If you have read my story here, you will know my cat Larmlarm was born in Hong Kong (just like myself by the way…) and he moved with me to Paris 10 years ago when he was only 6 months old. I organised the logistics myself and got approval to take him with me in the cabin on the plane. Later, we moved with him to Dublin by using the ferry. In total, he has travelled 10627.48km with me.
Whenever I tell people about this, people usually either found it very amusing or feeling very curious about how we did it.
I realised my travel experience with Larm Larm might give you guys some insight about international cat travel. But then my experience with my own cats is very limited, so I decided to start The Travelling Cat project to collect all my customers international cat travel stories. Thanks to my work as a cat sitter, I meet a lot of my customers have move with their cats internationally. Altogether, hopefully, we will create some sort of ‘experience bank’ on the subject. It’s always nice to hear real stories from real people who have been through the process.
First of all, I want to get it out of my chest – moving with your cat internationally IS NOT DIFFICULT! Loads of my customers have done it! So for those people who claimed they have to surrender their cats to a shelter because they got a new job in London (and these people live in Dublin…), I am sorry, I think it’s ridiculous. I am usually very good in not being judgmental, but I am very opinionated about people surrender their cats left, right and centre. It drives me mad. And it doesn’t cost a lot of money! If you manage to relocate yourself to another country, you should be able to relocate your cats with you. Just like the way you manage to relocate your kids, your furniture, your personal belongs, I mean, come on! You manage to pay for everything else but not enough money to pay for the cat? Seriously? Anyway, rant over.
Now, on to the useful information I promised to share with.
Disclaimer: All the stories I share here is just what it is – stories I share. It is by no means an exclusive guideline. Government policy changes all the time regarding to cat travelling. Even if you find a story below which is your exact route doesn’t mean you don’t need to do your research. Information in a story on 2010 is definitely out-of-date and you need to do all the research necessary to make sure you get the most-to-date information. Please click on the link to see different stories. And if you spot any error or if you have more update information, please send me an email or leave a comment below.
A Quick Guide on International Cat Travel
Hong Kong -> Paris, Oct 2003. Travel in cabin on Korean Air. Without an agent.
Chicago -> Dublin, July 2011. Cargo on Aer Lingus. Used an agent.
Doha via London to Dublin, 2 July 2012. Used an agent.
Dublin -> Frankfurt, 28 Feb 2014. Travel in cabin on Lufthansa. Without an agent.
Cluj-Napoca, Romania -> Lucan, Co. Dublin, October 2012. By road (!) Used an agent.
Paris -> Dublin, Feb 2007. Travel on ferry. Without an agent. (coming soon…)
Edit 2020: I have since added a few more posts about international cat travel, please check out all the posts here.
I have also done an interview with an international pet travel expert! Check this out!