When we were planning our move to St Kitts the main concern for us was what to do with our menagerie. Travelling with cats can be a bit challenging and being a veterinary nurse generally tends to mean various waifs and strays are accumulated over the years and I am no exception.

Over the years we have taken in stray cats to be re-homed, bottle fed babies that didn’t have a mother and nursed wildlife until it could be released.

A certain amount of strays just never seem to leave though and before we left the UK we had a ‘stray’ ferret called Belper who we had for 2 years, 2 ‘stray’ tortoises that we acquired in 2013 and they never left, a tropical fish tank which we bought (no stray fish unfortunately) and our two cats Jeff and Luna who both came from work.

Jeff was our first acquisition in 2010 he was a tiny newborn kitten that someone found under their deck when they were redesigning the garden and Luna was a stray who came to us at 7 years old in 2014.

We managed to re-home our ferret to a good friend who also had ferrets and our tortoises went to a lady who used to own a reptile rescue centre but wanted tortoises of her own. The fish were slightly more difficult but we had some friends who were thinking of buying a big fish tank so we convinced them they wanted ours complete with fish! The cats however were always going to emigrate with us!

Prior to travelling with cats

The first port of call for us was getting the import permits for St Kitts. This involved contacting the chief veterinary officer (CVO) of St Kitts to find out the requirements for bringing cats to the country. All of the information we could find online was for bringing pets from the USA.

The CVO is a local veterinarian appointed by the government, be aware that although there are veterinarians of all nationalities on St Kitts only a local veterinarian under the authority of the CVO can authorise pet imports.

The contact information for the CVO can be found here. We found that the best way to contact them is by email due to time differences and them being out on local calls a lot of the time. The email address we used was skbvet12@gmail.com.

You should always contact the CVO to find out your individual requirements for importing pets to St Kitts. Also note that the sister island of Nevis has a different CVO and may have different requirements for travelling with cats.

Our requirements to get an import permit were microchip, proof of vaccinations, rabies vaccination, pet passport and health certificate.

First stop was a visit to the vets for a full health check and to get updated with vaccinations, also to check the microchips were still working and in the correct place. Microchips can migrate over time and occasionally stop working.

Cats in the UK are vaccinated routinely against feline flu (calicivirus and herpes virus), feline infectious enteritis, feline chlamydophilosis and feline leukaemia virus. Jeff and Luna were already up to date with these so they just needed a rabies vaccination and a pet passport issuing.

Pet passports for cats

The vet scanned both cats with a microchip scanner and the microchips were working and still in place between the shoulder blades. The rabies vaccinations were given but unlike if they were coming from the USA, they did not require a rabies titre blood test to see if the vaccination was effective.

This is because the UK is a rabies free country like St Kitts. I would however recommend getting the rabies vaccination at least 3 months before travel to allow enough time if the CVO does ask for the rabies titre test. This is because the blood has to be drawn a month after the vaccination is given and if the results come back as insufficient then a second vaccination has to be given and a second titre blood test another month later.

All of these details have to be documented on the pet passport. Also worth mentioning is if the animal has already travelled abroad before they almost certainly need a rabies titre test. So leave plenty of time to do these essential vet visits without a rush.

A pet passport has to be issued and signed by a local veterinary inspector (LVI) who is a veterinarian approved by the UK government to issue EU pet passports. Jeff and Luna’s veterinarian was a bit confused why an EU pet passport was acceptable but we figured it was probably because St Kitts is part of the British Commonwealth and they have many laws the same as the UK.

Once the pet passport was completed with the cats descriptions, microchip details,  rabies vaccinations and signed by the LVI, the normal vaccination records were updated with the most recent vaccination (bad vet nurse forgot to take them at the time). The pet import application form was filled out with the same details as the passport and the documents were all scanned into the computer and emailed to the CVO. There is a pet import application fee of $20US or $55XCD per animal which can be paid by international money order or cash on arrival either XCD or USD.

Flying with cats

In the meantime we researched companies who specialised in exporting pets from the UK and contacted them for prices.  The company we used and who we would highly recommend was Flypets and they sorted out the pet export documentation from the UK and booking the cats onto the flights.

We were lucky in that we flew with British Airways and they allow pets in the cargo hold when flying to St Kitts. That meant the cats could be on the same flight as us, but this had to be arranged in advance we couldn’t just arrive at the airport with the cats in tow.

They also provided the cat carrier for the flights that met the specific requirements of the airline. Each airline has different requirements for the type of pet cages for flying in the cargo hold and flying in the cabin. Not all airlines will carry pets so check your specific airline well in advance if you are planning to take animals with you.

The flypets representative collected Jeff and Luna on the Friday morning before our flight departure from London Gatwick on the Saturday. They had to have another health check and a health certificate had to be issued by the airport vet 24 hours before flying to say they were in good health to travel. They stayed overnight at the flypets kennels and were taken to the airport in the morning by the flypets representative and checked in.

Our flight with British Airways was the most direct route you can fly which we would always recommend when travelling with cats. The flight went from the UK to St Kitts departing from London Gatwick stopping in Antigua for an hour and then on to St Kitts.

When we stopped in Antigua we were a little concerned that the cats might get unloaded but the air steward went to check on them, they were doing ok and had just had their food and water refilled.

Arriving at your final destination

On arrival in St Kitts we queued for our visitor visas waiting anxiously to see if the cats were mad with us. The luggage carousel started up with the baggage and finally the cats came around. Jeff was so angry, the other passengers were looking alarmed at the noises coming from his box and Luna was giving us the silent treatment- it could have been worse!

We had to wait for the local veterinarian to arrive and pay the pet import fee directly to them which was $55US or $150XCD per cat,  we had to pay a supplement for arriving on a weekend and after 4pm so check with the CVO before arrival how much you will need to pay on entry.

The local veterinarian didn’t get the cats out to examine them as he thought it would stress them out and they had their health certificates from less than 24 hours before flying. The CVO can insist on a home visit to check up on them once they are in their new home.

As we had travelled from the UK they were not subject to any period of quarantine and the CVO said they could go out immediately if we wanted them too and they didn’t need to check them again.

If you are looking for information about bringing pets to St Kitts from the US you can find a handy checklist here.

I’d always recommend keeping any cat indoors for at least 1 month after moving house whether that is abroad or at home. This will allow them to become familiar with their new surroundings and for them to realise that the new place is now home.

Jeff and Luna are settled into their new home now and love island life, they are enjoying the permanent summer and keep bringing in exotic presents. So far we have had lizards, a locust and cockroaches! Nice!

Have you taken your pets abroad? Leave us a comment below or if you have any questions about travelling with cats feel free to drop an email and I’ll do my best to answer them!

If you love this post, share it now on social media!