# My cat wants to go to France.



## Printz

Hi everybody,
My wife and I are Americans who plan to go to France for three months a year, starting next year. We have a cat who's always traveling with us - a little female who walks on a leash! 😊
I know she has to have certain vaccinations here in the US, and also there are certain rules for when we bring her back, into the US.
1. I'm looking for advice from someone who already had experience with this?
2. If I want to travel to say Italy or Germany as well, is it possible to get a pet passport in France for traveling to other EU countries , as a foreigner?

Thank you for any advice in advance!


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## Bevdeforges

Take a look at the EU regulations for traveling with pets - particularly the part about the EU Pet Passport, which is valid for life (as long as you keep your cat's rabies vaccinations up to date). EU rules on travelling with pets and other animals in the EU - Your Europe

This page specifies the requirements for bringing pets into France: Travel: coming to France with your pet

Basically, you'll need to get an EU standard chip. For quite some time there was (is?) some sort of standards issue involving the chips that animals receive in the US. I'm not sure if they have resolved this yet, but just be sure that the chip you get for your cat (if she doesn't already have one) is readable here in Europe.


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## 255

@Printz -- In anticipation to our move to France, I researched the appropriate chip to travel to Europe and found there were two "ISO" compatible chips. These were not he chips our vet. normally used, but they had them in stock (evidently they come 10 to a pack and another client needed the ISO chip for their move to Europe.) So we got the EU compatible ISO chip, right off the bat.

A blog post you might find interesting: ISO Compatible Microchips for Pet Travel to the European Union | PetRelocation . 

My daughters in-laws have a second home in Europe and spend about half the year there. They have a dog and the dog always travels with them. I do know they have a vet. in Europe, and in the U.S., but I've never heard of any trouble traveling with the dog, either from the U.S. to Europe or throughout Europe. I suspect they do have an EU Pet Passport. Another article to review: USDA APHIS | Pet Passports - European Union . Cheers, 255


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## Printz

Bevdeforges said:


> Take a look at the EU regulations for traveling with pets - particularly the part about the EU Pet Passport, which is valid for life (as long as you keep your cat's rabies vaccinations up to date). EU rules on travelling with pets and other animals in the EU - Your Europe
> 
> This page specifies the requirements for bringing pets into France: Travel: coming to France with your pet
> 
> Basically, you'll need to get an EU standard chip. For quite some time there was (is?) some sort of standards issue involving the chips that animals receive in the US. I'm not sure if they have resolved this yet, but just be sure that the chip you get for your cat (if she doesn't already have one) is readable here in Europe.





Bevdeforges said:


> Take a look at the EU regulations for traveling with pets - particularly the part about the EU Pet Passport, which is valid for life (as long as you keep your cat's rabies vaccinations up to date). EU rules on travelling with pets and other animals in the EU - Your Europe
> 
> This page specifies the requirements for bringing pets into France: Travel: coming to France with your pet
> 
> Basically, you'll need to get an EU standard chip. For quite some time there was (is?) some sort of standards issue involving the chips that animals receive in the US. I'm not sure if they have resolved this yet, but just be sure that the chip you get for your cat (if she doesn't already have one) is readable here in Europe.


Thank you so much! 🙏🏻


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## Bevdeforges

Just a note on the EU pet passport - most vets here in France will issue an EU pet passport for their "patients" for a nominal fee. (Last time I checked, my vet charged 6€ for one.) But that assumes that the cat is already a patient and so the vet has all the health and vaccination records available. It may be a bit more expensive for an animal they haven't been treating - involves a general physical exam, etc.


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## ccm47

My cat has done 30,000 km within Europe, and she's only 5 years old. She has an EU passport as she was born and abandoned in Spain.
Never once have we been asked to produce her passport when doing border crossings (mainly by road). It's certainly not that we hide her, her basket is either held in place by a rear seatbelt or she's on the floor at the front and the handles hooked into the seat belt holders .
If we are in our camping car we stop every two hours or so for a comfort break for us, the dog and the cat. Once everybody is comfortable we resume our journey.
The cat has a microchip, but she always wears a harness with an engraved medal so that her contact details can be seen quickly and easily, should she ever get lost but she is not keen to leave the vehicle.
Campsites and hotels tend to like to see the passports but that is mainly to check the dog is not a banned breed.

The one time we were stopped by customs was after we had taken our horses to Spain in an old lorry bought for the purpose. When returning to France we stopped at an Aire, I checked horses whilst OH did dog. Customs drove through the Aire and spotted only 1 person with the horses. At the next toll booth they were waiting for us. They asked how many horses "2" we replied. They then asked whose they were "Ours" we said. They couldn't be bothered with checking the passports so sent us on our way.


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## Printz

255 said:


> @Printz -- In anticipation to our move to France, I researched the appropriate chip to travel to Europe and found there were two "ISO" compatible chips. These were not he chips our vet. normally used, but they had them in stock (evidently they come 10 to a pack and another client needed the ISO chip for their move to Europe.) So we got the EU compatible ISO chip, right off the bat.
> 
> A blog post you might find interesting: ISO Compatible Microchips for Pet Travel to the European Union | PetRelocation .
> 
> My daughters in-laws have a second home in Europe and spend about half the year there. They have a dog and the dog always travels with them. I do know they have a vet. in Europe, and in the U.S., but I've never heard of any trouble traveling with the dog, either from the U.S. to Europe or throughout Europe. I suspect they do have an EU Pet Passport. Another article to review: USDA APHIS | Pet Passports - European Union . Cheers, 255


TY! My cat has a chip - I'll check if it's ISO compatible. Super info 👍🏻😊


Bevdeforges said:


> Just a note on the EU pet passport - most vets here in France will issue an EU pet passport for their "patients" for a nominal fee. (Last time I checked, my vet charged 6€ for one.) But that assumes that the cat is already a patient and so the vet has all the health and vaccination records available. It may be a bit more expensive for an animal they haven't been treating - involves a general physical exam, etc.


Thank you for that important info. We will certainly pursue a Pet Passport, to be able to cross borders to Schwitzerland, Italy, Spain, Portugal etc. We have friends in many places.😊


ccm47 said:


> My cat has done 30,000 km within Europe, and she's only 5 years old. She has an EU passport as she was born and abandoned in Spain.
> Never once have we been asked to produce her passport when doing border crossings (mainly by road). It's certainly not that we hide her, her basket is either held in place by a rear seatbelt or she's on the floor at the front and the handles hooked into the seat belt holders .
> If we are in our camping car we stop every two hours or so for a comfort break for us, the dog and the cat. Once everybody is comfortable we resume our journey.
> The cat has a microchip, but she always wears a harness with an engraved medal so that her contact details can be seen quickly and easily, should she ever get lost but she is not keen to leave the vehicle.
> Campsites and hotels tend to like to see the passports but that is mainly to check the dog is not a banned breed.
> 
> The one time we were stopped by customs was after we had taken our horses to Spain in an old lorry bought for the purpose. When returning to France we stopped at an Aire, I checked horses whilst OH did dog. Customs drove through the Aire and spotted only 1 person with the horses. At the next toll booth they were waiting for us. They asked how many horses "2" we replied. They then asked whose they were "Ours" we said. They couldn't be bothered with checking the passports so sent us on our way.


WOW, you've been around😊. Wonderful to hear nobody's particular about traveling with a pet. We have a cat-backpack for ours, and walk her in a harnish with a leash. She loves that. We plan to both drive, but also utilize the railroad system . I wonder how they look at traveling with pets, by trains ...
Thank you so much for your input!🙏🏻


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## Bevdeforges

To be honest, the EU pet passport doesn't seem to be used for border crossings so much as for proof of shots and general health whenever you are staying with your pet - in a campground, hotel, or other place of public accommodation where they are likely to be in close proximity to other animals or humans. Even animals have "freedom of movement" within the EU!


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## Printz

Bevdeforges said:


> To be honest, the EU pet passport doesn't seem to be used for border crossings so much as for proof of shots and general health whenever you are staying with your pet - in a campground, hotel, or other place of public accommodation where they are likely to be in close proximity to other animals or humans. Even animals have "freedom of movement" within the EU!


My cat purrs in sheer expectation!😊🙏🏻


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## ccm47

SNCF now charge a flat fee of €7 per pet journey, the link is here: https://www.sncf.com/fr/offres-voyageurs/voyager-en-toute-situation/animaux-de-compagnie .
Depending on where you are going other passengers could delay you since they have the right to object to the pet's presence! I assume that they would only ask you to leave the train if it is crowded with people who are allergic!
Also don't plan any visits to Italy, as they only allow guide dogs on the trains.


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## Printz

ccm47 said:


> SNCF now charge a flat fee of €7 per pet journey, the link is here: https://www.sncf.com/fr/offres-voyageurs/voyager-en-toute-situation/animaux-de-compagnie .
> Depending on where you are going other passengers could delay you since they have the right to object to the pet's presence! I assume that they would only ask you to leave the train if it is crowded with people who are allergic!
> Also don't plan any visits to Italy, as they only allow guide dogs on the trains.


Thank you so much! Didn't know about Italy. I like this forum! So much good info. 😊


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## JapanAmerica

This may all be covered in the prior posts, but here's a helpful overview of the French rules on this: Travel: coming to France with your pet


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## Printz

JapanAmerica said:


> This may all be covered in the prior posts, but here's a helpful overview of the French rules on this: Travel: coming to France with your pet


Thank you!😊🙏🏻


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