[sarabear]

Hi All,

I've recently been offered a job in Wellington that I'm very excited about, and my husband and I are looking into what would be involved with making the move.

We'd like to bring our cat with us from New Jersey. I've seen a lot of helpful advice on relocating pets from the U.K., but not much on moving them from the U.S. Has anyone had experience with this? If so, what company did you use, and how did it work out? Our kitty was in a shelter for six months before we got her, so I'm sure she'd be okay in quarantine, but I'm a little worried about the stress of air travel, especially since it would basically be 3 flights to get there.

Thanks!
Sara

[CjChris]

It takes six months for your cat to clear all the tests and procedures involved in travel to NZ, then it will be in quarantine for 30 days here. We used International Pet Transportation (http://www.iptlax.com/) on the US end. When you talk to them, they'll send you all the docs you need along with a list of required tests, etc. You'll need to have a vet that will agree to do everything needed, which includes tests and treatments for your cat along with LOTS of paperwork. IPT will walk you through that process (and I warn you, it is costly).

We had Shado-Lans in Levin, NZ keep our cats for quarantine. We booked their accomodations after our cats had their rabies titre results and we knew that on X date they would be cleared to fly.

They did fine with the flight as far as we could tell. You don't get to be with your kitty other than to drop off at the airport. It was a stressful situation for me because I knew what they were in for!! We have strictly indoor cats, so they were a bit anxious over all the new noises and sights of the airport.

Good luck and congrats on your job offer!

Christine

[Nathan]

Sara,

When you have enough posts to use the PM function contact me by PM if you have more questions.

As Christine wrote, basically, you can quarentine for 1 mo if you do the up-front work in US....for about 6 mo and have adequate records prior to that. Otherwise, you have to quarentine for 6 mo here.

We found Continental to be the best way to get the cats to LAX because they don't have the same temperature restrictions on flying....they have AC vans and don't leave the little beggars on the tarmac.

Welcome to the forum.

Nathan

[Howie]

I used IPT as well for my dog. Also from NJ. He flew to LAX and we spent a night and day there and did his final tests before his flight to AKL. He was happy coming off the flight in LA and even voluntarily slept in his crate in the hotel that night. I think the qurantine was harder than the flight for him (and for me).

[sarabear]

Hi all,

Thanks so much for your helpful responses! This is a big step, and it is v. helpful to know that there's such a supportive forum available to help with all the little things (like knowing the animals have it better on Continental).

I was wondering if anyone knows, is the Shadowlans facility pretty nice? How easy is it to visit your pets there (they say they encourage visits, but for example if they only allow it from 9 to 5 on week days, that could make it tough for a working couple). How easy is it to get to from Welly?

Sara

[Justine+Ben]

Hello all,

I would love some advice about shipping pets from the East Coast of Canada (Montreal) to New Zealand. There doesn't seem to be much info. on the web about it. I have shipped my two cats from UK to USA/Canada before and the process was quite straightforward.

Do I have to take them to L.A. first and then give them to a shipping company there? How long should they remain in L.A. before the flight to NZ?

Can anyone recommend a shipping company?

If anyone has any advice or experience in this matter it would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

Justine :)

[BkyMonster]

So far I am liking IPT for a shipping company. ( http://www.iptlax.com/ ) They specialize in shipping animals to Aus/NZ. We'll see if I still like them once my doggies arrive :D
They are based out of LAX so that does pose some restrictions. I'm a bit sad that I can't fly out of San Francisco. I hate the LAX airport. :(

What I'm doing with my animals is flying them down to LAX from Portland, OR. It is IPT policy that the animals have at least one day of rest (no flying) before going on the international flight. They have kennels or you can get a hotel with your animal overnight (They have a list of pet friendly places to stay in the area).

Basically you would fly your animals to LAX and you can then either pick them up yourself and then drop them off the next day with an IPT representative or IPT will pick them up at the cargo area and take them to their kennels for a day of rest while you fly on ahead.

HTH

[Nathan]

Hello all,

I would love some advice about shipping pets from the East Coast of Canada (Montreal) to New Zealand.
Do I have to take them to L.A. first and then give them to a shipping company there?
How long should they remain in L.A. before the flight to NZ?
Can anyone recommend a shipping company?

If anyone has any advice or experience in this matter it would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

Justine :)

Unless there is some bizarre TSA rule (Of course, there is!) that insists you accompany the cats coming from Canada, you can probably ship them via Continental to LAX. If the pets were coming from anywhere in US, you would not have to accompany them, just take them to the airport and ship them. IPT would take care of them from there..again, assuming they have the same policies for you as for us. They would remain in LA for about a day.
You could then still fly from SF. The quarentine facility would take care of them on this end (NZ end).

Good luck. If you have questions, PM me.

Nathan

[TheDude]

I'm starting the process today, myself. I'm meeting with my vet in a couple hours to notify him of my plans and departure. I'm estimating that it's going to cost me about $3200 to ship my dog to New Zealand.

I'll keep everything logged and updated here for people to use as a reference in the future.

I'm going to use Jetpets due to the high recommendation I've received from this website. I'm going to fly with my dog to LAX where I will then hand him off to Jetpets.

I received this quote via email from Jet Pets.

Booking service: airfreight (Air New Zealand, LAX to Christchurch) $672.81, USDA (endorsements/overtime sealing) $375.00 and handling fee (Jet Pets, Inc.) $420.00 - total $1,467.81 (US)

I'll be using a Quarantine facility in Christchurch which I received the following quote: $1485(NZ) $1143(US)

So before any vet costs or transportation to L.A., I'm already up to $2,611.26 (US) I'll find out soon what the vet costs will be.

Edit: Evidently I can fly my dog from one U.S. city to another as checked baggage on Continental for free.

[BkyMonster]

That sounds about right Dude :)
I'm paying about $2400 for 2 dogs (1 large 1 small) from LAX to Auckland and another $2500 for quarantine for them.

The vet costs do add up as you are supposed to have exams for them with each of the blood draws/microchip checks etc.
The titre will probably run you about $90ish, and vaccinations vary from vet to vet.
I had ISO chips put in my dogs (they now have american standard ships and international ones, ha ) and a lepto vaccine as the quarantine asked for it (though if you can get away with not doing it, do. )

[TheDude]

My Dog's 125khz U.S. chip won't have any problems being read in NZ will it?

[kanatakiwi]

A word of warning to anyone shipping their pets to NZ via LA.

I would be very involved in your animals'stopover in LA, its a massive place and my friend's two cats got left behind on the tarmac and had to stay in their crate for an extra 48 hours while they located them (the owner freaked when they didn't turn up in Auckland as scheduled) and sent them on. Being cats they adjusted and survived, but that would probably have been a serious setback for a dog. Sadly this is not the only horror story I have heard about animals and LAX.


When I investigated bringing a dog from Vancouver, the shipping company there said they only ship through LA as a last resort as it is so chaotic. They prefer to ship via san francisco, or even via Hawaii (their fist choice as it only involves about an hour between flights)

NOt saying that it won't be fine for your pet, but if it were me, I would want to be in LA at the same time as my animals and make sure they got safely off one flight and on to the other. As Howie already mentioned, shipping your pet to LA and then having a day with them in a hotel before delivering them back to LAX and making sure they get on the flight, seems like a good option.

[Justine+Ben]

Hi all other pet-shippers out there :)

As my previous post explained, I am shipping two spoiled cats from Montreal to Auckland this summer. I am currently getting quotes from various shipping companies.

To Dude, is Jetpets US based? I was considering using a US company and going via LAX but I was then concerned that taking them from Canada via USA to NZ might prove tricky with the immigration (their pet crate has to remain sealed, and if they stop in US they must be there at least 24 hours, etc.). Anyone ever used a US company from Canada? The horror stories about pets left/delayed at LAX are worrying.....

I will inform about the cost of quotes (when I get them) for anyone else moving from Canada to NZ in the future.

Also, I was informed today that the pets microchip needs to be of the ISO variety and the standard should be 134.2 KHz to be compatible with NZ.

Justine

[dilanium]

In the US I know that the "Home Again" microchips will be fine. Other microchips I'm not so sure about.

[Tui2too]

Justine and Ben, I'm following your story to see what happens. We're in Ottawa with two dogs and I've found very little information. I appreciate you taking the time to post about whatever you learn!

[BkyMonster]

There are two types of chips. The US small animal standard is 125khz. The international small animal standard is 134khz.
You don't need to put 134khz chips in if your animal already has a 125 (we did anyhow) but if your animal has no chip look into getting a 134khz. The US large animal standard (think, cows, llamas, horses) is 134khz, so it is possible to get them. (There's a whole huge litigation thing as to why the US is different than the rest of the world. :roll)
Not sure, but I think some of the quarantines like you to have the 134 chips, and of course it will be useful for your pet once you are in NZ.
To Justine and Ben:
Both JetPets and IPT are US based. Haven't heard anything bad about either of them, though IPT (what I'm using) only seems to ship out of LAX. They've assured me they'll be picking up, kenneling, and then getting my dogs to the necessary appointments.