How to Travel with Your Pet Internationally
It is possible to travel with your pet internationally, including your lovely cats and dogs and certain other pets.
In this guide to fly with pet, I will share 5 points about how to travel with your pet based on my own experience.
I adopted my 2 cats while I was working in Canada. Later when I got the admission from a French school, I decided to take them with me.
I spent hours researching but did not find complete information to guide me through how to travel with pet internationally step by step. But after personally experiencing a trip to France and one back to Canada, I can confidently say the following 5 points will help you thoroughly prepare for the process and plan thoroughly for your trip with your pets.
- Research and make a list of required documents
- Book the appointment with your vet
- Prepare the gear and your pets
- Reserve spots on the plane for your pets in advance
- Process of going through the boarding and custom
1. Research and make a list of required documents
In my case, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) website is a great starting point. It offers a lot of information, not only about how to bring animals into Canada, but also about how to bring animals to another country. Do not rely on non-official websites for this information.
For your convenience, there are the pages about traveling with Pet between Canada and Europe.
- Documents to bring non-commercial animals into Canada, you can check here. There is a survey that will pop up answers after you fill in the information.
- Documents to bring non-commercial animals to Europe, you can check here. They distinguish non-commercial animals (pets) from animals moved for commercial purposes.
Of course, the information about traveling with animals to Europe on the Canadian website applies only to limited cases. To be safe, I’d also cross check the official requirements from the website of the destination country.
For France, I found a PDF that I downloaded from the government website, but I could not find the website anymore… Anyways, I attached the PDF here.
What you need right now is a checklist of required documents of the destination country. Below is a quick but NOT complete summary with some key requirements:
- Identification – international chip is required when fly with pet internationally. Back then I somehow knew subconsciously I would go to another country, so I chose the international chips for both cats.
- Form – if a form is required by the destination country, you will be able to download and print from the website. Normally it requires animal identification and health inspection information from veterinarians. I filled half of the information in myself, then brought them to my vet.
- Rabies vaccine – rabies vaccine is a must as far as I am aware. But do note that the animals can only board the plane after 21 days of the vaccine injection. So carefully calculate the days for the vet appointment and your flight.
- Other inspection – if you reside in certain countries, additional inspection may be required by some destination countries. And do pay attention to the number of validation days as those of the rabies vaccine.
- Quarantine – some countries may require your animal be quarantined for a period of time before getting released from the custom (e.g. Singapore). The spots of quarantine hotels are quite limited. You may need to book at least half a year in advance.
- Please check the official website according to your unique case in case there is any other requirement.
If you cannot find the official information or the website, the last solution is to check with the airline customer services. When I flew back to Canada, the customer service agent had a long call with me to go through all the detailed requirements just in case I miss any.
2. Book the appointments with your vet
To travel with your pet internationally, a rabies vaccine is the minimal requirement, and thus an appointment with the vet is inevitable, unless the rabies vaccine is still valid. That is said, you will fly with your pet within one year from the last rabies vaccine. One year is the normal length, but do check the time requirement from the official information source.
Some vets also have experience helping clients to handle animals’ travel documents. So double checking the requirements with the vets is also a good idea. I would rather be overly cautious than missing anything at the custom – because in the worst case, per France’s document, the custom may put your animal down!
If your pets are getting new rabies vaccines, also pay attention to the days you need to board your lovelies. It takes 21 days for the rabies vaccine to be considered valid, which means that you need to have the vaccine appointment 21 days earlier than your travel day.
If you are travelling from certain countries to certain countries, there may be additional vaccine requirements. The requirements are set according to your local health environment of the animals. If this is the case, please also check the required waiting time for another vaccine and book the vet appointment per the longest required waiting time.
I also recommend asking your vet to download the full medical records for your pets – you may need them in your destination country.
3. Reserve spots on the plane
Normally, you will need to call the customer services to additionally reserve spots for your pets with your flight. Given different flights also have different limitations on the spots, you need to check the availability before booking your own flight. I highly recommend booking your flight and reserve the spots in just one call.
If you book the flight and reserve the spots at one go, you will need to reserve roughly 72 hours in advance of your boarding time. Alternatively, you can also reserve the spot for your pets at check-in. But you will risk the availability of the spots.
There are 2 types of spots: in the cabin or in the compartment. If you have a cat or a small dog (strictly by Airline’s definition), you can reserve a cabin spot which will replace your cabin luggage space. Spot in the cabin is much cheaper and less stressful for your pet. The key is to have a carrier strictly meeting the airline’s requirement.
The compartment spot, on the other hand, is more flexible in terms of size. If your pet cannot take the cabin space, you will have to sign up for the compartment spot. The compartment spot is more expensive and has a more complicated process which I will explain in point 5.
Another limitation is the weight of the animal plus the carrier. Cabin spot has a strict weight limit, while the compartment spot defines the size and thus the price based on the weight and the measures of the carrier.
4. Prepare the gear and your pets
Now is shopping time! Below I list something you can consider:
Cabin carrier: a soft one made with fabric. Pay keen attention to the required size. Some airlines do not allow even a bit of excess. Many sellers may claim those are for the cabin, but if the size exceeds the requirements even just a little, you will need to buy a new one at the airport (my lesson).
Compartment carrier: I bought to the limit of ‘medium’ size for the compartment to maximise my cat’s comfort – after all he already feel scary at the compartment
Extensible water container: prepare one per animal. Even for compartment one, the airport staff will give them water before boarding them to the plane. Extensible design is easier for the process.
Small water-proof food container: it is not recommended to feed the animal during the fly. But I will give my 10-year old cat some food if he asks for it (and he definitely will).
In addition, although I am not an animal behavior scientist, I believe animals are smart enough to understand emotion and information from humans. So I add the mental preparation for the lovelies as a step. I recommend talking to them softly and explaining the trip, just like treating a little kid. Both of them seemed to listen to me (who knows).
5. Process of going through the boarding and custom
Below I list all the steps for the entire process:
Below I list all the steps for the entire process to board and pass the custom for your pet:
- Check-in
Now is the go-day! Arrive at the airport as soon as the check-in counter is open. Carrying pets requires assistance to check in your flight. Normally you will get the fastlane (I did). The attendant will help measure the weight and fill in the document. There will be a card to attach on the carrier for the compartment.
- Pass the carrier to compartment handling
If your animal goes to the compartment, you will either wait for someone to pick you up or go to a designated location, so that the airport can transport the carrier to the compartment handling. Before accepting your pet, the staff will carefully check whether the carrier is solid enough and help you tighten the entry.
- On the plane
If you have your pet with you in the cabin, you must put them under the front seat. But you can open the carrier a little for it to breathe and observe (mine loves that). Just be careful not to let them break the prison. You can also ask for water for your pet.
When I fly, I always take the 10-year old with me so that I can feed him some food and water – he used to be hospitalized twice for a urinary infection. - Passing through the custom
You will take your cabin carrier with you to pass through the custom. According to my own experience, I faced no challenge in terms of the required documents to bring in the pets. The customs officers did not go through all my documents and let me pass through.
- Pick up your pet in the compartment from the airport
You will pick up the compartment carrier from a designated location in the airport. Normally it is next to the luggage pick-up area. CDG airport has it mixed with the irregular luggage pick-up, while at YYZ airport, you pick up from a different location than the irregular luggage. Check with the airport staff.
It did not take long to have the carrier back, so I will always pick up the carrier from compartment handling before picking up my luggage. I appreciate the Canadian and French airlines being considerate when handling the animals. - Additional step may apply
In France, this is the end of the process. But in Canada, you need to go through another step and pay an amount roughly CAD $50 to bring your animal into Canada. This step could take a long time, depending on the efficiency of the officer. I did not have the luck – on my day the efficiency was very low and the queue just kept accumulating. But fortunately the process was done finally.
Final Remark
There are a lot of arrangements to travel with our dearest friends. However, the trouble is so small compared to their support for us. On many difficult days, my babies gave me so much comfort and love. I will always take them with me no matter where I go.
I also appreciate Canadian, French, and all other airlines that make travelling with animals possible.
If you like to know how to get a European passport for your pet, check this blog.
At last, I wish you and your flurry friend a safe and happy journey.
