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Oh my goodness.. There were times PF and I strenuously disagreed, but at other times I thought he was right on. I respected his knowledge very much. Also his determination to find out the objective truth about things when others (sometimes me) were jumping in and making comments on news stories without having all the facts! Rest in Peace.
OP, sorry for the thread hijack.
Here's another thing to consider: bringing cat INTO Australia requires a 180-day quarantine! So, if this is a temporary move at all, you'll want to consider this part. If there's any chance you'll turn around and go back in a couple of years this is something you would have to deal with.
I guess Australia is another one of those rabies-free places. So if it's rabies-free, presumably cats and dogs and so forth don't get rabies vaccinations there. So I wonder if it will be required upon entry to the US? I would think that rules could allow for entry at least beforehand, but ultimately once settled here rabies vaccinations will be required by state of New York.
I did for example look up United Airlines and their info says pets to and from Australia can only travel as "manifested cargo", not even baggage. That's interesting, and perhaps that is what is true of all carriers to/from Australia. Oh well. They will most likely be fine but I do think as I already said it would be worth it to break the trip into a second segment where you get them out of cargo and stay overnight and then bring them in the cabin with you on the final leg. That will significantly lessen the length of time you will be worried about their condition, totally worth it IMO.
Since I posted this query I have spoken with a pet relocation company and they gave me a quote (AUD$2450) for my two cats to fly with Qantas on the A380 to LA at the end of April, then I'll look after flights between LA and NYC and take the cats as carry on with my husband. They were very thorough and alleviated a lot of the concerns I had ~ aka the cage does get tied down in the animal section of the plane's hold below, it doesn't move around like a lot of scare mongers on internet forums will suggest... They are put on the plane last and removed first and there is a pet transport rep. with them pretty much right up until they get put on the plane. I can also allow both cats to travel in the same carrier (as I feel this is best for my cats) and the carrier is totally secure - aka locked a few times and very secure - they said we can padlock it almost if we want (!)
Qantas are seemingly the best, they have found for transporting animals and are very thorough. I have also spoken with a senior Qantas pilot who has assured me they rarely ever see issues with domestic cats or dogs as the compartment is exactly the same as the main cabin in regards to it being heated/temp controlled and pressurised etc. Also he said often cabin crew will ensure the animals are ok and have water right as they are being secured into the hold. Overall he said not to worry. I am sure they will be sh*tless but cats being cats I would hope (pray) after an hour or two, in the darkness of their area, they would chill a tad and just snooze... So even though on the day I will be a bawling mess handing them over and spend the entire flight wondering if they are ok downstairs, I was slightly starting to think we can do this.
Until I just read Greg's comment (thank you Greg by the way for pointing this out to me, it hadn't even twigged with me and you're spot on:
"Here's another thing to consider: bringing cat INTO Australia requires a 180-day quarantine! So, if this is a temporary move at all, you'll want to consider this part. If there's any chance you'll turn around and go back in a couple of years this is something you would have to deal with."
This has TOTALLY thrown a spanner in the works. There is no way I could stick my 2 cats into a shi*ty Aussie quarantine cage for 6 months (even 1 month - which seemingly more the norm with cats fitting our situation). You can only visit them 2 days per week... This is something I never thought of and I feel is worse than a 12 hour flight...
Head is totally wrecked now... (Blo*dy Australian OTT customs and import rules)...
We may never return here but we also might find in 1 or 2 years, through no fault of our own, that we have to return, I'd also like the option to come back if I wanted to in 3 or 4 years...
P.S. Greg re. rabies etc.. from what I have read cats from Oz do not need a rabies injection but I will speak to my vet (or at least I was planning to speak to him) about this ~ again from what I have found online, this can be done up to 1 month before they travel.. They are both microchipped (law here in OZ), have excellent health record, fully immunised against everything yearly and have what I would guess is a great bill of health and care. On a side note, I think I need to get them a pet passport thought too
Sounds like good news about the plane travel, although that really seems expensive! But it is a long flight, etc, and they sound very thorough.
But yeah, the possible quarantine if you go back. When I saw that I knew I had to put a reminder here just in case. I have no idea if any allowance is given to citizens or pets who can be documented to have been born in Australia or anything of the sort. My guess is not. I read that 5 out of the 6 months needn't be in Australia and I don't know how that works. That is something to explore so you know how it will work if you go back. Something to look into might be how it works if one were to take a trip with their dog or whatever. I mean, that must happen right? Or maybe it doesn't, maybe because of the regulations nobody from Australia would take their dog on an overseas trip. Maybe there's a time limit or some other kind of exception.
Rabies vaccination: Actually, I'm realizing that your cats will be at slightly elevated risk as soon as they land here. Well, it's not at all likely to be exposed of course, but they will have zero immunity presumably because they won't have ever had a rabies shot in their lives. Some folks like to avoid extra vaccines when possible, perhaps including rabies (when possible; most states including New York require annual or 3-year rabies shots by law), feeling that there is most likely lingering immunity built up by earlier vaccinations. But your cats will have no immunity to rabies. So it may well be prudent to have that done before leaving, and it does make sense to ask the vet. This is actually a reversal of what I was originally going to say here because I realized that they would be unprotected upon arrival. Obviously it is highly unlikely that they will be exposed to rabies as it requires a bite or other bodily fluid exposure from a rabid animal, but they would be susceptible unless vaccinated. An escape or such without vaccination would put them at this bit of added risk. I don't know what is typically done for those moving with pets, but I suspect someone there will know.
Good luck with it all. If nothing else try to remember to give us an update after you've moved.
greg - excellent advice re. Rabies shots. I shall speak to my vet ASAP about this, I think we have three moths until we move. Rabies is totally non-existant here so it never comes up at the vets but will check out pronto for sure. Sure will do an update, I actually think I will do an online blog re. our move. I found it next to impossible to find anyone who has done this Syd -> NYC move with cats so might be a good idea to write a diary to let people know how it all goes.
From my readings, and from conversations I have had with him, I know he favors the pacific/Oceania to Hawaii with a few days rest in Hawaii for the passenger and the pets followed by the Hawaii to mainland USA flight. It also appears that although it's very difficult to travel to Hawaii with a cat in the cabin, there are few airline limits when traveling from Hawaii to the continental US. It would seem that you would be f\required to send the cats by cargo from AUS all the way to NYC, whereas the alternative is cargo from AUS to Hawaii and in the cabin with you from Hawaii to NYC.
I'm considering moving my two cats from Sydney to NY later this year. Can i ask if you ever went through with the move? And if so, how did it go?
My big question is how did you cats adjust at the other end and were they ok with the flight?
Thanks
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