Minimizing the Costs of International Pet Travel

Dear PetRelocation,

 

We are wanting to take our ragdoll cat from Melbourne to Macau, and we're finding pet relocation costs ridiculous. Can we do this ourselves without it costing a fortune? We also need to make sure we have the right paperwork for bringing our cat from Melbourne, Australia to Macau.

 

Thanks,

 

 

Hi Dyan,

 

Thank you for the question! This does sound like a tricky route and pet travel in and out of Australia and China tends to be on the expensive side, however we're happy to offer some guidance that may help to trim costs here and there.

 

First, we recommend consulting with official government sources, such as a Ministry of Agriculture website, when looking for import guidelines. For pet travel to Macau, it looks like your cat will need an ISO microchip, updated rabies vaccine, an import permit and a veterinary health certificate. Since you're arriving from a rabies free country there should not be a quarantine requirement for your cat.

 

As far as areas where you can save money on pet travel, we'd suggest buying a used travel crate if possible, plan vet visits carefully to keep their number to a minimum, handle transportation to and from the airport yourself, and generally do as much international pet travel research as possible to find out what needs to be done and what is reasonable to complete yourself. For more detail about these items, here is an overview of how to control the costs of a pet move.

 

Expat websites can often be helpful when searching for tips and advice, as well, and if you find yourself needing professional assistance with part of the move, IPATA.org is a good source to use to search for local agents.

 

Hopefully this helps, Dyan. If you do decide you're interested in more comprehensive assistance, you're welcome to contact us for a pet travel consultation. Thanks again for reaching out, and good luck with your cat's relocation!