Taking 4 cats to Spain

HI guys

Thanks for that!!

Roberto what you said was what i was told........its difficult to make sense of that as the passport states valid untill 2009. For the sake of £20 i think i will go and get them done again as i dont need any hassle with this!!

Thanks

I have recently moved to Spain and used Airpets at Heathrow to transport my 3 cats.  Was very worried about the whole experience, they cry like mad all the way to the vets., and my little girl Bengal is quite nervous!!!

I dropped them off at Airpets for an ovenight stay, they were checked by the vet for there certificate of fitness to fly and came out on the 8am flight from Heathrow.

I collected them at 1pm at cargo Malaga, they all looked a bit scared in their wooden cargo boxes which were very well ventilated with a water tray attched, but the boxes were very spacious, they were pleased to see me.  They cried all the way back to Marbella but as soon as we got home I let them out and you would think nothing had happened they had some food and a wander around and curled up for a snooze........6 weeks on they have not been affected by it at all....I think they are all far more resilient than we think!

we are getting our doggies prepared for their holidays next year .... but after all this talk of cost i think we've got a cheaper way to travel ....

failing that ... they will have to hitchhike!

Hi Tina

I didn't realise you had cats you were taking to Spain. Can you PM or email me with details of who you're using please, cost etc ? I'm collating details ready for ours going. 

Hi

We have 2 cats which we will be taking to Spain and have looked at the options.  We think were going to go with drving as you get to see all the lovely scenery and by going over on the Eurotunnel we can take out cats in the car and its free !  It only costs to come back with cats / dogs from Spain.

My cousin moved to Spain 4 years ago and now wishes she did this as she did the trip on the ferry and the animals were a little sick, as was she

Hi Redjoemw

We drive down each time now and take our cat with us. We use speedferries as its the shortest/cheapest route and have had no problem at all with the cat. We have to make sure that her passport and injections etc are up to date all the time to alleviate any problems with defra rules.

We have also used the tunnel, and although easier, it proved to be more expensive. I dont know where you have got your information from about free travel with the cats. Not heard of that but we have paid for ours both ways as there is a box to tick on the later booking pages, specially on the tunnel web site. That is what puts up the cost. They are a rip off on that score.There is certainly more fuss bringing the cat back to the UK than there is going out, but the price is the same.

If you fancied a long leisurely drive you could take them over on the Eurotunnel.  This is what we are going to do down to Almeria and there is no charge from Folkestone to Calais only on a return journey.

I checked this with Eurotunnel and they confirmed this is correct

Working our the cost of our trip it came to £85.00 on the train and only takes 45 mins !

Hi redjoemw

Just for interest, the cost of our trip on speedferry is between 34 and 43 pounds, including the cat, and the travel time is 50 minutes to Boulogne, taking us 20 mile down the coast to Calais. Unfortunately the cost for taking the cat/dog is £15 per animal and so works out more expensive with more than one pet. The drive down though is wonderful.

Thanx for that Jencoo

Definitely gives me food for thought

Hi I have just inquired(10/11/08) about taking my 3 cats to Malaga with Monarch airways. They dont go as excess baggage though but as cargo!

The price quoted for the 1st cat (in my case 2 cats in 1 container) : £365

For the 3rd cat and any subsequent ones: £81

So its going to cost me £446 all told from Manchester to Malaga. Whilst not being cheap I dont think it is too bad as it works out at roughy £150 per cat.

Hope this helps

I rang Iberia airline some months ago to enquire about taking my six cats to Spain. They quoted me E50 per cat and I can use my own cat box if it adheres to their measurements. Small cats can travel in the cabin but larger one's have to go in the hold. I have two large Maine Coon's and this concerned me.I posted a question about this on another forum and an air hostess replied the cats would be fine as the air temperature etc is the same as in the cabin.  Does anyone know different???

We used petcouriers.com . They were very good and we would use them again. They deal with all the paperwork etc. Can't praise them enough!!!