1371 Cats to Italy

Hi

We also will be taking our cats to Italy, hopefully as cabin baggage!.
I have spoken to AlItalia, who assure me that I can do this on flights between Heathrow and Rome, as the planes are of the size that allow the baskets (they wont travel in the same one) to be stashed under the seats. There is a helpful website that they have which gives all the details, so hope this is correct. I think you will need to book up early as only a certain amount of animals can be carried on specific planes. If anyone else has had experience of this I would welcome more advice .

Good luck
Angie and Robert

Hadn't looked at AlItalia - BA will not allow animals in the cabin. They have to go in the hold, which we are assured is heated!
Will have a look at the website you mention ("There is a helpful website that they have which gives all the details"), do you know the website address?

Hi
Below is the site I used, whilst this applies in the main to the USA ,I was advised that it is much the same in Europe when I spoke to the guy at information here, certainly the weight limits and the type of plane were relevent.
Hope is of use

[url]www.alitaliausa.com/information/services/petsnew.htm[/url]
regards
Angie

Sorry web address should have been :

[url]www.alitaliausa.com/information/services/petsnew[/url]

It's kind of contradictory

"On all of our transatlantic aircraft, pets are checked in as registered baggage and travel in the hold. To find out if your flight will allow your pet in the cabin*, please contact your local Alitalia reservations call center."

On the one hand saying pets travel in the hold and on the other advising you to check with your local call centre!

I brought my cat to Italy in 2003 with Alitalia. Obviously allpaperwork,jabs etc must be up to date. Basicallly "Violet was weighed and I paid a small excess baggage charge. She was taken off to avoid XRAY etc and I was reunited with when I boarded. I had given her a small sedative prescribed by the vet.

I had been worrried that as she was a nervous cat that she would make a lot of noise, but there wasn't a peep from her during the flight. Hope this is helpful for all taking cats to Italy.

I have an article and two personal account stories on pringing cats to Italy [url]http://www.expatsinitaly.com/before/pets.htm[/url] Hope this helps.

[QUOTE=gailsomers]I brought my cat to Italy in 2003 with Alitalia. Obviously allpaperwork,jabs etc must be up to date. Basicallly "Violet was weighed and I paid a small excess baggage charge. She was taken off to avoid XRAY etc and I was reunited with when I boarded. I had given her a small sedative prescribed by the vet.

I had been worrried that as she was a nervous cat that she would make a lot of noise, but there wasn't a peep from her during the flight. Hope this is helpful for all taking cats to Italy.[/QUOTE]

Did you have to pre-book Violet's travel with AlItalia? How did she settle in once you arrived in Italy?

Listen-up cat people. Is it really fair to inflict all your human anxieties about international air travel on your moggies? Would you feel so bad about taking them on a similar car journey, or shutting them away in a dark room for a few hours on bonfire night?

As far as cats are concerned, they are probably happier to be in a darkish, pressurised, heated aircraft hold than in a cabin-full of people and they really don't have the capacity to make a distinction between moving 'abroad' or a few doors down the road. The discomfort of a short journey is a small price to pay for the new life they'll lead in Italy, with a better climate and a greatly expanded range of animals to pounce on and shred. You're doing the best thing for them by bringing them with you, so don't worry for them.

thanks Marc - we know you're right ..........

We brought our cat to Puglia at the end of June and I'm not sure who was more traumatised, her or us. It was not a pleasant experience and if you can take your cats as cabin baggage (BA would not allow us to do it) and if you can get a sedative from the vet (again, not allowed by BA and many other airlines) do it! Fortunately, she has now recovered and is enjoying life here, but it did take awhile for her to get over the experience. Still, however bad it was, the alternative to bringing her was much worse....good luck.

We have to fly BA as the flights to Puglia via AlItalia would mean non-direct and a longer travel time.
The reason for non-sedation (according to our vet here) is in case an animal is sick - if they were sedated they could choke on their own vomit.
Bill and Ben, our two moggies, were rescued by the RSPCA about six years ago from a run down house, lived in by an old lady and about 13 cats. They then spent over two months in an RSPCA shelter before we adopted them. When we collected them and drove them home (just over an hour) they were almost completely traumatised. We did not see them for almost a week - they hid under the sofa and only came out when we had gone to bed. Once they started to get to know us over the next couple of months we then found that Billy had a serious blood disorder (almost no red blood cells left) and was close to dying. Luckily our vet diagnosed the problem and he was treated.

Both cats are now well and happy and, although very nervous of other humans for a long time, now put in an appearance even when we have guests.

Having seen them go through all that, there is no way we can leave them behind. We feel that it they can survive what they did, arrive in a new home with strangers and eventually settle, moving them with humans they know cannot be as bad.

One of the potential buyers of our house here in England told us a story of how she adopted a cat in the States and could not leave her behind when she returned to England. The cat travelled in the hold from USA to England, spent six months in quarantine, and was then happily rehomed with her owner!

[QUOTE=Technically Blonde]....
Both cats are now well and happy and, although very nervous of other humans for a long time, now put in an appearance even when we have guests.

Having seen them go through all that, there is no way we can leave them behind. We feel that it they can survive what they did, arrive in a new home with strangers and eventually settle, moving them with humans they know cannot be as bad.
.....[/QUOTE]

We brought 6 pets (4 cats & 2 dogs!) over from Germany to the UK in 1996/97. We sent them by Lufthansa (in the hold) a few months before we moved so we could take them home as soon as quarantine ended. They were completely traumatised, but partly due to being locked up and not allowed out despite repeated rabies jabs, which are compulsory in Germany! I'm glad that the laws are more relaxed now that pet passports are in place!

Personally, I've taken cats by car from Aberdeenshire to Kent 2-3 times a year some years back and they were fine in the car (between 9 & 12 hours!). Again, our 'new' cats (incl a traumatised rescued cat) survived the drive from Cardiff to Edinburgh quite well - after major initial tantrums they slept all the way!

Should we relocate permanently to Italy, I guess I would prefer taking our cats in the car, so they have our company all the time. Some hotels are happy to take pets too and despite the stress of travelling, you are there to calm them down. ... Although given the comparatively quick flight time... who knows! :)

Stephanie

[QUOTE=Technically Blonde]We have to fly BA as the flights to Puglia via AlItalia would mean non-direct and a longer travel time.
[/QUOTE]

bugger bugger bugger - BA seems to stop flying to Bari at the end of October. We don't exchange / complete on sale of house until November!

Looks like we will have to go AlItalia London Milan Bari .....

Just registered with the forum. My name`s Hazel and I live with husband, 2 daughters, 3 cats and several assorted dogs, in Martina Franca (Puglia). We brought our cats to Italy last year. We travelled on BA and the 2 cats went in the hold - no problems, they weren`t frozen when they arrived! We had one adult cat and a 6 month old kitten and they were allowed in the same container (even though not related!). We did everything exactly as told. When we arrived at Bari, they just came up on the conveyor belt with all the outsize luggage and we helped ourselves to them with no questions asked. They were slightly un-nerved but non the worse for the experience. We`ve had no problems since and they`ve settled in to their new home very well!!

Good to hear your cats survived the experience and you're all settled in Italy.

Because BA don't fly to Bari after the end of October, we've decided to fly to Naples instead and drive from there to Casalabate (south of Brindisi). We've bought a large pet transporter so both our boys can travel together.

Did you have to check in earlier than normal when you left the UK with the cats? Also did you have to show any paperwork on arrival at Bari?

We have been living in Italy for the last 5 weeks and have also brought our cat Reggie with us. As we could not fly pets with easy jet we had to drive, this was something we were dreading. At the end of the day we drove this entailed two more drivers as well as my wife and i, a sat nav, and the hire of a car " molto soldi" just for our "gatto", bottom line he was ok lots of stops later we arrived in Italy.It would have been cheaper to fly!!! hey ho. Brendon.

my son moved to italy six months ago he drove from england to abruzzo with cat furniture etc the cat had a big cage type thing with litter tray and an old unwashed piece of clothing from my grandaughter so she could smell her on ita bit like a comfort blanket my grandaughter whent over by plane as she is eleven and we wanted her with us a bit longer you know what grandparents are like :)

forgot to say cat arrived ok but was a bit reluctant to go out untill they fitted the cat flap they brought from england maybe it still had her smell on it from england : :rolleyes:

[QUOTE=Technically Blonde]Bought the IATA approved cat transport carrier yesterday. We've left it open with Bill and Ben's favourite blanket and a few toys in it but neither cat has ventured near it yet.

Has anybody else taken their cats to Italy. We're flying BA and will take the cats on the same flight. I'm dreading it. Be interested to here anybody else's experiences![/QUOTE]

Hi
Has anyone who has taken their cats to Italy had to have the pet passport documentation translated into Italian?. two of my books say this is the case, so am again confused.
We complete the sale on our house in Le Marche on the 29th November, and hope to return to settle there around Christmas!!!So if anyone is near Monte Vidon Corrado, we would be happy to meet sometime.

Angie and Robert

[QUOTE=Angie and Robert]Hi
Has anyone who has taken their cats to Italy had to have the pet passport documentation translated into Italian?. two of my books say this is the case, so am again confused.
We complete the sale on our house in Le Marche on the 29th November, and hope to return to settle there around Christmas!!!So if anyone is near Monte Vidon Corrado, we would be happy to meet sometime.

Angie and Robert[/QUOTE]
ohmigod - I hope not, we have not had this done and the cats will be flying on 29th November ........ if anybody knows the answer please shout load.

Actually I don't see why - as we don't translate our human passports into italian (or any other language).

TB (still waiting to exchange on sale of UK house :( :( :( )

The form (Import certificate) I brought with Violet was from MAFF and was already in Italian

Hi

We transported cats to Italy via car from France, all 23 hours of non stop mewing and smells. They were 7 in total. Not to mention the 5 dogs all transported in a mini bus! They all had a calming pill for the journey and it worked well with some but not the others.

As for travelling by plane, a friend of mine did that recently with her two cats to New Zealand and said she had no problems and she was equally worried. Apparently thay don't like to give any tranquillizers on the plane, not sure about BA? As they can lose their normal body temperature.

I'm sure they'll be fine. At least you'll be picking them up at the other end aswell as travelling with them in the same flight.

You'll be glad aswell as them when the move is over and done with.

Macy

[QUOTE=Macy]Hi

We transported cats to Italy via car from France, all 23 hours of non stop mewing and smells. They were 7 in total. Not to mention the 5 dogs all transported in a mini bus! They all had a calming pill for the journey and it worked well with some but not the others.

As for travelling by plane, a friend of mine did that recently with her two cats to New Zealand and said she had no problems and she was equally worried. Apparently thay don't like to give any tranquillizers on the plane, not sure about BA? As they can lose their normal body temperature.

I'm sure they'll be fine. At least you'll be picking them up at the other end aswell as travelling with them in the same flight.

You'll be glad aswell as them when the move is over and done with.

Macy[/QUOTE]
What documentation did you have? We have pet passports but they are in English and somebody has raised a query over whether or not they need to be translated to Italian!

[QUOTE=Angie and Robert]Hi
Has anyone who has taken their cats to Italy had to have the pet passport documentation translated into Italian?. two of my books say this is the case, so am again confused.
We complete the sale on our house in Le Marche on the 29th November, and hope to return to settle there around Christmas!!!So if anyone is near Monte Vidon Corrado, we would be happy to meet sometime.

Angie and Robert[/QUOTE]

Just spoken to a very nice lady at the Italian Embassy in London who has confirmed that the Pet Passports are all the documentation needed and they do not have to be translated to Italian.

Hi

Hope the move goes well, sorry to panic you with the Italian translation bit, but some of the books can be very misleading. Will be interested to hear how the cats get on. Ours move to Le Marche in January!

Angie and Robert

[QUOTE=Angie and Robert]Hi

Hope the move goes well, sorry to panic you with the Italian translation bit, but some of the books can be very misleading. Will be interested to hear how the cats get on. Ours move to Le Marche in January!

Angie and Robert[/QUOTE]

Thanks. We've just had it confirmed that everyone in the chain is ready to exchange and that the exchange will take place tomorrow. Our removals company (Bishop's Move) have been absolutely tremendous - just rescheduled us for the third time - now it will be 2nd December!!!!!

Will update you with how the cats survive the trip after the event.

Hi

I just got the chance to look at the forum and noticed you asked a question about Pet Passports. Glad to see you got your answer.

And I'll just add that the passports from England were in English and French passports were in French. I checked to be sure.

Anyone want a kitten?

One just walked up my driveway, following the dogs and straight into the house, onto the counter top and straight into the ready available cat food.

Still here, named 'Bumble'. About 3 months old, thin and sick.

She's probably the fifth cat since we moved in to take the liberty along with two dogs!

And they are all beautifully behaved at the table. Oh, yes?

Macy