The following information is specific to shipping a cat to New Zealand from the United Kingdom.
Introduction
I have a beautiful and well-travelled cat that I couldn’t bear to leave in the United Kingdom when I was planning on leaving. This is the third time I have shipped her internationally and each time has been a vague drama with getting the run-around by different people and companies. I figure it’s time to share my experience because I couldn’t find any sites online to help me. I hope this may help you!
The amount of difficulty, stress, and cost of shipping your cat (or dog) overseas varies with the country of origin and country of destination. Shipping from an island nation (especially, one that doesn’t have a lot of otherwise common domestic pet diseases) is going to be the easiest, and you may not need to quarantine your pet. For example, when I shipped my cat from New Zealand to the United States, all I had to do was give her to the shipping company and make sure she’d had her annual vaccinations, because New Zealand doesn’t have rabies and the United States do. Shipping her from the United States to the United Kingdom (where they don’t have rabies) was a bit of a pain, and included a bunch of rabies vaccinations and 6-months of “quarantine” (which on the PETS scheme can be done at home). Shipping her from the UK back to New Zealand is somewhere inbetween on the pain-in-the-ass scale.
I said she was well-travelled!
The Starting Point
To ship a cat to New Zealand, you will need to:
- Choose if you will take your cat on the plane with you, or ship it separately as cargo
- Decide if you want to use a pet shipping company or to do it yourself
- Budget for around £1,000
Each time I have shipped my cat, I have used a special pet shipping company to remove some of the stress on me – when you’re moving yourself across oceans and continents this is a good idea! I have also shipped her as cargo each time, because it has always worked out the best solution each time.
Some airlines will not allow pets on board, and if they do they will have to fit in a box under the seat in front. This makes for a very cramped flight, unless of course you are flying first class! Check with the airline you are planning on flying with to see if this is an option.
Contact DEFRA
The first thing to do is to contact your local DEFRA office. They will give you advice on what you need to do to ship your pet, what vets in your area can do the required tests, and may be able to suggest shipping companies.
Find a Pet Shipping Company
The shipping company I used was Airsupply Shipping Agents. I dealt with Michelle Vincent, who was excellent from start to finish. I most definitely recommend this company! I found them online and found them to be the most reasonably priced, were quick to quote, friendly, and have a lot of experience in shipping to New Zealand.
Other companies I received quotes from were Animal Couriers Ltd and Ladyhaye International Pet Travel Agents Ltd.
Check the Import/Export Regulations
The import and export rules for shipping pets tends to change fairly often, so it is worthwhile to contact DEFRA and the equivalent company in your country of destination (Biosecurity New Zealand – formerly known as MAF). I say this because just as I was sorting all of this out for my cat, New Zealand authorities decided that you no longer needed an import permit. Because these things change so often, I also found that a lot of people I spoke to were not aware of these changes, so it is important to get the latest information from the proper authorities – do not rely on second-hand information because this can cause a massive drama (which happened to me when shipping from the US to the UK, but that is another story entirely!).
Find an LV1 Vet
If you want to keep costs down, you may want to get some of the tests done locally by an authorised vet, instead of boarding your cat with the pet shipping agent and having them do everything. This is what I did, but in my case it ended up costing me more because I didn’t factor travel costs into my initial estimation. If you have your own car, which I didn’t, it should save you a bit of money in the end.
You will need to contact DEFRA to find your local LV1 vets.
Find Out What You Need To Do
As I said earlier, this list may change in the future but in November 2005 this is what was required:
- Ensure your cat is microchipped and your address is registered – my cat had been microchipped in the United States in order to ship her to the UK, but apparently this didn’t really matter because my vet in the UK couldn’t scan her microchip anyway! Apparently they use different types of chips in the UK and the US and I had to have her microchipped again. I confirmed that this was okay to do and would not cause any problems when scanning her in the future.
- 2 x negative hookworm test results – these must be within the previous month and taken at least 14 days apart
- Proof of Praziquantel treatment – this must be done within 21 days of export
- Written declaration – this is saying that the pet has been in the UK for at least 6 months, that it belongs to you, and that you agree for it be shipped
- Fitness to Fly certificate – this is a letter from any vet within 7 days of travel stating that the pet is fit to travel. This may not be required if you are not flying your pet domestically, so check with your shipping agent.
- Vaccination card – this may not be a requirement of the country of import, but you will more than likely need it if your pet is staying at a boarding facility.
My Total Costs
| Pet Shipping Agent – Airsupply Shipping | |
| IATA approved transit kennel | £46.00 |
| Delivery of kennel & paperwork to MAN | £20.00 |
| Freight charge MAN to LHR | £115.00 |
| Part export health certificate | £95.00 |
| 3 x days cattery stay | £24.00 |
| Freight charge LHR to WLG | £301.17 |
| Airline handling charges | £58.05 |
| Veterinary sealing fee at LHR | £85.50 |
| Agency fees | £48.00 |
| :: Subtotal | :: £792.72 |
| Veterinary fees – Trafford Vet Clinic, Manchester | |
| UK microchip | ~£15.00 |
| Annual vaccinations | ~£15.00 |
| 2 x hookworm tests | ~£96.15 |
| “Fitness to fly” letter | ~£10.00 |
| :: Subtotal | :: £135.15 |
| Charges on Arrival | |
| Wellington Airport tax | NZ$22.00 (~£8.83) |
| Biosecurtiy NZ charge | NZ$32.00 (~£12.84) |
| :: Subtotal | :: NZ$54.00 (~£21.67) |
| Travel Costs | |
| Taxis to vet clinic | £50.00 |
| Courier charges | £70.00 |
| Taxi to airport cargo terminal | £25.00 |
| :: Subtotal | :: £145.00 |
| Grand Total | £1,094.54 |
Prepare Your Cat
Cats generally find travelling rather stressful, so anything you can do to help them relax will be beneficial to them and probably to you once you arrive at your destination.
- Ship your cat before your furniture – cats often get quite stressed when their surroundings are moved or changed. Try to keep this to a minimum in the weeks and days prior to departure.
- Don’t change their food – changing your cat’s food can cause upset stomachs or a loss of appetite. If you need to change it, try to do it after your cat has moved and settled in to your new home.
- Put items that remind them of home in the crate – a favourite toy, blanket, or an item of clothing that smells like you will help your cat relax during their travels.
- Have your house ready for when they arrive – you will need to buy new bowls, food, a kitty litter box, a scratching post, etc.
- Give them a quiet place when they arrive – your cat may be a bit freaked out when they arrive at your new home, so it is a good idea to put them in their box in a quiet room, with their food, water, and litter box, and let them explore slowly. They may stay in there for a day or two, or they may start exploring your new home immediately. Give them lots of cuddles and speak in a low voice and they’ll get over their flight quickly!
- Remind yourself that it’s worth it! – shipping a pet is really quite expensive and you will be well aware of this by the time your pet is ready to go. Remember how much you love your kitty and don’t think what you could have done with the extra grand!
Good Luck!
I hope this may help you if you decide to take your pet with you when you move overseas. If you have any questions that I haven’t answered already, please feel free to post a comment and I will follow up with you. Bon voyage!
I should write one about shipping your dog internationally. It is pretty easy with a small dog but if you happen to be proud owner of a 90 pound “aggressive breed” ….
Just a cat tho innit?
Yes, you definitely should! You know someone at some point will google for advice and come up with squat! That’s what happened to me.
I can sympathize. I shipped my dog to Hawaii when I moved over there.
The worst part was the quarantine. Luckily I had it cut down to only a month, but it was on Oahu and I lived on Maui, so I only got to see him once during the time. I don’t think the poor guy ate much of anything while he was there.
aww .. you’re leaving uk ? leaving us already ?
bah, nm … you left like, ages ago. Traitor.
My sister in law is taking her dog on the plane from Belgium to Los Angeles for €125?
I do not doubt that. The US has really lax pet import rules, because they have all the nasty diseases and a lot of other countries don’t! They also take part in the PETS passport scheme.
Like I said, it all depends on whether you need to actually export the animal, or just fly it over on a PETS passport scheme, or the like. There are a few different ways you can do it – this is why I say to contact DEFRA first and foremost.
ok, looks like I should read your post first then.
It’s just that they are moving to LA and I thought she might have some useful info for you.
When I moved to the States it was easy and fairly cheap. I sent her from Wellington, New Zealand to Austin, Texas (via LAX) and it only cost me NZ$1,000 (probably about €400 back then). That was to have her shipped separately from me, some vet stuff, the flights, etc – all done through a company. It’s coming the other way where it gets expensive!
The €125 for the Jack Russel also includes the vet stuff, etc…
And the dog comes on a different plane (2 hour difference from their flight)
Then why did you pay about €400? I’m just curious about the difference.
I don’t know, this was quite a few years ago. I’m guessing something to do with coming from New Zealand (far away) and having numerous domestic flights as well as the international flight.
If you have a look at the breakdown I posted above, a lot of the things the agency charged me I had to pay for back then as well – crates, pick-up fees, vet sealing fees, boarding fees, agency fees, etc.
I am taking my dog from Antigua to Scotland, any idea on how much it will cost me?
Thanks for a really useful rundown. I’m planning on shipping my two mogs with us to NZ in September. Probably I’ll go first, set up house, and then my boyfriend with ship the cats, clear up all the loose ends, and follow a few weeks later. I’m so nervous though – one in particular is rather highly strung and I’m worried how she’ll cope. How did your one deal with it the first time? What airline did you use? (I’m so scared that something will happen to them in transit – I’ve heard AirNZ or BA are the best choices, but I can’t seem to find any info on animals lost/killed/injured in transit). Thanks for a really useful website.
I used Air New Zealand to get her from the UK to NZ. She has already flown a few times before so this time she settled in really quickly with no ill-effects. However, the first time she flew she hid in the shipping box for a few days once she’d arrived. I tried to keep the house as quiet as possible and eventually she was back to normal.
As for pets being lost in transit or killed, I really don’t know. At least I haven’t heard of anything like that. The times I’ve been to the airline shipping centres they have always been well aware that an animal was flying that day and they seem to have pretty good measures (specific places for the cages, people who are assigned to the animals).
I would contact Airsupply Shipping Agents (contact details in the article) and get advice. They are really thorough and really reassuring about things like that!