Taking my two kitties to New Zealand ~ advice needed please

after living in Canada for the past five years my Canadian partner and I have decided to live in New Zealand permanently (I am from NZ)

I really need some help here from anyone who has taken their kitty to New Zealand as part of their re-location ~ I can't bear the though of leaving them behind.

I know that it's going to be a costly venture! I have been in touch with MAF and am aware of the import fee and need for quarantine ...

has anyone used a pet relocation company to undertake some of the paper work etc and make sure the animal is on the flight etc ...

I live in Alberta

thanks for any and all help!
Lily

You can try and find someone through this site. I shipped my cat from Ontario and the shipper dealt with relocation from only that province.

http://www.ipata.com/

It won't be cheap. It cost me roughly $3000 cad and that included a month quarantine in Australia (back in '09).

I know this may be different, but will pass it on as well. We moved from DC to Nicaragua! We brought our 2 cats and 1 dog. The cats were able to come in the cabin with us and the dogwent below in a special pressure/temperature controlled area.

10 days prior we had to have our vet give them a physical, then there was a form 7001 that they filled out and sent to the head vet for virginia for a stamp, as well had to get the nicaraguan consulate to stamp that form 7001 as well! All within10 days of traveling, so yes we used overnight mail!! And of course its all on your cost(including he return postage)

But thats formthe USA to Nicaragua. You should contact your Vet and they may know the requirements or point you in the right direction

Keep in mind theyonly allow so may pets on boards, so book early and make sure u let themknow u have a cat

Here are the USDA links and if you scroll down and click on N it will show what the requirement for New Zealand
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/regulations/vs/iregs/animals/ Weird no info on pets!!! if u look onthe Nicaragua page for example, it lists all the requirements, none for New Zeland!

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/regulations/v ... _faq.shtml

Above links only for example! Maybe the best way is to email the New Zealand Embassy and see what the requirements are! And you can probably carry your cats onto the plane!

I know Continental airlines works hand in hand with a company called Petsafe, thats who we used for our Dog and they were great!! Continental is merging with United and dont know if they have nay flights that originate in Canada!! But they took very good care of our dog!! They made sure she was last on the plane and 1st off!!

Cats cost us $125 each (and they came in cabin) and our dog was $300. And then of course the vet physical, cost of overnighting mail and of course the USDA fee and the Nicaraguan fee for thier stamp!! Well worth it though!!

After all my blabbing, I would contact the NEw Zealand embassy and see whay their requirements are as well as the airline!! The airline was the 1 who required the heath certificate to be within 10 days of travel, nit Nicaragua!! And you probably could google the answer as well. Best of luck!! I'm from Saskatchewan!! Go Flames!!!

http://www.daff.gov.au/aqis/cat-dogs

We frequently take our 2 cats in the cabin with us. You will need 2 soft sided carriers - Sturdi Products in Washington make really good ones that comply with airline regs. This is a long flight - consider breaking it at Hawaii so your cats can pee, eat and stretch their legs. Check with the NZ agricultural folk - they are strict, but usually will require a vets certificate issued a few days prior to leaving Canada with current rabies shots. Airlines do limit the # of on board pets, so tell them when you book - there is a fee - for us it is $100 per cat one way BC to Mexico.
Try and avoid using cargo - there are horror stories out there. We are flying to Spain from YVR and we will break the trip in New Jersey so the cats can spend a night in an hotel room .
Mexberry.