Bringing a cat from Thailand to UK

[Hels812]

Hi all, I'm planning on returning to the UK next year and want to bring my cat with me. I've tried to research as much as I can but am finding it difficult to find concise information. I'm hoping someone who has been through the process before can help me with a timeline of what they did, so I can use it for reference. I'm also finding it difficult to gauge just how expensive it will be. I know that the airport shipping costs is measured partly on weight/size of the animal, and as my cat is very small (not sure of her length measurements etc. right now, but she weighs just under 3.5kg) I'm assuming that will save me some money there. Can anyone with recent experience also help me out with how much I have to pay for the cat to be released (by customs I think) at Heathrow or Gatwick? Are there any more hidden charges anywhere in the process that I haven't read about yet?!

Also wondering if anyone has any recommendations for vets to get the microchip and blood sample taken. I'm based in Chachoengsao, so any vets in the Bangkok/Chonburi area will probably be most convenient.

If this helps at all here's a little background info:

3 year old mixed breed neutered female (she was neutered at a local vets so I don't have any paperwork confirming the operation, does anyone think this will be a problem/Is it easy enough to get the required paperwork elsewhere?)

Fully vaccinated (again at a local vets, but have the stickers from the vaccines stuck in the cat's health book with vet's certification number)

I would be very grateful if anyone's able to help me out here. I've read a fair amount about people bringing dogs back to the UK but it's been difficult to find much about cats!

[juggernaut]

You might contact Amy at https://www.facebook.com/pawsbangkok?fref=ts I have a feeling some people she knows have adopted cats from her shelter and taken them back to the UK with them. She might be able to put you in touch and get info that way. Good luck.

[lemoncake]

You can also use pet shipping company's to get a quote and an idea. Contact jetpets for a quote.

In their quote, they will have all requirements etc, from there you can do your own research.

Some airlines like Turkish will allow cat on board with you as luggage , so no shipping fees .

Just as an example, taking 1 cat from Thailand to Oz is $3700, your costs would be 1/3 if not less as Australia has 9 months quarantine.

Pattaya animal clinic , Dr Kwanchai is up to date with all the requirements and speaks fluent English , he works night shift.

If you need more info, just PM me.

Another good source of info would be Paul from cats4youinpattaya.web, he is British and might have all the info you need

[Morden]

I did this a few years ago. From memory, the routine goes like this:

1. Your local vet will vaccinate and chip your cat.

2. His work must be verified by DEFRA,

3. Arrange shipping with a specialist company. They will give the final vaccination, provide a box with water and hold your cat for the required few days before shipping.

4. I think that you can arrange for the cat to travel on the same flight as you. Mine flew cargo one day after me and that may explain the cost mentioned below.

5. A vet. in the main airport building will check the cat and the documents.

6. Then you have to deal with customs who will want a fee based on a nominal value of the pet and the shipping cost. It's expensive. I was offered a 'no paperwork' discount deal.

You must ensure that everything is done correctly or the cat will be returned to the UK where it will go into long quarantine.

These people will be able to hep you:

http://www.passportforpets.co.uk/

And this:

http://8milesfromhome.com/post/23668603393/exporting-a-dog-from-uk-to-thailand

And this too:

https://www.gov.uk/take-pet-abroad

Good luck. You won't regret the trouble and expense, I'm sure.

[iamariva1957]

I have done this but from Australia into the UK. I would think that the process at least for the UK will be the same. So here we go:

First and foremost you have to get the cat its Rabies injection NOW! For then you have to wait 6 months and have the animal tested to make sure it has 'taken'. This way you will avoid the quarantine in the UK (at your expense) if not then you will have 6 months worth of that (unless the rules have changed in the last couple of years). The documentation is up to the airline and UK Customs. But these are just forms that will need to be filled out. Though our cat had a chip implanted as per Australia regs for transport out of the country... I am not sure if it is a UK thing... but a good idea to do regardless just to be safe.There will be a price for taking the cat with you on the plane (in the hold of the aircraft. It is a special compartment and not part of the luggage hold). You will have to check with the airline of course. Then... and this is where it gets nuts... upon arrival in the UK you will get a huge bill from the animal control people for going out to the aircraft just to collect your pet in their electric truck. They will then take it back to their office (the old Heathrow Airport fire station) where you will have to go to pick it up. That is where you will present your paperwork and pay for their service and arrange quarantine if needed. This process took an hour and a half when I did it and the cost was as follows: Cat's travel - $150 (Thai Air); Cost at Heathrow - £300 (!). There was no quarantine as we had waited the 6 month period before traveling, but that can be a huge sum!

My suggestion... as difficult as it is... would be to leave the cat with a good home here. After all it is a Thai cat and so going to the UK with its weather and the travel there will be hard enough on the animal. So find it a good home and then rescue another cat in the UK. Remember... cats are not like dogs... they move with ease between human families.

[Berniea]

Hi I brought my cats from Dubai to here and will now be taking them with me back to the UK in Jan. What you need is all the paperwork to prove that she has had all her vacinations, micro-chipped and rabies. You will need to check on the UK website www.DEFRA.gov.uk. There it will tell you what needs to be done. Some countries and I think this is one of them, might insist on your cat staying in quarantine. In Dubai all rabies tests are sent to the UK so there are no quarantine requirements. We brought the cats over and will be to the UK as excess baggage. We found it was much cheaper to do it that way than as cargo, you of course will need to be on the same flight. You will need a proper sturdy travel box for her as well. If you get in touch with the relevant airline, they should be able to tell you what kind of box is required. I have just read on my paperwork that if the animal does not have a rabies vacination, they cannot travel as excess baggage.

Also, we were told that you can import animals into Manchester.

Just found Container Construction:

a) Fiberglass, metal, rigid plastic, wood or wickerwork

Have a stong framework and joints must be claw and bite proof

c) There must be no protruding nails, bolts that can harm the animal

d) Wickerwork containers are suitable for animals up to 3kgs only

e) Fibreboard or wire mesh containers are not acceptable

Hope that is of some help.

[pacovl46]

I have done this but from Australia into the UK. I would think that the process at least for the UK will be the same. So here we go:

First and foremost you have to get the cat its Rabies injection NOW! For then you have to wait 6 months and have the animal tested to make sure it has 'taken'. This way you will avoid the quarantine in the UK (at your expense) if not then you will have 6 months worth of that (unless the rules have changed in the last couple of years). The documentation is up to the airline and UK Customs. But these are just forms that will need to be filled out. Though our cat had a chip implanted as per Australia regs for transport out of the country... I am not sure if it is a UK thing... but a good idea to do regardless just to be safe.There will be a price for taking the cat with you on the plane (in the hold of the aircraft. It is a special compartment and not part of the luggage hold). You will have to check with the airline of course. Then... and this is where it gets nuts... upon arrival in the UK you will get a huge bill from the animal control people for going out to the aircraft just to collect your pet in their electric truck. They will then take it back to their office (the old Heathrow Airport fire station) where you will have to go to pick it up. That is where you will present your paperwork and pay for their service and arrange quarantine if needed. This process took an hour and a half when I did it and the cost was as follows: Cat's travel - $150 (Thai Air); Cost at Heathrow - £300 (!). There was no quarantine as we had waited the 6 month period before traveling, but that can be a huge sum!

My suggestion... as difficult as it is... would be to leave the cat with a good home here. After all it is a Thai cat and so going to the UK with its weather and the travel there will be hard enough on the animal. So find it a good home and then rescue another cat in the UK. Remember... cats are not like dogs... they move with ease between human families.

I agree with everything apart from cats move easily between human families. Cats need some time to adjust to and trust new people. You have to earn their trust. My dog on the other hand would've gone with just about everyone at any time. All it took was 'hello handsome' in a sweet voice and you were his new best, mate.

[DGIE]

Nice info. how about chicken? What are the requirements?

[Hels812]

Thanks for all your quick replies, I'll look into all the links and try to get the ball rolling. I was hoping I would be able to do it without using a specialist company, as I live fairly close to BKK airport and my parents live very close to Gatwick (and I'm pretty sure you can fly animals into both Gatwick and Heathrow) so transporting the cat to and from the airport wouldn't be too much of a problem. But if all the paperwork proves very tricky it may be worth paying to have it all taken care of.

It probably won't happen until mid 2014 so I do have some time get things done (actually date all really depends on my partner's visa), just know I need to start looking at the microchipping and rabies vaccine/blood test well in advance! I'll update with any progress.

[salapau]

This has to be a joke. Get another cat in the UK.

[lemoncake]

I have done this but from Australia into the UK. I would think that the process at least for the UK will be the same. So here we go:

First and foremost you have to get the cat its Rabies injection NOW! For then you have to wait 6 months and have the animal tested to make sure it has 'taken'. This way you will avoid the quarantine in the UK (at your expense) if not then you will have 6 months worth of that (unless the rules have changed in the last couple of years). The documentation is up to the airline and UK Customs. But these are just forms that will need to be filled out. Though our cat had a chip implanted as per Australia regs for transport out of the country... I am not sure if it is a UK thing... but a good idea to do regardless just to be safe.There will be a price for taking the cat with you on the plane (in the hold of the aircraft. It is a special compartment and not part of the luggage hold). You will have to check with the airline of course. Then... and this is where it gets nuts... upon arrival in the UK you will get a huge bill from the animal control people for going out to the aircraft just to collect your pet in their electric truck. They will then take it back to their office (the old Heathrow Airport fire station) where you will have to go to pick it up. That is where you will present your paperwork and pay for their service and arrange quarantine if needed. This process took an hour and a half when I did it and the cost was as follows: Cat's travel - $150 (Thai Air); Cost at Heathrow - £300 (!). There was no quarantine as we had waited the 6 month period before traveling, but that can be a huge sum!

My suggestion... as difficult as it is... would be to leave the cat with a good home here. After all it is a Thai cat and so going to the UK with its weather and the travel there will be hard enough on the animal. So find it a good home and then rescue another cat in the UK. Remember... cats are not like dogs... they move with ease between human families.

Sorry to go off topic, but i strongly disagree.

Firstly cats are attached to their owners, just as much as dogs if not more.

I have 9 cats in total, one cat was raised by my GF at the time, when we split, he stop to eat, play and turned into a walking ghost.

Had to take him to vets every few days to keep him alive. Its now been over 3 years and even now, i still can not hug him or pick him up, he has turned into a loner.

Another 2, stop to eat if i am away, i just returned after being away for 2.5 month and one is a walking skeleton.

Secondly, animals are not toys to leave behind, its a living, breathing being with feelings and emotions, I have just spent $5000 to bring 2 dogs to Thailand and

did not think for a minute about money, nor do i regret spending it. They are part of the family.

Unless OP has someone here who the cat knows and loves, i would not suggest to leave it behind because the process might be costly or difficult.

[Hels812]

This has to be a joke. Get another cat in the UK.

What's a joke? That I'm attached to the cat I've had for over 3 years? I still have the Western mentality that pets are part of the family...

[daveb1]

We brought our 3 cats from Thailand to Spain via the UK 3 months ago. We used united relocations in Bangkok speak to Joy. She was fantastic. Also look on the defra website. It cost around £1000 per cat. Expensive but well worth it. If you need more info pm me

[lemoncake]

We brought our 3 cats from Thailand to Spain via the UK 3 months ago. We used united relocations in Bangkok speak to Joy. She was fantastic. Also look on the defra website. It cost around £1000 per cat. Expensive but well worth it. If you need more info pm me

I used Joy as BKK agent for my dogs coming into Thailand, all went smooth as dogs were out in 30 mins instead of hours if not days, so can confirm United are good, they are agents in Thailand though, and use other company's in the country of destination.

OP can use United to handle Thai side of things and get another one in UK to handle it over there, it will be cheaper than giving it all to United as they will put some extra on top and still use agents in UK

[Hels812]

Update...

Got the cat microchipped about a week ago and just got the certificate through the post today. Went to the Ladkrabang Animal Hospital and only cost 530 baht. However, although they can implant microchips it turns out they don't actually have a microchip scanner (!) so we can't go back there for the rabies vaccine as they need to scan and record the cat's microchip number before giving the vaccine. I think we'll go to Thonglor Animal Hospital as they seemed pretty knowledgeable on the phone as to what was required (although a little more expensive than other places). Anyone think I've missed anything here? It's my understanding we need to do the rabies vaccine next, then wait 21 days and get the blood serum sample taken.

I also contacted some agents for quotes, the lowest quote I got back was from United Relocations for $1,950. This still seems pretty expensive, especially seeing as we still have to do most of the hard work ourselves, so am going to try and do it without an agent...

[lemoncake]

Update...

Got the cat microchipped about a week ago and just got the certificate through the post today. Went to the Ladkrabang Animal Hospital and only cost 530 baht. However, although they can implant microchips it turns out they don't actually have a microchip scanner (!) so we can't go back there for the rabies vaccine as they need to scan and record the cat's microchip number before giving the vaccine. I think we'll go to Thonglor Animal Hospital as they seemed pretty knowledgeable on the phone as to what was required (although a little more expensive than other places). Anyone think I've missed anything here? It's my understanding we need to do the rabies vaccine next, then wait 21 days and get the blood serum sample taken.

I also contacted some agents for quotes, the lowest quote I got back was from United Relocations for $1,950. This still seems pretty expensive, especially seeing as we still have to do most of the hard work ourselves, so am going to try and do it without an agent...

$1950 is about the correct price. YOu can also speak with Pattaya Animal Clinic just around the corner from THonglor, DR Kwanchai does know a bit about this

[Hels812]

Thought I'd update as we seem to be on track with everything at the moment.

• Got the rabies vaccine on 11th January. After some research decided to use Ari Pet Hospital. Dr Maytee seems very knowledgeable and speaks great English.
• Got the serum blood test on 22nd February. This whole process took about an hour. The vet was very keen to use an agent to send the samples (yes two samples, we're now taking two cats with us....long story) and said he didn't know of anyone who had sent them themselves. The agent was quoting 15,000 baht per sample, so this would have cost us a sweet 30,000 baht just to get the rabies certification. We politely declined and said that we wanted to do it ourselves. Dr Maytee helped us fill in the paperwork I had already prepared for Biobest Laboratories in the UK. I had read from some forums that some people had had difficulty sending blood serum samples through the Thai post. Apparently DHL won't accept blood samples so we enquired at TNT, who quoted 12,500 baht to courier the package to the UK plus they needed to email us many forms to fill out. So we decided to risk the Thai post, and ran to the post office before it closed at 12:00. They accepted the package no problem, and EMS cost 1,100 baht. The next part went fantastically quickly. The package left Thailand the evening of the 22nd, arrived in the UK on the 23rd and was safely delivered to the lab on the 24th! On the 28th I received an email with a scan of the rabies test certificates (both cats passed thankfully) and we received the original certificates in the post the next week. So all in all I thoroughly recommend doing it all yourself, as it works out at about a third of the cost!

So now I believe it's just a waiting game. Waiting three months then getting the third country health certificates issued before they can travel!

[Sheryl]

Thanks for sharing that info, it will be very helpful for others.

I would add for future reference that the Animal Quarantine station at Suvanabhumi airport is also very knowledgeable about export procedures and the requirements of different countries, and their info is fee, though it might take a trip there to get it clearly.

[jamie55]

Thought I'd update as we seem to be on track with everything at the moment.

• Got the rabies vaccine on 11th January. After some research decided to use Ari Pet Hospital. Dr Maytee seems very knowledgeable and speaks great English.
• Got the serum blood test on 22nd February. This whole process took about an hour. The vet was very keen to use an agent to send the samples (yes two samples, we're now taking two cats with us....long story) and said he didn't know of anyone who had sent them themselves. The agent was quoting 15,000 baht per sample, so this would have cost us a sweet 30,000 baht just to get the rabies certification. We politely declined and said that we wanted to do it ourselves. Dr Maytee helped us fill in the paperwork I had already prepared for Biobest Laboratories in the UK. I had read from some forums that some people had had difficulty sending blood serum samples through the Thai post. Apparently DHL won't accept blood samples so we enquired at TNT, who quoted 12,500 baht to courier the package to the UK plus they needed to email us many forms to fill out. So we decided to risk the Thai post, and ran to the post office before it closed at 12:00. They accepted the package no problem, and EMS cost 1,100 baht. The next part went fantastically quickly. The package left Thailand the evening of the 22nd, arrived in the UK on the 23rd and was safely delivered to the lab on the 24th! On the 28th I received an email with a scan of the rabies test certificates (both cats passed thankfully) and we received the original certificates in the post the next week. So all in all I thoroughly recommend doing it all yourself, as it works out at about a third of the cost!

So now I believe it's just a waiting game. Waiting three months then getting the third country health certificates issued before they can travel!

cool, i also plan to bring my dog back home this is very useful info. may i know where u get the serum done？ari pet hospital u mentioned？just wonder is it diffiuclt to filling the form does it need to be done by the doctor particularly or can be done on my own？ thanks

[Hels812]

Yes, Jamie55 we got the blood serum done at Ari Pet Hospital. I'd printed the forms from the lab and took them along (sent them to Biobest in the UK). There wasn't too much info to fill in, but you do need the vet to sign some of it. And just make sure the serum samples are clearly labelled. Dr Maytee charged 2,500 baht for the serum sample.

We flew back to the UK last weekend, and the cats have settled in really well and are enjoying the sunshine! Makes all the hard work (and money!) getting them here worth it.

[meatpie77]

Hi there,

As the last post was over a year ago, I just wanted to check if anyone has recently sent serum samples to the UK for testing?

I have just got the serums from my vets- Sukhumvit Vets, checked with Thai Post office for EMS & they will not accept any liquid forms.

TNT are quoting 5500 thb for delivery to the UK lab.

[mpa]

If you need more info, just PM me.

Hi, I tried to PM you myself but apparently it cannot be done, I don't know why. Can you PM me instead? Thanks.