Veterinary Preparations

Every pet travelling internationally must comply with the specific set of veterinary requirements, prior to departure, pertinent to their destination country.

The length of veterinary preparations can take weeks or even months, it all depends on your destination countries requirements. Our resident vets at Mooikloof Animal Hospital are experienced in international health certification, but if you would prefer to use your own vet, you are welcome to do so.

Some countries only require a microchip and a rabies vaccination but others might require a microchip, a rabies vaccination and a Rabies Neutralizing Antibody Titre Blood Test which entails a 3 months waiting period.

We relocate pets internationally every day and are constantly accessing the latest information through State Vets, Airlines, IATA and other IPATA members from all over the world.

Regardless of the amount of veterinary preparation that is required for your pet to travel to your destination country, your dedicated pet travel consultant will provide you with the guidance that is needed to ensure that your pet is travel prepared in time for their journey. Your consultant will always ask you to send them copies of your pets current veterinary documentation to check how travel prepared your pet is. Once your consultant has established how far you are in the veterinary process your consultant will advise you on what needs to be done next.

We strongly suggest that you avoid adhering to requirements for pet travel available on the internet.

It is very important to keep in mind that the information one finds on the internet is not always totally up to date, the information might already be five years old and since added the Department of Agriculture in the specific country could have changed their import or export requirements for pets six times over.

We have the most up to date information, that we source either from our fellow IPATA agents or from the Government Offices in the destination countries directly. It is also important you try not to go through to your vet or their receptionists for information about pet travel.