International veterinary passport for dogs and cats

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

Today, in order to cross the state border, not only a person needs a foreign passport, but also his pet. If you are going to travel with your pet, prepare a passport for it in advance. Moreover, if for some animals (for example, for parrots, turtles, snakes or rodents) it is very difficult to obtain a passport, then for cats and dogs documents are made very quickly. The main thing is to carefully prepare and do all the necessary procedures for the animal.

What is an international veterinary passport

Of course, a pet passport is not an identity card, it is a document that will tell the customs service everything about your pet's he alth.

Therefore, in the veterinary passport for cats and dogs, it is mandatory to enter data on vaccinations, deworming and chipping of the animal, including reflecting the followinginformation:

• The name of the animal, its date of birth and gender.
• Breed and special markings.
• Chip and brand number, if any.
• Vaccination dates and vaccine names.
• A photo of an animal.
• Details of pest control performed.
• Information about reproduction or its absence (in case of castration or sterilization).

Also, the data of the owner of the animal is entered into the veterinary passport for dogs and cats - his full name, date of birth, address and telephone number.

What do you need a passport for

This document will tell the staff of the border veterinary control whether the pet has been vaccinated, whether it is a carrier of any disease. This is important, as any state protects its citizens from infections common to animals and humans (such as rabies), and from diseases that your pet can transmit to local dogs and cats.

The owner also needs a passport - if the animal is lost or stolen, only a passport will help you prove that you are its owner. This is especially true for thoroughbred, expensive show or rare breeds of animals, which often become victims of scammers and robbers.

What you need for a passport

The first thing you need to do is to have the animal microchipped, as some countries emphasize that microchipping must be done before vaccinations. Although in many clinics both chipping and vaccinations can be done at the same time. Moreover, the chip must comply with the international ISO standard.

Then give your dog or cat all the necessary vaccinations. The main ones are against rabies, parvovirus and 2 vaccinations against plague. They also vaccinate against major infectious diseases such as Lyme disease, mumps, adenovirus infection and others. For other vaccines, check country-specific requirements. Please note that if you have done all the vaccinations, then you can transport the animal no earlier than a month, but no later than a year. It is also important to remember that there are some peculiarities in the transportation of a puppy or a kitten - for example, animals can only be imported into the European Union from 4 months of age, since the first vaccination is given only to two-month-old puppies, and the most important, against rabies, a month after the first vaccination. After another month, you can take out the animal. And there are countries that do not require any certificates for animals under 3 months old.

Pay special attention to the rabies vaccine - not all of them can be recognized by veterinary control, so check which ones are accepted unconditionally and look for clinics where they make them.

The animal should be dewormed every 3-4 months, which is recorded in the passport, and the last procedure should be carried out approximately 5 days before the flight. Also treat your dog or cat in advance with a flea and tick remedy (with the appropriate mark in the passport).

How to get a document

Having given all the vaccinations and performed all the necessary procedures, the owner, together with the animal, will have to visitstate veterinary station, where they will be issued a certificate or certificate in the form No. 1-vet on the basis of a veterinary passport. This certificate is needed to cross the border, its validity is only 5 days.

When crossing the border, this certificate is exchanged for an international veterinary passport. For different countries, it may be different, for example, it is often pink, and in some EU countries it is white.

Where to get a passport

Veterinary passport can be issued in the same veterinary clinic where you vaccinate the animal. Only when choosing a clinic, give preference to the largest. Today, the licensing of veterinary clinics has been canceled, therefore, in order not to be mistaken, it is better to contact a state clinic, where the animal will definitely be vaccinated against rabies (small private clinics have a problem with vaccines), and they will draw up the relevant documents. That is, they can be made anywhere, but when crossing the border, the passport of a small clinic, and even issued incorrectly (and this is possible if the veterinarian has no experience in preparing documents), can be challenged.

What to look out for

First of all, start preparing to receive the document in advance and at least a month before the trip, clarify the rules for obtaining a passport and the rules for importing animals into the territory of the country where you are going. The rules, though infrequently, change, and it would be a shame, having done such a difficult job, not to cross the border because of some trifle.

Note how the veterinarythe passport contains data on vaccination - in special columns they indicate not only the date of vaccination and the name of the vaccine, but also attach a special sticker, which is extinguished by the seal of the veterinarian and is confirmed by the signature of the veterinarian. If this is not the case or vaccination dates are not specified, the passport may be invalidated.

Another common mistake is that vaccination data is entered not by a doctor, but by a club or breeder, while permission for some vaccinations, especially against rabies, is issued only to state veterinary clinics, which means that such an international veterinary passport for dogs or cats will be challenged.

You may also notice that different clinics may issue different types of passports, or the one issued to you is different from what you saw on the Internet or from other breeders. The fact is that there is no single sample in our country or in the world, there are several recommended forms. But if the passport issued to you has all the necessary marks, you can be calm: you will probably cross the border without any problems.

What to do if the international veterinary passport is lost

If you have lost your pet's passport, remember that it can be restored. All state and large clinics keep their databases, so contact the place where you had your last vaccinations. This clinic will give you a duplicate of your document.

So, obviously, if you monitor the he alth of your pet and do all the necessary procedures and vaccinations in a timely manner, you will not haveproblems getting a passport for your dog or cat.