It's nice to be able to take your pet on vacation with you, but are you aware of all of the requirements involved in traveling with your pet?

Travel within the United States:
When traveling within the United States, you are required by the USDA to have a "Health Certificate."

A health certificate can be obtained at any veterinary clinic with an accredited veterinarian. Your airline will stipulate whether they will honor the health certificate for 10 or 30 days.

Consider tranquilizers for your pet if they tend to get stressed easily. You can request this when you go to your veterinarian for a health certificate.

What many people don't realize is if the weather is bad at your destination, many airlines will decline to transport your pet, because the risk of loss is too high.

Although inconvenient for the traveler, it is prudent to always have a back up plan for transporting your pet.

International Travel:
The requirements for international travel are a little more cumbersome. The health certificate for international travel needs to be taken to the local USDA office (on NW 36 St.) for the State Veterinarian's signature and then taken to the local consulate of the country to which you are traveling.

Every country's requirements are different, so we recommend you call your consulate and ask them for their requirements.

Also, when you come in, we will call the local USDA office for advice on a country's requirements as those can change frequently.

Give yourself at least 7-10 days to complete all necessary documentation.

Recently, a gentleman traveling to Italy was asked to have his health certificate translated into Italian!

All health certificates require information pertaining to the pet's last Rabies vaccine. If you know you will be traveling in the near future and your pet is overdue for vaccines, have the rabies vaccine given as soon as possible.

Some airlines and countries will require that the pet have the rabies vaccine administered more than 30 days before the travel date and may decline transporting your pet if it is given less than 30 days before departure. Countries vary as to their requirements for other vaccines.

It is prudent, however, to have your pet up to date on all it's vaccines prior to travel. When requesting a health certificate from a clinic that has not vaccinated your pet, take your rabies certificate with you and any vaccine information you have on your pet. The certificates often request information as to type and brand of vaccine given, and even the serial number of the vaccine.

Bon Voyage!

If you have any questions please feel free to call Anjanette Cabeza, DVM, 9589 NW 41 St., Miami, Florida 33178 at 305 598 1234.