Moving to the UK :)

[Lily-]

Woaah many answers, thanks everybody 

@Sue: Thanks for all the advices, especially about the carrier Surfing the net I read (as someone else said too in the next replies if i remember well ) there are some kinds of carriers that fit the space under the seat that are accepted in the cabin (with certain airlines, generally not the lowcost ones), so if I will choose to get there by plane I think I'd try this way
As regards the travel by car, you said a lot of things I didn't think about, thanks a lot Generally, when it happens we have to do a longer travel than the one to the vet, I use the cages of the dog we used to have to give them more space, like this i can put in a part of it a little box for their litter, so maybe it could be an option i can consider

@Beth: Oh it was you who wrote about the seats thing ahah And yeah I plan to micro chip then as soon as possible (I'm a kind of paranoid ahah even if they live indoor they have their little collar with their name and my phone number on it ).

@Sheilarose: thanks for the link, i just read it and it was really clear

@Gill: thanks a lot for the support for the moment I'm trying my best to learn English the most I can

@Mymblesdaughter: thanks for sharing your experience, it is really useful as you said, hearin about the problems some people had with airlines while travelling with their pets, makes me think that even if it's way longer, the car is  maybe the best choice, also cos Joy, one of my two cats, easily gets scared by noises and stuff, so I'd be afraid to stress him too much with a travel by plane :/ I mean, it feels kind of weird for us humans too when the plane takes off or lands, even if we know there's nothing bad going on, so i guess for a cat or any other pet it could be really scaring being in an unknown place with all those weird feelings.

[Mymblesdaughter]

Hi Lily

I moved out to Italy with my cat without any problems. We lived there for a year, unfortunately my cat died while I was there but that's another story. We had to get her a cat passport, this involves a rabies jab you then have to wait a few months before you can move your cat into the UK. We drove out and and went through the tunnel so that I could keep the cat with me at all times. I looked at all the other possibilities but I knew that I had to look after her myself after hearing too many scare stories about airlines losing cats etc. We stayed in a cat friendly bed and breakfast in Germany and we let her out to roam around and she slept on the bed.

We got a big travel cage which fitted her bed and cat litter tray inside. She didn't eat or drink while travelling though.

We had a sign that we put in the car when going through customs but they didn't even bother to look.

I got very stressed but greycat adapted very quickly.

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

Great idea to think ahead and apart from the rules on bringing them here you also need to consider where you will be living because if you are going to rent, many places will not allow animals. 

So there is sooooooooooooo much to think of and 5 years sounds a reasonable time to do it in 

We on Purrs will all stick our thoughts in as you need to know stuff and as time progresses.

Loads of luck with your studies and your dream 

[sheilarose]

Here's the UK government advice, Lily.

http://www.defra.gov.uk/wildlife-pets/pets/travel/pets/pet-owners/#a

[Beth82]

The only restriction is id you had a specific breed (f1 - f4), they would need a DWA (dangerous wildlife act) or a certain license,  But I would assume that this is not the case for you.

The rule of thumb is that a cat can travel in the cabin, as long as it's travel box can fit under the front seat of your seating.  You also have to have 1 cat per box, in a box big enough that they can stand on all 4's in.  I'm not too sure on the max. of pets in a cabin, you may need to check this with the airline that you fly with.  But remember to declare the animal at check in, otherwise it will be a long wait at the animal center in the relevant airport that you fly into.

Also keep in mind that 24hrs to flying, your cats will have to be given a certain worming tablet, which is signed off by the vet.

I would also micro chip your cats before you leave Italy to come to the UK.

[Sue P (Paddysmum)]

Hi Lily.

Sounds like you have a good plan there, and its sensible to think ahead. 

My step-daughter took her cat from the UK to Spain and then back again from Spain to the UK.  She had some initial problems with the airline carrier, but basically, when flying within the EU with cats, they have a cat passport scheme in place - your cat has a health check around three months before you fly - they make sure all vaccinations etc required by the country you're travelling to and from are in place and up to date before endorsing the passport (including a vaccination against rabies a month before you travel).  There's also a Pet Travel Scheme in place which permits pets to travel without the necessity of being quarantined.

You can only import a small number of pets without needing a commercial license, but I think you'd be fine with two.

Different airlines require different types of pet carrier, and this was the problem my stepdaughetr encountered.   She was given differing information from the airport authority and the transporting airline.

They then tried to tell her the carrier she'd bought needed more ventilation and that they would have to bore holes in and charge her a considerable amount of money to do so before her pet could travel.  In reality, when she requested to speak to the animal welfare liaison officer, she was told that the carrier was fine, and there was no requirement to add additional holes (seems like it was a scam to try and get money from her - it was reported to the airport authority).

However, the animals have to travel in the hold, I'm afraid.  They travel as cargo and aren't permitted in the passsenger sections.

If you were going to bring yuour cats by car, then you would have to be sure the carrier they were going to travel in would be large enough to allow them some movement, to eat, drink and with access to a litter tray.  You'd also need to consider whether you could keep the vehicle adequately ventilated without risk of the cats escaping (air conditioning can be a huge help in that respect - our old dog bless her used to overheat very easily in the car, so I would have the air con on full blast and be freezing in the front while she continued to pant in an apologetic way in the rear of the car).  I gather the Eurotunnel is pet friendly though, so no problem in that respect.  Could be a problem though if you need to stop en route overnight - you'd have to make provision for the cats to have an opportunity to be let out of their carrier in safety, and to be sure wherever you planned on staying would be okay about you having pets in the rooms.

The rules about certain breeds of dog are related more to the Dangerous Dogs Act.

Am sure there will be others around who can give you some more practical tips, but you'll need to keep checking regularly before you do relocate, as rules and regulations have a habit of changing over time.

[Lily-]

Hi everybody
I am 21, I study medicine and my dream is moving to England after my graduation (I'm Italian), which means in about 5 years. So yeah, I still have a quite long time ahead, but I'd like to start finding informations about the whole thing to be able to manage it at the best
I have two cats (both about 1,5 years old), neutered and I regularly take them to the vet for their vaccinations. They don't have a chip yet cos they live only indoor and here in Italy it's not long since they started using chips for cats too.
Of course, if my dream of moving to England will come true, I'll do anything I can to make them come with me in the best way I can, so when I have some free time, it happens I start reading something about what I need to do for it, but I often find opposite informations, so I was wondering if someone here could give me some help
For example, I read some dog breeds can't be brought in England, but I read nothing like this about cats, so this wouldn't be a problem, right?
Do anyone have experiences with long travels like that? On a side I think the travel by car would be better, even if it is much longer, cos they are kind of used to it and they wouldnt feel things like the plane taking off and landing and so on, on the other side by plane it would be much faster, but I read there could be problems at the airport. Plus, as they are two (and, if it is by plane, I would make them travel with me in the cabin, not in the hold), I was wondering if I need someone to come with me... I mean, if there is something like '1 person-1cat'
Looooaads of questions, I know ahah :D
Thanks in advance