Cats on a plane – emigrating with cats

We watched the cats leave in a van on their way to the airport and had our first true emigration ugly-cry. It’s ridiculous, why should that – more than any aspect of the move to that point – make us cry? But even now, months later, thinking back to that moment makes me emotional. I think it’s probably down to the fact that we see Bentley (our Ragdoll, also called Meep) and Leia (our Siberian, nicknamed Toddles) as our kids. Wouldn’t you be emotional sending your kids off on two international flights all by themselves? Well we were. And if you think it’s ridiculous that we view two fluffy cats as our children, that’s on you really. But if you’re like us, and you’re planning a move to another continent, you’re probably wondering what’s involved in emigrating with cats.

I will be upfront with you, it is frightfully expensive, logistically complicated, and emotionally taxing. But – and I cannot emphasize this enough – it is all worth it for having your family together when you’re setting up in your new country. So how did we go about doing it? Well we hired a pet travel agency called Aeropets. Whilst it’s very much possible to move your pets over DIY, neither CF and I had the emotional capacity, mental capacity or time to arrange a DIY (after all, we effectively had a month to pack up our lives and move). So we paid the money and hired the experts.

The process

Truthfully, we did start the planning much more than a month in advance. The whole process will likely take you at least three months, but more realistically six. And that also depends on your final destination. For our first step, we joined a Facebook group called EMBARK South Africans Emigrating With Pets, which gave us a ton of relevant advice including detailed steps on DIYing our two to Canada. That detail decided us on using an agent… But, on the highest level, to move to Canada, both furballs needed the following:

1) ISO-approved microchips;
2) Up-to-date vaccinations, most especially the rabies vaccination;
3) A rabies titre test to prove the vaccinations were effective; and
4) State vet export documentation.

When we adopted Bentley and Leia, we had microchips implanted by our vet (this is important, you can’t have it done by a breeder). You should ALWAYS microchip your pets in case they go missing – and ensure the chip info is correct, and the chips work every year. Step one, sorted. They also received their annual vaccines and rabies boosters on time every year because we don’t want them to get sick from preventable diseases. Rabies is a terrible disease, and although it’s present on every continent, it is widely present in Africa. This means we have to vaccinate our animals before attempting to import them to another country anywhere else in the world. If you’re going to implant a microchip, you must do it before they get their rabies booster as this will impact the rabies titre test blood draw date.

For the titre tests, you’ll have two choices of testing facility – Onderstepoort (in Pretoria) or IDEXX (in Germany). Which one you choose is up to you. They both take at least 4 weeks to process the blood sample (Onderstepoort often much longer), they both cost a whack of cash, and they both occasionally make mistakes on the documentation which could set your timeline back.

The rabies titre blood draw itself needs to happen at least 31 days AFTER the rabies booster. Once drawn, blood will be sent to your choice of facility by your vet. After a few weeks/months, you’ll get your result back. Your pet will need a result of 0.5 iu/ml or higher to pass and prove their vaccination is effective. Even if you get the result on the test sooner than a month, your pets will still only be able to travel three months after the vaccine was administered.

Speaking of documentation disasters… You will need your original vaccination booklet for every animal, signed by the vet every time you vaccinate them. Every aspect of that booklet (owner’s name, microchip number, pet name, physical address) needs to match to every other piece of documentation for your furballs. The original documentation will have to travel with your pet. Copies, certified or not, will not be accepted. If the details don’t match, there is a chance that customs could reject the import of your pet/s. And you definitely do not want that. If you’ve lost the vaccination book for your pet, now is the time to speak to your vet and get them to create a new one based on the vaccination records. Otherwise you’ll have to treat your pet as unvaccinated and start all vaccinations over again.

Once you’ve got that paperwork sorted, the worst is behind you. Other than arranging flights for the cats. And buying IATA-approved pet carriers, sized to your pet. Oh, and arranging import agents (some countries don’t require this, but Canada does). Then getting your pets comfortable with their carriers. And arranging kenneling (if required by your travel timing). Also arranging the State Vet visit (for more paperwork, your pets don’t need to go) a few days ahead of your pet’s travel. Okay perhaps you don’t have the worst entirely behind you when the paperwork is done. Most of this work was handled for us, by Aeropets, which was a great relief. Our biggest decision was choosing the import agent. We went with the cheape… err, least expensive agent.

The actual travel

Because of the tight timing of our travel, Meep and Toddles only got their travel kennels four days before they needed to travel. The kennels are made of 3/4″ plywood, with steel mesh sides, a double-latching door, and a water bottle. They’re unbelievably sturdy – empty they weigh about 30kg, and I’m sure they’d survive the apocalypse. Meep and Toddles were both highly skeptical of these two kitty forts, so we put some of our t-shirts in on top of the pee-resistant mattresses to help them adapt.

Four days wasn’t really enough time for them to adapt. Before we knew it Aeropets was at our door again to pick them up for their trip. It was really very quick, we gave them both kisses and cuddles, bundled them into their forts, latched the doors and carried them down to the van. A final sign-off on the paperwork, and they were off to OR Tambo, leaving us hugging each other and ugly-crying outside our door for a good ten minutes. Once at ORT, they spent a few hours in the temperature-controlled freight area, waiting for their flight. We got pictures of them from Aeropets. Understandably, they looked mostly terrifed in every single picture. After their wait, they were loaded on a KLM 777, in the pressurised cargo section, and on their way to Amsterdam.

We chose KLM, and Amsterdam, for two reasons:
1) We were flying KLM too, which meant we could link up with the cats and take the same flight across to Edmonton. This simplified the pickup.
2) There is a ‘pet hotel’ in Amsterdam which looks after all transiting animals. This meant they’d both have time to stretch their legs, get some food, use a litter box, and have some water before the next flight.

Meep and Toddles’ flight went off without a hitch. They arrived in Amsterdam eleven hours later, and settled down to a 24 hour wait in the pet hotel. Aeropets kept us updated the whole way, both with flight tracking and with pictures of the floofs in Amsterdam.

We followed on behind them the very next day, arriving in Amsterdam early in the morning. After an interminable six hour layover, we got into the boarding queue for our flight to Edmonton. Whilst in the queue, we watched the KLM ground staff very carefully (thank you guys <3) load our two fluffs onto the plane ahead of us.

We all arrived in Edmonton eight hours later. Getting our luggage, clearing customs and finding the hire car took nearly three hours. The agent then took another hour to clear Meep and Toddles through customs and deliver them to us. And boy, was it a wonderful moment when we finally saw them again. Both of them greeted us with meows and chirps, before telling us, in no uncertain terms, how pissed off they were with us carting them half way around the world. We squeezed them into the hire car and headed off to the first pet store we could find in Edmonton. We bought them food, a water fountain, food bowls, litter boxes and litter, and some cat toys.

Lessons learned

We used an agent, so our lessons learned will be much shorter than those of you who braved DIY. That said, here are a few things we learned:

1) If you’re planning on emigrating at any point in the next few years, start saving to move the pets.
2) Be absolutely religious about vaccinating your pets – not only because it’s good for them, but so they can come with you.
3) Ensure that all their paperwork ties up exactly well ahead of the move. If something looks weird in their vaccination book, say something to your vet. If there’s a problem, have them fix it. Be diligent in checking the titre test certificate against their documentation.
4) Get their crates about a month ahead of the move. We messed up in that regard.
5) Begin preparing emotionally for flying them overseas. It’s terrifying for them, and it’s equally as upsetting and traumatic for you. You want to be calm when saying goodbye to them, since they pick up on your emotions.
6) Have some idea of next steps on the other side. Make sure you book pet-friendly accommodation. Have some idea of the supplies you’ll need. Look up pet stores in the area, and take into account any prescription food they might need from a vet. Make sure your hire car is big enough to fit you, them and your luggage. I promise there’s never been a Hyundai Tucson that was as fully packed as ours between the airport and the AirBnB.
7) Plan for the worst case where their flights are delayed and they need to be kenneled. Have a kennel selected, and speak to the owner ahead of time. Make sure you understand the costs of kenneling.

Costs

Ahhh yes, the big barrier to moving our furry friends overseas. I warned you it was expensive, but I will break it down below. Keep in mind that these prices will have changed in the year since we moved, so use them as an estimate, not an absolute.

1. Annual vaccines – R1000 (R500 per cat);
2. Microchips – R800 (R400 per cat)
3. Rabies titre test via IDEXX – R3000 (R1500 per cat)
4. Aeropet costs, incl. crates, State Vet visit, flights – R36,600
5. Customs clearance in Edmonton – $975 (approximately R13,650).

That gives us a grand total of R55,050. I feel a little ill looking at that amount. Right up until the point I remember that the floofs are here, and they have gotten us through some of the toughest of times. Based on what I’ve read on EMBARK, DIY would approximately halve the agent cost, so it is possible to do it for a whole lot less.

I cannot reiterate how grateful I am to the Aeropets team (Mikki, Kirsten, Paula and Dennis). They were worth every cent, and more, and guided us perfectly through the labyrinthine process. You might not be in the financial position to afford an agent, but if you are you should definitely consider them.

The Grey Havens

This was a marathon post. Thank you to Tamara for suggesting I write it before I forgot the process entirely (*insert the ‘I have no memory of this place’ gif here*). Emigrating with cats (or dogs, or rabbits, or birds) is no easy task. But. It. Is. Worth. It.

Perhaps you too have a question on Canada I could answer, or a post you wish to see? If so, leave a comment and I will get back to you in 5-10 business da… I mean, I will reply to your question or suggestion 😉

Before I leave you, no post on getting our treasured, adored, pampered floofs half way across the world would be complete without MANY pictures of said floofs. So here you go: