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cauny

Dec 2, 2008, 3:30 PM

Post #1 of 18 (2365 views)

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Pets...URGENT help please!

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We leave (for a permanent relocation) for PV (Bucerias ultimately) before the sun riseson Friday (12/5).
We have three cats.
My wife is literally llorandoing tears of frustration because NO ONE seems to know WITH CERTAINTY what papers/shots etc. are required for their entry into Mexico.
She's now spent the day on the phone with the local vet, Continental airlines, and the Mexican consulate in Miami. Each gives her DIFFERENT (and mutually exclusive) requirements. As one might expect, there's nothing in writing on the internet. To complicate matters yet further, many many folks positing on MexConnect and other sites tell the repetitive story of (when driving across the border) no Mexian authority asking for ANYTHING.
Shhhhh, please....the cats are her "kids"; ergo it's understandable.

The help we need:

1. We will NOT be driving across the border. The cats will come from Ft. Myers to PV by air.
2. The cats have had ALL innoculations within the past year and have day-old health certificates from the local vet.
3. Can someone with "knowledge" of this situation please succinctly tell us what we need. While we appreciate others anecdotal experiences, thanks in advance, as they wil be of little if any value.

Is there an attorney-moderator in the house.

Mil gracias.

Craig

bournemouth

Dec 2, 2008, 3:39 PM

Post #2 of 18 (2361 views)

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Re: [cauny] Pets...URGENT help please!

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To make things completely safe for you and your cats, your vet needs to give you international health certificates for each animal. They do need to have had their rabies shots within the last twelve months. Rabies shots are given each 12 months in Mexico. Do you have a booking for the animals with your airline? I would sincerely hope you will be on the same plane as the pets - stories about animals sent to Mexico as freight are not good. Good luck - this will work out. Let us know you and the moggies arrive safely.

(This post was edited by bournemouth on Dec 2, 2008, 3:42 PM)

cauny

Dec 2, 2008, 3:50 PM

Post #3 of 18 (2353 views)

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Re: [bournemouth] Pets...URGENT help please!

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Sadly, Mr. B., you just made my point: Continental airlines TODAY enunciated the "Mexican policy" that the rabies shots must have been administered in the PAST FIVE DAYS! Is this bizarre, or what?

johanson

Dec 2, 2008, 4:51 PM

Post #4 of 18 (2344 views)

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Re: [cauny] Pets...URGENT help please!

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For years I would take my dachshund with me under my seat on my flights between Guadalajara and Seattle WA or Vancouver, Ca. and back. I was required to have a statement from a Vet that was less than three days old that the animal was in good health which was in the form of an international health certificate and the pet had to have a rabies shot within the year.

Willie1

Dec 2, 2008, 4:52 PM

Post #5 of 18 (2344 views)

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Re: [cauny] Pets...URGENT help please!

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We used to fly into Mazatlan on America West Airlines on a bi-monthly basis & our cat would have qualified for several frequent flyer trips, if allowed for animals!
We only had to have a current health certificate showing a rabies shot within the last 12 mos. and of course we always had to go through lots of paperwork on the Mexican end. Not once did they ever look at any papers on our return to the states.
Now, if one does research on the issue of rabies shots, you will find that one is enough for the life of the animal, contrary to the LAW...thanks to the pharmiceutical companies - they have lobbied most governments & convinced them of the need for an innoculation annually. A bunch of B.S. at the risk of your animal's life/longevity!!
Good luck!

morgaine7

Dec 2, 2008, 9:23 PM

Post #6 of 18 (2309 views)

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Re: [cauny] Pets...URGENT help please!

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Hi there, I moved to Mexico from Egypt (by air, obviously) in May 2007 with my two cats. This link is to info I posted last year:
http://mexconnected.com/...ing=mascotas;#113786
There are official regulations on the internet, but they are in Spanish:
http://148.243.71.63/default.asp?id=623
I don't see that they have changed since I brought my cats. However, one thing that is not mentioned is that you may have to pay a fee because you have three cats (two can enter for free).

As an aside, your consulate should be able to obtain this information. If you can, get it in writing (even email) and print a copy to carry with you. I had no problems, and the airport animal inspection in Mexico City was quick and friendly.

Feel free to PM me with any questions. Believe me, I know exactly how you feel! I was a basket case.

Kate

drmike

Dec 3, 2008, 8:06 AM

Post #7 of 18 (2266 views)

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Re: [morgaine7] Pets...URGENT help please!

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When we drove across the border July 2007 with our three dogs we had to have them immunized for rabies withing five days of crossing and a veternarian health certificate for each dog.We had absolutely no problems with moving the dogs..
Dr. Mike

http://www.smarthealthchoices.blogspot.com

There are hundreds of paths up the mountain,
all leading in the same direction,
so it doesn't matter which path you take.
The only one wasting time is the one
who runs around and around the mountain,
telling everyone that his or her path is wrong.

Hindu teaching

BajaGringo

Dec 3, 2008, 8:12 AM

Post #8 of 18 (2262 views)

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Re: [cauny] Pets...URGENT help please!

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You will find that the reality of bringing pets into Mexico is much simpler than the official stated bureaucracy. As long as their shots are current and have health certificates you will have zero problems.

Our House Building Project in Mexico...
Lomas de San Martin
Loving Life on the Baja Peninsula

esperanza

Dec 3, 2008, 8:32 AM

Post #9 of 18 (2254 views)

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Re: [BajaGringo] Pets...URGENT help please!

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In Reply To

This is usually true if you are driving across the border. However, the airlines are much more demanding--as is Mexican customs at any airport--and the original poster is flying down.

http://www.mexicocooks.typepad.com

BajaGringo

Dec 3, 2008, 8:50 AM

Post #10 of 18 (2251 views)

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Re: [esperanza] Pets...URGENT help please!

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An ex-girlfriend flew in and out of Mexico City once or twice a month to see me while I was working there a few years ago. She always brought her two small dogs. Having the shot records and current health certificates she never had a single problem in nearly a dozen trips or so.

I guess she was just "lucky"...

Our House Building Project in Mexico...
Lomas de San Martin
Loving Life on the Baja Peninsula

cauny

Dec 3, 2008, 9:06 AM

Post #11 of 18 (2246 views)

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Re: [cauny] Pets...URGENT help please!

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Many thanks to all of you for sharing your experiences.

Sadly, I conclude that since the cats will be flying to PV (and we will not be accompanying them) we are at the mercy of either the airline(s) or one of several "pet shipping" outfits we've contacted (ALL of which, interestingly, charge TRULY EXORBITANT fees - 10 times or more than what the airlines charge - to pick them up at this end and get them to the airport at this end and pay the airline).

Looks like we'll have to hop through whatever hoops the airline-of-choice mandates...even though those hoops may not coincide with what the Mexican govt. requires.

Smells to me like there's a potential business somewhere in all of this.

Thanks again to all of you who posted - it's appreciated.

JeanMoc

Dec 3, 2008, 10:44 AM

Post #12 of 18 (2225 views)

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Re: [cauny] Pets...URGENT help please!

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I'd love to hear from you after your arrival. I will likely be doing the same thing in a few months, and I'd really not like to have to have the rabies too often. Yes, it's not really necessary, but that's what the law says is needed.

Jean

jslay

Dec 3, 2008, 10:46 AM

Post #13 of 18 (2225 views)

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Re: [cauny] Pets...URGENT help please!

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I have driven and flown across the mexican border with my dogs. All you need is their up to date shot records and a health certificate issued seven days before you cross the border. I have had these and believe it or not I was never asked for them.
good luck and dont panic.

bournemouth

Dec 3, 2008, 3:12 PM

Post #14 of 18 (2199 views)

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Re: [jslay] Pets...URGENT help please!

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It is much easier to drive than fly. The problem that may arise, as the original poster is not accompanying the pets, is if they arrive outside of customs hours, their animals will have to wait for a considerable length of time before being processed through customs. I can only hope that it does not happen in this case. Continental usually requires you to have a customs agent to see them through the process too. Sending animals on a plane, without the owner being on the same plane, is problematic at best.

cauny

Dec 3, 2008, 10:22 PM

Post #15 of 18 (2153 views)

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Re: [bournemouth] Pets...URGENT help please!

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Having just witnessed my wife "investing" 2 days of her life on this one issue (not kidding) and seen the panoply of frequently incongruous and mutually-exclusive amndates and requirements posed to her by several airlines, consulates, PV and domestic "agents", I've shared her conclusion that - at least when it comes to THREE (the number itself has significance) cats, the "most rational and cost-effective" plan is:

1. We arrive in PV (sans cats) Friday.
2. She returns (by air) Tuesday and on arrival in Ft Myers gloms the first cat and "immediately" flies back to PV.
3. She returns (by air again) to FtM on Friday and claims the two remaining "animals" and, with a friend and at our expense, flies back with friend and two cats (1 per humanoid) to PV.

Friend then has fun.

Object Lessons from This:

1. You can't get there from here.
2. Often the most apparently irrational solution to a problem is the only rational one in sight.
3. Count slowly to a very large number and life will end. Much human activity is geared toward increasing the size of the number.
4. For my frau, CATS RULE.

bournemouth

Dec 4, 2008, 6:15 AM

Post #16 of 18 (2142 views)

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Re: [cauny] Pets...URGENT help please!

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I certainly understand - we went to South American many years ago with 2 cats, and returned two years later with three cats. My biggest worry about the whole move was finding food etc. for the cats once we got there - it did all work out but I have to qualify that by saying that Chile had strict requirements but they never varied, so we knew what we had to do.

esperanza

Dec 4, 2008, 6:26 AM

Post #17 of 18 (2139 views)

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Re: [bournemouth] Pets...URGENT help please!

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Finding cat food in Mexico is also interesting. Dry food like Whiskas is readily available, either at a big-box store or by the kilo from a feed and seed store. Veterinarians carry brands like Science Diet and Iams.

Canned food is another story. Here in Morelia, the only flavor usually available is salmon. Mega carries it, as does Superama and Wal-Mart. None of the other paste-style flavors (whitefish and tuna, turkey and giblets, etc) is available on a regular basis. I've never, ever seen the shredded-style flavors here in Mexico--and of course Friskies shredded chicken with salmon is one of my cats' go-to food. Costco carries six-packs of canned Whiskas, but of course my cats won't touch it. Once in a while I see a brand called Gatina, but again, if I dish that up, my cats just look at me with disdain.

And be prepared for sticker shock. Here in Mexico, canned cat food (Whiskas, Friskies, etc) costs nearly double the US price per can.

http://www.mexicocooks.typepad.com

leegleze

Dec 18, 2008, 11:29 AM

Post #18 of 18 (1985 views)

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Re: [cauny] Pets...URGENT help please!

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I know it's a bit late for the OP, but I just posted a translation of the official regulations here: http://www.mexconnected.com/...;;page=unread#unread
~ Roxana in Bucerias ~