Rules / Regs pets cruising?

[Doghouse]

Well, the situation at work looks bleak for the future. So I may have to cut lines sooner than I want. So in preparation for what may come next, I am looking at how to take the family with me.

As we were discussing this SWMBO asked, "What do you do about the quarentine of the animals as you enter the countries?"

Good question. Hmmm... Does the time out at sea count twords the quarentine?
How about when you return to your home country?
How do you deal with the VET stuff? Do you pack your own vacines or shift the schedule so that the shots will coincide with the time frame you expect to be in your home country?

What do you do about food, I will eat what I catch. What do you feed your pet?

Hey did I miss anything? If this has been discussed, please for give me.

[GordMay]

You’re forgiven. Goto:

Livaboard Dogs:
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ead.php?t=2875

cruising cats ?:
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...read.php?t=524


Dogs on board:
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...read.php?t=534

and
From “Sunspot Baby”:
http://www.stateham.com/sunspotbaby/A_Serious_Look.htm

[Richhh]

Its simply amazing that most of the "British Commonwealth" countries, etc. are so paranoid about 'rabies'. This is probably due to the previous paranoia in the UK about rabies and the draconian laws that were enacted in the 1800s that required insane quarantines, etc.

Nowadays the UK has realized that simple appropriate modern and efficacious vaccinations can indeed prevent rabies and has virtually eliminated the need of needless quarantine of animals sent direct from even 'highly suspected' countries.

Too damn bad that the 'territories & colonies' are still living/lost in the 19th century when it comes to importing properly vaccinated 'animals' ..... some 'territories and former territories' still insist that the animal be sent *to the UK* for an inordinant term of quarantine (to the UK !!! --- the pet HAS to be shipped to the UK, withstand a long quarantine, and then may be later trans-shipped direct to the 'territory') ............. AND all the while and although the 'mother country' no longer insists on such if the animal originates from a 'modern' country where proper vaccination is obtainable, etc.

[Doghouse]

GordMay, Thank you. That gives a lot of information.

I am also looking for what rules there were for the Caribbean.

So far:
England: Microchip ID, rabbies vac and blood sample sent.
Japan: 2 Rabbies vac, and blood sample
Bahamas: Cert. of Health.

Please keep the info comming.

[Richhh]

Here's a summary of worldwide pet travel, etc.: http://www.petsonthego.com/resourcesintl.html

[Doghouse]

http://www.dogfriendly.com/server/tr...lcustoms.shtml
found another one with a lot of the rules.

[Entlie]

In addition to the animal permit for the Bahamas, you will also need a Vet's certificate obtained within 48 hours of embarkation.

They aren't terribly particular about the 48 hour factor, but we have been asked for the vet certificate when we cleared in.

Bahamas sends a basic with the pet permit. We have paid as little as $25 to have a vet fill out this basic form, to almost $50 for the USDA official certificate that some vets insist on issuing instead of the basic one.

If you don't already have one you might think about a pet first aid kit. Ours has come in handy from time to time.

Entlie
Sailing Catamaran Sunspot Baby
http://www.stateham.com/sunspotbaby/

[Entlie]

After I posted my first reply, I thought of a couple of other things to mention.

You asked about dog food. Our Toby weighs about 60 pounds. He eats dry Pedigree - about a 22 lb. bag each month. We left on Cruise #3 with 7, 22 lb. bags of Pedigree, each one bagged in a tall kitchen trash bag for extra waterproofing. That calculates out to 154 pounds of dog food, but even though we saw it from time to time in grocery stores, who wants to schlep it around in a dinghy, or perhaps waste time reprovisioning because you are low on dog food? Bags were stored in the bathtub, and the last bag was as crunchy as the first (attested to by Toby himself).

We did have a dog once, who lived on rice and ground meat. We bought broken rice at the bottom of the barrel (living in Singapore at the time), which came complete with bugs, and was about half the price of regular rice. And saw meat, which is the meat shavings from the butchers floor. We cooked it up - gave it a fancy title - "Beef and Bug Rice" and she lived on it and thrived. A more civilized version of canned chicken, vegetables and rice might be ok, if you trained your dog to like it first. However, large quantities of rice are heavy as well, so it might be a fairly even trade-off with dog food.

Toby gets all the annual shots before we leave, and we don't take any other shot medication with us. But we do take the monthly flea and heartworm medication for as long as we plan to be gone, plus a month, and plenty of topical and oral medications recommended by our vet. Even if your dog doesn't take flea and heartworm routinely now, he/she will probably be coming in contact with local and island dogs who receive little or no veterinary care - so a little prevention is a good thing.

The horse leg wrap from Tractor Supply type stores is a good thing to take along. It is like a thin adhesive bandage that sticks to itself. It is comfortable enough, and we have used it on Toby (he is a frisbee dog and occasionally sprains something or gets gimpy), he has not tried to chew it off. Reasonably priced and comes in many different colors and widths. It's in our pet first aid kit, but I keep thinking that it would be a good item for our human kit as well.

And last but not least, a tetanus shot for the human crew is a good thing to have before you leave. George was bitten by a potcake (stray Bahamian dog) in George Town, Great Exuma, and was glad his shot was up to date.

Sorry to ramble on so much, but hope this helps.

Entlie
Sailing Catamaran Sunspot Baby
http://www.stateham.com/sunspotbaby/

[hellosailor]

"It is like a thin adhesive bandage that sticks to itself." I first met this under the brand name "VetWrap" for my dog, and of course the drug stores look at you oddly when you ask for Vet-anything.<G> 3M now sells it in the US under their "Nextel" line of medical care products, confusingly named same as a cellular company.
If anyone out there has gotten PO'd at the metal clips for Ace bandages...think of this as a magic ace bandage, no clips required. Great stuff! For people as well as the hairkids.

[tinawburgess]

Hi, have been cruising the caribbean down to Trinidad and Venezuela for the last 2 years with a dog on board. Only problem we had was Trinidad where you can't land pets, but the local boatyards all let you walk your dog ashore within the confines of the yards. French islands don't require anything, St Vincent and the Grenedines are difficult, but we managed to get a permit in the end. We just turned up in Antigua and called the vet out, she said that we should have filled in a form before we arrived and faxed it to her, but again no real problem. Just make sure you have all relevant paperwork and jabs etc. are up to date. Don't forget Rabies is yearly out here and you need heart wormer monthly not every 3 months.