Crossing the Canadian border with a cat

KB

kb0zke

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We're planning on going to Alaska next year, so we attended a session on international travel today at Escapade. We heard, again, that DOGS must meet all sorts of requirements in order to cross from Canada into the United States. We asked the presenters about CATS and were told that they are subject to the same rules, and that we could find out all the details at coc.gov. I went there and searched for CATS crossing the border. Nothing. I did find the lengthy list of rules for DOGS.

Does anyone know for sure about CATS crossing the border? I'd hate to subject our 13-year-old indoor cat to unnecessary procedures due to faulty information.
 
There are most definitely new requirements for bringing dogs into the US going in to effect starting August 1, 2024. These requirements are heavily documented on the CDC website. The information clearly states that dogs not meeting the new requirements will be refused entry in to the US, and will be transported back to the country they are coming in from at the owners expense. What a nightmare if they actually go through with this threat!

Be advised that the new requirements apply to ALL dogs, regardless of whether they are coming in to the US for the first time (import), or if they are simply returning from travels with US owners. Further, there is a long list of countries considered “high risk”, and if your dog has been in any of these prior to coming in to the US, the requirements are even more stringent.

We are entering Canada this summer as part of our summer RV trip with our 12 year old border terrier, and returning back to the US after August 1. We are therefore subject to the new requirements to get her back across the border. It has been a costly nightmare to meet the requirements.

- she had to be re-chipped with a 15 digit ISO compliant international chip, even though she has had a 9 digit chip implanted since her puppy days.
- she has had to have another rabies booster shot AFTER the compliant chip was implanted, even though she was just boosted last October
- our vet had to submit detailed information to a USDA system and certify everything at the risk of loosing his license. the USDA then has to review everything and endorse a certification document that the vet just got back to us today. This form is required to get the dog back into the US.
- all of these steps have to be completed by a USDA certified vet. Not all vets have this certification
- 2 to 10 days before we attempt to bring the dog back across the US border, we as owners have to go to yet another online system to file for an import certificate for the actual day of the crossing.
- our bills for all of this so far are about $500

I urge anyone attempting to bring their pet back into the US after August 1, 2024 DO THEIR HOMEWORK ON THIS. It’s a huge ordeal that very few are yet familiar with. Don’t believe postings that say stuff like “no big deal, just bring your vet records”. It is not true after August 1, 2024, unless something changes with this fiasco.

Let me add … this is NOT a Canada requirement. It is a US requirement. Here is a link that summarizes things …

https://www.cdc.gov/importation/bri...d-states/dogs-entering-us-after-august-1.html

Looks like cats might be off the hook …

https://www.cdc.gov/importation/bringing-an-animal-into-the-united-states/cats.html
 
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They are worried about a recent trend of importing strays for adoption in the US from other countries with diseases not found in the US and Rabies. It has been in the veterinary news for some time. Rabies variant is the main concern.

https://news.vin.com/doc/?id=12146666

I am on the Rabies Committee for my state and I am sure this will be on our agenda. I am an accredited veterinarian and will try to update this list as I get more information.
 
g8rvet said:
They are worried about a recent trend of importing strays for adoption in the US from other countries with diseases not found in the US and Rabies. It has been in the veterinary news for some time. Rabies variant is the main concern.

https://news.vin.com/doc/?id=12146666

I am on the Rabies Committee for my state and I am sure this will be on our agenda. I am an accredited veterinarian and will try to update this list as I get more information.
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Our vet is USDA certified, but was still caught off guard by these requirements. We were only his second client to request this certification … his first was just 1 week before us. Ironically, he does not yet have the USDA certificate for that client.

I have read many postings on other sites re: owners scrambling/panicking, USDA certified vets not being available in their areas, and vets even refusing to go through the process on the basis they simply don’t have the time. It seems to me if US border staff really strictly impose this new requirement on August 1, there will be chaos at border crossings with both Canada and Mexico (what else is new), and also international airports. Further, this idea that non-compliant pets will be rejected back to the “exporting” country is absurd. I can’t imagine any foreign country suddenly accepting large numbers of non-compliant US pets without their owners. It’s just a ridiculous response to a problem that will be a mess.

Like most US dogs, our dog has been vaccinated for rabies her entire life. Like any responsible owner, we have records of all of it. There is no reason to impose any additional “certified records” requirements on US pet owners traveling with their pets. Also, it is ridiculous to force us to re-chip and re-vaccinate our pets. Completely unnecessary medical procedures.

FWIW, our vet advised us not to re-chip or re-vaccinate our dog. He would have preferred we simply not taken her into Canada at all. He thinks all of this is completely unnecessary for US pets that have adequate vaccinations and vet issued proof.
 
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I agree 100%. It is basically an insane over reaction. I do agree with a chip to travel, but not accepting a prior chip is silly. Typical government overreaction to a small problem, that although it does need to be addressed, the implementation is insane. Sounds more like another Fauci type reaction, doing something just to do something.

I don't personally know any vet that is not USDA certified, but I am sure they exist. I was simply responding to a question upthread about why it was happening, not if it was being well implemented. It is not.

There should be a difference between a US based pet dog traveling with owner returning to US from a non-risk country that is much more simple. Honestly, the CDC pretty much messes up everything it touches.

This is easy compared to getting a pet into Hawaii. THAT is a nightmare. But it is at least understandable as they are Rabies free.

I will try to write a more simple to understand checklist for RV travelers once I have a better handle on it.

Just curious, did you travel to and return from Canada during COVID once the border opened? The first year I swore I was not going back.
 
g8rvet said:
Just curious, did you travel to and return from Canada during COVID once the border opened? The first year I swore I was not going back.
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We have traveled in Canada prior to the plague, but not with an RV or a dog. We have not been in Canada since. This diversion into Canada as a part of our summer “beat the heat” RV trip is sort of a test case. We plan to cross the border near Vancouver after visiting friends in Anacortes, WA. We plan to return to the US near Glacier National Park to a little town called Whitefish, MT. Our main stop in Canada is Revelstoke, BC. We will see if the “juice is worth all of the squeeze”.
 
Scott'n'Wendy said:
I am surprised that is an issue. Why take an animal to a different country for adoption?!? Is there a shortage of puppies/kittens in the USA?
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It is surprisingly, because the CDC is worried about the dog variant of Rabies that was eradicated in the US. I know of some dogs a few year back sent from Egypt to be adopted in US that had the dog variant. There is certainly no shortage and I cannot fathom why anyone is importing animals from high risk countries to be adopted in the US, but it is happening (on a very limited scale though from what I have read).
 
I love the Canadian people and count many as good friends. The Canadian government, not so much. I go every fall to hunt.
 
Let me clear up something, any variant can affect any species of mammal, some are more contagious to certain species, but it is not like being free from the dog variant means dogs are safe. Just wanted to be clear on that.
 
Bungy said:
Thank you, we love you too but according to earlier posts it’s the US government that has implemented these new rules.
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Oh, for sure I do not think Canada has the market cornered on bad health policies. The COVID regulations both directions were a nightmare with nothing consistent.
 
Scott'n'Wendy said:
We're on the same page.
Lots of good hunting up here. Quite a trip from Florida though. Moose?
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Ducks and geese. We freelance so it has been a lot of fun meeting so many folks. We try to have a dinner every year. We feed them Florida food (fried alligator, cheese grits, hush puppies) and they feed us Canadian food (perogies, moose roast)
 
Thanks for the information. With this information it looks like we can still stick with our plans, which are firmly set in Jell-O. We had talked about, and will still research, a much shorter trip (aka cruise) should we not be able to take our cat with us. We are not going to subject her to chipping at her age. She is current on her vaccinations, even though the last time she was outside was 13 years ago, when she was a kitten. She went out without permission and found a bunch of cold, wet white stuff all over the ground and she was NOT happy! She has refused to go outside ever since, because she just knows that stuff is still out there.
 
kb0zke said:
Thanks for the information. With this information it looks like we can still stick with our plans, which are firmly set in Jell-O. We had talked about, and will still research, a much shorter trip (aka cruise) should we not be able to take our cat with us. We are not going to subject her to chipping at her age. She is current on her vaccinations, even though the last time she was outside was 13 years ago, when she was a kitten. She went out without permission and found a bunch of cold, wet white stuff all over the ground and she was NOT happy! She has refused to go outside ever since, because she just knows that stuff is still out there.
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My read of the new rules is they only apply to dogs, not cats. I suggest you check to be sure, as all of my research has been for dogs.
 
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