Moving with pets

[Cynless in Seattle]

G'day repats! I have some questions forthose who moved back to Oz with pets (we have two cats we will be taking with us) Did you use a pet relocation company? If so, which one and would you recommend them? If you did the work yourself, what was involved and would you do it again?

[Lolls]

Gosh it was so long ago for me to remember but I would use a pet relocation company. My only tip would be to start early we left it a little late and with a mix up at the vets which meant an extra stay in quarrantine for my dog.

[aussiechicka]

Maybe message Jodie on FB (I dont see her on here that much anymore) and see if she can give you the info of the company they used and is she knows if they do cats?

[cooee cobber]

I used a company called Jet Pets when I brought my Aussie cat over to the USA - they arranged everything Vetenarian inspection, transportation, crate etc.
My kitty flew from Perth to LA (stayed the night in Jet Pets boarding facility) then flew from LA to Orlando.

[jjgoogle]

I'm also looking into Jetpets here in LA to work with sending my shihpoo over to Sydney. Their Oz website is more informative than their USA website; still helpful, though. I'm antsy about all the preparations to be made :s

[WizBin]

Both Jodie_in_Brissie and Sharon have done a lot of legwork in documenting the process (Jodie because she has done it, and Sharon because she is going to do it). Hopefully one or other of them will pop in and be able to help you.

[Jeff & Helen J]

When are you going back?? Hope all goes well with the move. We are going back in march for three weeks to Cairns. Cant wait

[Cynless in Seattle]

Thanks all. I have a quote from jet pets and will probably go that way. We are hoping to be in Oz by the end of the year Jeff and Helen. Only 7 years later than we planned. lol.

[P.P.]

Woah Baby, didn't know you were plannning to come back Cyn, how exciting!

[Cynless in Seattle]

Yep, finally looks like it's going to happen PP. I haven't said anything on FB because my boss can see my FB profile and I havent told them that we are moving.

[kyrial]

Bugger....wish I was going home...ever hopeful. We also used jetpets for our two puppies from Melbourne to San Fran. They arrived safe and well and we picked them up only hours after they landed.

[Felicity]

Sort of the same question: has anyone traveled across country with 2 big dogs & 2 cats? How did you do it?

[Jacaranda]

Sort of the same question: has anyone traveled across country with 2 big dogs & 2 cats? How did you do it?

I would do it with dogs Felicity but the cats are a different matter... or at least ours is... she starts squealing the moment you put her in the car and doesn't stop until she's back in the house. Moving to where we are now was a 2.5 hour pitiful serenade given by Miss Kitty. Extremely traumatic for her.

[aussiechicka]

We just did Seattle to Anchorage with a small and mid sized dog. They travelled fantastically well. They love their crates and we stopped every couple of hours for a walk for them and leg stretch for us.
I know it's not totally relevant given you asked about big dogs but ours were fine.

[CrazyMum]

Hiya Cyn. Sharon has looked into shipping pets recently, so she might be able to help you with what she found out.
Looks like we are headed home around the same time. We're looking at around Dec 17th. Do you know where you're going yet? We're headed to Townsville. Now that it's "this year" I am starting to get a little anxious.
P.P had a really good suggestion about keeping a book so you can keep notes about the things you find out as you go. I did that a couple of weeks ago because I was keeping myself up at night with things running through my head (thanks P.P.)!

We're doing a yard sale this weekend, and are starting to go through things to slim down.

Hubby did his retirement planning class this week...the military likes them to do it in advance to help them get their ducks in a row. it was informative, but I think I have more questions than answers now! Eg. they suggested we continue our medical insurance, and whilst they operate down there, we think it would be best to go with a company locally. That was reinforced when I called the number they had listed as a Sydney number and ended up speaking to a gal in the states who could not answer any of my questions!

We are also probably going to sell the cars. Sucks because we own them both and I'd really like to keep the Pathfinder as it's a good people mover and expensive to replace down there.

[Cynless in Seattle]

Thanks for the tip on keeping a book Crazy Mum. I am a little overwhelmed at all the stuff we need to take care of before we leave so writing things down will help. We are going to go stay with my dad for a bit before we decide where to put down roots. Mum passed away in November so dad is alone in a big house now so it will be good for all of us.

We are still going back and forth over whether to ship all our crap down to Oz or to sell it all. I'd love to have a garage sale and start fresh in Oz but hubby is pretty sentimental so we will have to come up with a compromise I guess.

[Sharon]

Cyn, we have decided to use IPT LAX (International Pet Transportation) as Jodie had a good experience with them. We have one 70lb dog that we are taking with us - heres their quote so you can see where the costs come from:

SERVICES PROVIDED TRANSIT LAX:

[OPTIONAL: Boarding Accommodation: $41.50 per dog/per day x 1 day NOT included in estimate total below.]

Veterinary Services: $134.00 (Final Exam and completion of Australian Health Certificate A document by one of our USDA accredited veterinarians.)

USDA Government Endorsement of Veterinary Import Documentation (Vet Certs A/B) and Security Sealing of Travel Crate/s: $348.00

Transportation from boarding facility to LAX Airport via USDA facility for travel crate security sealing prior to evening departure (also includes delivery in morning of documents to USDA office): $120.00

Travel Crate Modification (includes rear panel ventilation, 6 USDA security seal receptacles and 2 oversize water containers with refilling funnel): $12.50, 1 crate/s, see below.

Booking & Air Travel Charge (airline fees) LAX-SYD: $1590.49 [IPT, INC. AIRLINE DISCOUNT RATE] (based on 1 ea. 40x27x30 inch Model 'Extra Large' Vari Kennel/s or similar brand to be provided by owner* )

Import Administration and Counseling, and Coordination of the above: $585.00 (Includes review and corrective instruction, as needed, for work previously done, and organization and oversight of work yet to be done, by your own USDA accredited veterinarian in complying with the import requirements.)

Total Estimate US Dollars: $2789.99

Hope this helps :)

[Smudge]

Thanks Sharon, that was very, very helpful!!

Jim and I sat down last weekend and finally decided that with what needs to be done, we can retire to Australia in about 6 years(I am sooo happy). I can't bear the thought of not taking our little doggie with us, so your information I will print off and keep. Thank you:thankyou:

[Sharon]

Yep, finally looks like it's going to happen PP. I haven't said anything on FB because my boss can see my FB profile and I havent told them that we are moving.

Same here!

BTW have you told R's family? how did they react? We are dreading telling D's family - they hate that we live in a different state........

[RubyC]

I'm in the same situation! I heard Jet Pets is a good company, so probably in half a year I'll ask for their services!;)

[Sharon]

I'm in the same situation! I heard Jet Pets is a good company, so probably in half a year I'll ask for their services!;)

Ruby, I'm sure you've already found this out for yourself, but it takes about 6 months to go through the process to get your pets ready to move back. When are you planning to move? We're shipping our dog out mid-October (all being well and I think that date changes daily depending on whats going on) and he just had blood drawn for his rabies titre test last week. If that comes back fine we can ship him any time after mid-September for the minimum 30 days quarantine.

[Cynless in Seattle]

Same here!

BTW have you told R's family? how did they react? We are dreading telling D's family - they hate that we live in a different state........

Hi Sharon, Ron told his family and they were not very happy. Right now they are pretty much pretending it's not happening. :-/ I don't know if there's a good way or time to tell family you are moving to the other side of the world.

Thanks for the info on ipt. That quote looks a lot better than what Jet Pets quoted us.

[Sharon]

My puppy just got his import permit approved and I have him tentatively booked for November 14.

Poor little dude is going to hate me after a 14 hour flight and 30 days in a cage.............

[philandkris]

No he won't - your puppy will understand - he wil give you just that much bigger welcome! I would do more for my pets than my kids (well, stepkids!) and some of my family!

[KLS2010]

I'll have to keep up on this thread.... I will have 2 dogs and 3 cats to bring back home to Australia.... so I'm gonna have 5x the hate!!

I got a quote back in April from Jetpets and nearly died! They quoted me $8350USD - and that's with me providing the crates (as I still have them from when I brought them to the US in 2010). Plus all the vaccinations and blood work that's needed beforehand, and about another $6000 for the quarantine.

Will be looking to get quotes from other companies to compare.

[KLS2010]

http://www.daff.gov.au/aqis/cat-dogs/past_alerts


Just found this too on the AQIS website - proposed changes to the amount of time dogs and cats must spend in quarantine. Looks to me like the proposal is to reduce the quarantine period from the current 30days to a minimum of 10days.

I know it's probably not of much use to those that are in the process of sending their animals now, but I just thought I would post for future reference.

I sure hope this passes... would make me (and my wallet!) a whole lot happier knowing I could get my animals back in 10days rather than 30!

[Sharon]

http://www.daff.gov.au/aqis/cat-dogs/past_alerts


Just found this too on the AQIS website - proposed changes to the amount of time dogs and cats must spend in quarantine. Looks to me like the proposal is to reduce the quarantine period from the current 30days to a minimum of 10days.

I know it's probably not of much use to those that are in the process of sending their animals now, but I just thought I would post for future reference.

I sure hope this passes... would make me (and my wallet!) a whole lot happier knowing I could get my animals back in 10days rather than 30!

Oh wow - that would be awesome - the timeline wont work for us (Gordo is booked to arrive in Sydney on November 17!) but will be much easier (and cheaper) for people in the future if they do adopt a ten day quarantine period!

[philandkris]

10 days makes sense - this is what Kris and the Humane Society uses for their quarantine period - any diseases usually show within that time frame

[BarbiQ]

Oh my word Cyn, I had no idea you were thinking of moving back. Hope it all goes well hon! Sorry I don't have any advice, but wanted to show my support.