Bring a pet from the US to Spain and return to US

I am interested in advice on pets also, We will be bringing 3 dogs when we come to stay.

We brought our two cats with us to Spain from the U.S.  We will not take them back to the U.S. so I cannot speak for the return trip nor can I speak for dogs.

We are so happy they are here with us!

With respect to the cats, it is important to have the correct i.d. computer chip.  Apparently there are different types so you want to make sure the chip complies with the regulations.  They received a rabies vaccine and feline leukemia vaccine in late July.  There was a requirement to have the chip scanned before giving the vaccinations.  The U.S.D.A. website has information on requirements.  We traveled in September.  Make sure you begin making arrangements in a timely manner.

To transport internationally one needs to obtain a certificate of health from the U.S. Agriculture Dept. within 10 days of travel.  The veterinarian files the request online.  The vet has to be part of the USDA network in order to do this.  You have to pay for a self addressed express mail envelope.  This was sort of stressful as the document did not arrive until two days before we travelled... but it did arrive.  It is important to be in good communication with the vet during this process as they may not fill the form correctly and it will get rejected and have to be resubmitted in time.

The humorous part was that we had to ask the airlines if they wanted to see the documents otherwise they would have just accepted the animals.  The other thing was, no one in Spain even cared or asked for any certificates.  It is a pet friendly country.

With respect to the airlines.  Some (American Airlines) refuse to allow pets across the Atlantic.  Lufthansa was very pet friendly though they only allowed three pets in the cabin and they divide it into class so economy gets one pet, 1st class 1 pet, etc.  So we had to place one cat in the cargo hold.  Lufthansa has a pet area at the Frankfurt airport and they take good care of your little friend.

You must make sure though, that the dimensions of the carrier are compliant with the airline.  We purchased a carrier that said it was compliant for in cabin travel but the dimensions were oversize for the airline.  We bought another one that strictly met all the dimensions.  You absolutely DO NOT want to find out that your carrier is not compliant when you are checking in at the airline. There are dimension requirements for the cargo hold as well.  The airline website publishes the dimensions.  They were very strict on this.

As I said before, I don't know what the process is for entering the U.S.

Thank you so much for sharing your experience. May I ask how the cats behaved on the trip? What a bout feeding them? Can they go that long without a litter box? Thanks