lines are once the plane lands at Auckland? How long typically does it take before the cat can be taken home?

Thanks a lot.

[victoria]

Hi Martin
Speaking from personal experience,it could be between 1 & 3 hours. It depends on the MAF vet attending at the time of arrival.My dog was actually avail within 45 mins!

[Pip]

We watched our cat's flight land at Christchurch, and 25 mins later, she was handed over to us. that said, she was checked by the MAF vet at her stopover/landing in Auckland, so that may have made a difference.

They certainly seem to try and do everything as quickly as possible to minimise the stress/disruption.

btw - our cat is loving new zealand - I'm so glad that we brought her. It also helped us feel much more settled.

[migratory birds]

So MAF examines the cat, turns it over to you...then do you transport it to a quarentine facility?

Ooohhh! I think from the UK you're very fortunate in that you get to take the animal HOME (!!!) from there...but Americans (unless traveling from Hawaii) then put it in a quarentine facility for 3-4 weeks (this'll be harder on me than the cats).

If it needs to go into quarentine - do the owners meet the animal at the airport, MAF examines - then who brings it to the quarentine facility? MAF transport? Or owners transport and the facility reports its arrival?

[srivett]

I agree :) It must be nice to know you can meet them at the airport and take them home already.

We're bringing our cats from Canada, so the conditions are pretty much identical to those for the US. There's a minimum 30 days in quarantine. The quarantine facility is responsible for picking the animals up from the airport and taking care of all customs clearance. As long as the paperwork is all in order, they're taken to the facility and looked after until they're released by an MAF officer after a final medical exam. Visits allowed in between, of course.

[Croft]

I'm glad we'll be able to take our cat home immediately, but 30 days is an awful lot better than only a few years ago when NZ and the UK used to insist on 6 months. When my parents moved back to the UK from the Netherlands our cat at the time had to spend 6 months in quarantine.

[srivett]

but 30 days is an awful lot better than only a few years ago when NZ and the UK used to insist on 6 months.


Oh, definitely! We might have had to reconsider bringing our two cats along if affording 6 months in quarantine had been an issue :(

[Pip]

So MAF examines the cat, turns it over to you...then do you transport it to a quarentine facility?

Ooohhh! I think from the UK you're very fortunate in that you get to take the animal HOME (!!!) from there...but Americans (unless traveling from Hawaii) then put it in a quarentine facility for 3-4 weeks (this'll be harder on me than the cats).



spot on! Anyone coming from the UK is lucky enough to be able to take their cat home straightaway - no quarantine needed. (although you are required to keep them indoors for 30 days - although no one ever came and checked). I was quite shocked -although very pleased, as I'd expected her to have to go into quarantine. My heart goes out to those of you who have to have their pets go into quarantine, but I'm sure it will go quicker than you think...

[Tattie]

Hi there,

just wondered which companies you used to transport your cat. So far we have had quotes from PAR and Air Pets.

Have you had any bad reports on certain companies? Or are they all much of a muchness?

As we live in Lincoln it's not going to make much difference for the transport side of things.

Many Thanks

[martinp]

Thanks to everyone for your info. We also contacted MAF to get a reading as the cat will, upon arrival, then be taken on an internal flight and we were nor sure of the process. They couldn't have been more helpful, but they did indicate the maximum time for import could be as much as 4 hours depending on the number of animals arriving at the time. There is a vet at the airport 24 hours a day, so an early flight arrival will have no extra delays.

We were told that they want to get the animals through the import process as quickly as possible. So hopefully it will be a short delay like some of you have had.

Once again thanks, and we'll let you know how it all goes.