Kitty adventure of the international kind...

So, now that the decision is firmly made, I thought that it would be fun to share all the itty, bitty, dreadfully tedious steps of preparing for an international move. If only to help me deal with the situation and maybe help answer some questions that you may have...assuming you are like me scouring the internet for any info you can find.

I am lucky enough to already hold an EU citizenship, so this part is no stress. But my kittens do not. And since they are coming with me, it is important that I get them sorted out and ready to go when time comes. Fortunately, this move is something I have been thinking about for a while, so I did some research ahead of time. It turns out it's good that I did, because taking animals to Sweden from a non-EU country is a long process. Otherwise your pet goes to pet jail (aka. quarantine) for a while and I'm pretty sure they will already be quite miffed at being stuck in a tiny cage for hours on end....no need to add insult to injury.

Moving cats or dogs to Sweden requires that your pets are vaccinated for rabies and micro chipped. The micro chip is a specific type, and once vaccinated you have to wait 120 days before they can be tested for sufficient anti bodies. Then they have to be de-warmed just before you leave. Start planning now! And, don't forget to have your vet fill out a form that details all the info. This document will be required at the time of inspection when crossing the border. You can get more info and a link to the form here:

http://goscandinavia.about.com/od/swede1/qt/dogtosweden.htm 
The good news for those of you who prefer to travel through Copenhagen, Denmark rather than Stockholm or Gothenburg, this is also possible. Although, slightly different rules apply:


http://goscandinavia.about.com/od/swede1/qt/dogtodenmark.htm