Cat On Board - Gaining access to Caribbean

[lawrence_craig]

All,

Looking for real-life experience.

I am looking to take my cat on my boat from the UK over to the Caribbean via the Canaries in November. We will be going to islands such as St. Lucia, Barbados, Grenada, BVIs, St. Kitts. etc.

I have been on pettravel.com and find the advice confusing.

My cat has been vaccinated, has a pet passport and has had a rabies injection last month.

Can anyone give me any advice or point me in the right direction? At this point, I am very much considering leaving the cat with my family.

Many thanks!!

[gmakhs]

I traveled this year to through airport Martinique with my cat , sailed to st Martin , saint Lucia , Guadeloupe , Dominica noone checked the pet passport .

As far as you carry all the necessary vaccination and health certificate ( passport ) do not worry .

And I think you can always "quarantine" the pet in the boat but I am not sure about this .

[Sea Life]

The “British” islands are the worst. The french islands are not a problem, they don’t care. Most want 1yr rabie shots, not 3yr. St. Lucia was hard, Grenada was easy, can’t speak to the rest.

[rhiannonewers]

Thanks for the responses. When you mention the BVis as being the worst, what are the checks that you experienced? Was it possible to confirm that you will keep the cat on board? My cat has had all the vaccinations but just hasn’t had a 2nd rabies within 6 months as we don’t have enough time to get it done in UK before we leave.

[gmakhs]

Do the rabies somewhere in Europe or canaries , it's important.
For the BVI maybe will be easier for you since the cat is from Britain but I have no idea.

[s/v Moondancer]

www.noonsite.com has a section on pet regulations for each country.

https://www.noonsite.com/Countries/B...rmalities#Pets

I would leave the cat at home.

[gmakhs]

Originally Posted by s/v Moondancer

www.noonsite.com has a section on pet regulations for each country.

https://www.noonsite.com/Countries/B...rmalities#Pets

I would leave the cat at home.

Not really , it's nice to have a pet onboard.

[rhiannonewers]

Originally Posted by gmakhs

Do the rabies somewhere in Europe or canaries , it's important.
For the BVI maybe will be easier for you since the cat is from Britain but I have no idea.

That’s a good idea actually.

[rhiannonewers]

Originally Posted by gmakhs

Not really , it's nice to have a pet onboard.

I agree and I want my cat with me on board but I am Worried about the regulations so I will wait until his 2nd injection and then get him aboard to live with me [emoji1430]

[zeehag]

much good information in facebook group gatos del mar. Gatos del mar (cats who sail/navigate) https://web.facebook.com/groups/277701742402893/

[gmakhs]

Originally Posted by rhiannonewers

I agree and I want my cat with me on board but I am Worried about the regulations so I will wait until his 2nd injection and then get him aboard to live with me [emoji1430]

I wonder why you don't do the seccond shot in canaries ??? It's full of vets and the shot will cost around 30 euros .

[Matt Johnson]

Not an issue at all.

The only two places we've had any interest was in Bermuda and Cuba. But, as long as we stayed at anchor and didn't let the cat ashore, Bermuda said it wasn't a problem having her with us. Cuba brought a vet on board to look our cat over, but again, didn't want to see anything else.

Every other place doesn't even want to see any of the paperwork.... even after I spent about $500 going to a vet and USDA in Miami getting a Pet Passport. Once we got to Portugal, the vet here tossed the US Passport and gave her a Portugal one that looked much more official

Oh yeah... one last thing. Returning to England will be the hardest you encounter. You can go Ireland to England via sailboat, but any other country you'll have to send the cat ahead via a carrier company.

Matt