Before anyone tells me to check a sticky or whatever, I’ve searched within reddit and all over the web for people with my case and couldn’t find anything concrete, and I’ve called almost everyone and have gotten no answers.
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Anyway, long story short, I have a cat in Japan and bringing him to the USA for a 2 week vacation (couldn’t find a cat-sitter, etc) and I’m pretty sure I have the required steps done on the Japan side (microchip, vaccines, health check, advance notice). But the staff at the Japan Animal Quarantine Center also said to check with the USA side for required forms there as well. So Japan tells me to check the USA, so I call my airport in the USA and they have no idea, and tell me to confirm with Japan side. Which I already did.
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So I check all over online, but every time I search for such things, it is information for people with pets that are originally from the USA, that are traveling to Japan. They are required to go to a vet and get a health check, fill out a form, etc.
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But my pet is not from the USA originally. And I already am doing the health check etc. on the Japan side before I go. Do I really need to find a random vet in the USA side to do another health check before coming back?
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OH, bonus question! For those that have done the blood check for rabies in Japan, how long did it take to get the results?
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Thanks for y’all’s advice
6 comments
You know who would know a lot about this would be dog breeders who send their dogs to dog shows in the US. However, I think a lot of them pay a 3rd party a lot of money to deal with the logistics.
Bringing a cat on a 2 week vacation lol. Ridiculous and frankly cruel idea. Have you considered how stressful that is for a cat? Just pay the money for a pet hotel.
Google “US cat quarantine”, first result. https://www.cdc.gov/importation/bringing-an-animal-into-the-united-states/cats.html
OP, don’t do this. He’s not going to be in the cabin with you, animals have to travel in cargo on international flights, with the handling and inspection time on both ends he’ll be in a carrier for something like 24 hours. It’s traumatizing. We flew my birds here from New York when we moved–birds travel better in cargo than mammals and have fewer biosecurity hoops to jump through–and I would never make them go through that twice.
Additionally, if there’s /any/ errors with your paperwork, you’ve essentially consigned your cat to 180 days’ worth of detention and associated fees, or they could send him back unaccompanied, or they could euthanize him (only way to do a rabies test) if he starts to look sick. I effectively had to cancel and redo all of our travel plans *the day of* because the vet made a spelling error in the address on the inspection. Animal Quarantine at Narita confirmed that they would have confiscated and euthanized them if I hadn’t noticed the typo at hand-off to the airline.
Poor cat..
As someone who recently brought a cat to Japan, you won’t like hearing this, but you should not bring your cat with you. You may not even be able to bring them back in if you do.
First, does your cat have a current FAVN test for rabies? The test needs to be sent to specific testing centers to be done and the turnaround time is pretty long. Your cat will need two rabies shots and a microchip (approved for international) beforehand and will need a 180 quarantine before they are allowed in the country. (There are exceptions if you are military, in which case I recommend checking with Facebook groups instead). There are rules about blue ink on the FAVN paperwork as well that need to be followed, or they won’t be accepted.
You will also need to notify the airport you are flying into in Japan ahead of time of your plan to bring a pet. I believe you need to give the airport 30 days advance notice of your pet arrival.
Next, you will need a health certified health certificate from the USDA no more than 10 days prior to your date of travel. It can be difficult finding a vet who can submit for the certificate and the USDA will send it to you at the last possible second. It’s another expense and stressful waiting for that certificate.
Now, there’s the travel aspect. There are no pets allowed in cabin in Japan, so if you need a flight in to Tokyo, your cat will need to be checked (~$50 if I recall). Then, you’ll have to contact your airline back to the states to see if they even have room for your cat. Space is pretty limited and international flights get squirrely, so you may end up calling several airlines and getting told all sorts of things. It gets pricey as well.
This isn’t even covering the stress to your poor cat…
Tl;dr Please keep looking for a pet sitter, or even consider an automatic feeder and a camera. Leave someone you trust a key to check up on your kitty.
If you have any other questions, please feel free to message. My cat actually ended up in a month of quarantine for a stupid clerical error (health certificate had an incorrect birthday :’D) and she ended up quarantined for a month, despite it being an obvious fat finger mistake AND her post FAVN quarantine being complete. They do NOT mess around with animals.