Jo_b
27th November 2006, 06:17 AM
Hello,
People were very kind and reassured me on the forum when I was thinking of taking our two rescue cats to Wellington.
Well, now they've arrived safe and well I thought I'd share my experiences.
We used Airsupply Shipping, based near Heathrow. They organised only the shipping element and I did all the vet stuff and delivered them to the Airsupply office in the morning about 5 hours before the flight so they could arrange the handover with Air NZ / getting the final vets sign-off.
It cost £829 for both cats (by far the cheapest, though my primary reason was that Michelle at Airsupply was helpful, reassuring, and I'd been told by someone who'd used them that they were good). It would have been about £100 cheaper but I opted to 'upgrade' to a bigger than standard box (Airsupply supply a good robust box included in the price).
Before you start, call DEFRA to get the forms you need to send off in order to get an export health certificate. They will also send you a doc with all the requirements for export in (see http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/regulat/forms/ahealth/inttrade/exa1.htm)
DEFRA will then send the correct paperwork to your vet 10-14 days before departure.
Your vet needs to be registered with DEFRA in order to sign the paperwork so check they are either with DEFRA or the practice before you start.
When you've done that, think about the requirements. As well as having normal jabs and a microchip, you will need to organise the following (requirements taken from MAF/DEFRA docs):
1. Apply to SVS (State Veterinary Service) for Export Health Certificate (2593EHC). (see above) Needs to be completed by an “official veterinarian” who is appointed by DEFRA to carry out export certification.
2. Negative Hookworm test results. On two occasions 14 days apart, being within 30 days of export.
3. find your Micro chip details and vaccination cards
4. Treatment for internal parasites: Treatment within 21 days of export and within 96 hours of export (“treated with broad spectrum anthelmintic(s) effective against nematodes, cestodes and trematodes, at the manufacturers recommended dose rate(s)”)
5. Treatment for external parasites: Within 48-96 hours of departure (“the animal was treated with a topical application of Fipronil at the recommended dose rate”).
6: Checked for signs of infectious or contagious diseases and free from external parasites Within 4 days of scheduled date of shipment.
This is the Timeline I did to check I had everything covered, based on a departure of 24th Nov:
Date: 1st: Hookworm samples sent to VLA Weybridge
6th (being within 21 days of departure): Treatment for internal parasites
13th: Second hookworm sample to VLA Weybridge
14th: SVS send Export Health Certificate to vet
21st (being within 96 hours, but not less than 48 or more than 10 days of departure): topical application of Fipronil for external parasites, and anthelmintics for internal parasites. LVI completes and certifies first two sections of official Export Health Certificate (last section completed by the port veterinarian).
In terms of hookworm tests, I just got the forms from the VLA Weybridge (one of the government veterinary labs) website and took samples myself (poo from the litter tray!), and sent them off direct. The results then went back to my vet. I've heard other people say that they'd had to take their cats to the vet and wait for them to poo there - my vet knew what I was doing and was fine with that - saved a lot of stress on the moggies. Hookworm tests cost £22 per cat per sample, so min £44 per animal. Other vets bills were about £125.
I booked all the vet appointments based on my timeline and all went fine.
You will need to be able to provide a NZ phone number and contact name because the airline will want to speak to someone before the cats fly to confirm that they will be there to collect.
On flying day I drove them to Airsupply and handed them over, and about 30 hours later my boyfriend collected them from the cargo office in Welly. MAF charged us $58 (I think) in fees.
They've apparently been suprisingly unfussed by the whole experience, and apart from being a bit tired, hungry and a bit thirsty they seemed happy and settled within 12 hours! This is a big surprise as I thought they'd at least hide under the bed for a few days! They are generally quite timid, and tend to hide when new people come to the house so they've coped better than I'd hoped possible.
So, all in all, a smooth operation, and I'm much happier knowing they are there safe.
People were very kind and reassured me on the forum when I was thinking of taking our two rescue cats to Wellington.
Well, now they've arrived safe and well I thought I'd share my experiences.
We used Airsupply Shipping, based near Heathrow. They organised only the shipping element and I did all the vet stuff and delivered them to the Airsupply office in the morning about 5 hours before the flight so they could arrange the handover with Air NZ / getting the final vets sign-off.
It cost £829 for both cats (by far the cheapest, though my primary reason was that Michelle at Airsupply was helpful, reassuring, and I'd been told by someone who'd used them that they were good). It would have been about £100 cheaper but I opted to 'upgrade' to a bigger than standard box (Airsupply supply a good robust box included in the price).
Before you start, call DEFRA to get the forms you need to send off in order to get an export health certificate. They will also send you a doc with all the requirements for export in (see http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/regulat/forms/ahealth/inttrade/exa1.htm)
DEFRA will then send the correct paperwork to your vet 10-14 days before departure.
Your vet needs to be registered with DEFRA in order to sign the paperwork so check they are either with DEFRA or the practice before you start.
When you've done that, think about the requirements. As well as having normal jabs and a microchip, you will need to organise the following (requirements taken from MAF/DEFRA docs):
1. Apply to SVS (State Veterinary Service) for Export Health Certificate (2593EHC). (see above) Needs to be completed by an “official veterinarian” who is appointed by DEFRA to carry out export certification.
2. Negative Hookworm test results. On two occasions 14 days apart, being within 30 days of export.
3. find your Micro chip details and vaccination cards
4. Treatment for internal parasites: Treatment within 21 days of export and within 96 hours of export (“treated with broad spectrum anthelmintic(s) effective against nematodes, cestodes and trematodes, at the manufacturers recommended dose rate(s)”)
5. Treatment for external parasites: Within 48-96 hours of departure (“the animal was treated with a topical application of Fipronil at the recommended dose rate”).
6: Checked for signs of infectious or contagious diseases and free from external parasites Within 4 days of scheduled date of shipment.
This is the Timeline I did to check I had everything covered, based on a departure of 24th Nov:
Date: 1st: Hookworm samples sent to VLA Weybridge
6th (being within 21 days of departure): Treatment for internal parasites
13th: Second hookworm sample to VLA Weybridge
14th: SVS send Export Health Certificate to vet
21st (being within 96 hours, but not less than 48 or more than 10 days of departure): topical application of Fipronil for external parasites, and anthelmintics for internal parasites. LVI completes and certifies first two sections of official Export Health Certificate (last section completed by the port veterinarian).
In terms of hookworm tests, I just got the forms from the VLA Weybridge (one of the government veterinary labs) website and took samples myself (poo from the litter tray!), and sent them off direct. The results then went back to my vet. I've heard other people say that they'd had to take their cats to the vet and wait for them to poo there - my vet knew what I was doing and was fine with that - saved a lot of stress on the moggies. Hookworm tests cost £22 per cat per sample, so min £44 per animal. Other vets bills were about £125.
I booked all the vet appointments based on my timeline and all went fine.
You will need to be able to provide a NZ phone number and contact name because the airline will want to speak to someone before the cats fly to confirm that they will be there to collect.
On flying day I drove them to Airsupply and handed them over, and about 30 hours later my boyfriend collected them from the cargo office in Welly. MAF charged us $58 (I think) in fees.
They've apparently been suprisingly unfussed by the whole experience, and apart from being a bit tired, hungry and a bit thirsty they seemed happy and settled within 12 hours! This is a big surprise as I thought they'd at least hide under the bed for a few days! They are generally quite timid, and tend to hide when new people come to the house so they've coped better than I'd hoped possible.
So, all in all, a smooth operation, and I'm much happier knowing they are there safe.