Vaccinations, microchip and passport: what your pet needs to travel

The order matters: chip, then rabies, then waiting

Microchip first, then rabies vaccination, then the waiting period. A rabies shot given before the chip is not valid for travel.

Border officers check three dates in the passport, and they must be in this order: the day the chip was implanted, the day the rabies vaccine was given on or after that, and the day of travel, which must be at least 21 days after the vaccine. A puppy chipped at ten weeks and vaccinated against rabies at twelve weeks is therefore ready to cross an EU border at fifteen weeks. Every schedule on this page is built around those three dates.

For the pets on our site this work is already done; the dates are printed on each pet page and in the passport that travels with the animal.

Vaccination schedule for puppies

DHPPi at 8 and 12 weeks, leptospirosis at 12 weeks, rabies at 12 weeks, then 21 days before departure. Tapeworm treatment 1 to 5 days before entering the UK, Ireland, Finland, Norway or Malta.

DHPPi covers distemper, hepatitis, parvovirus and parainfluenza in one injection; the two doses four weeks apart are what protects a puppy in the months when the mother's immunity fades. The third DHPPi dose at 16 weeks, and the yearly boosters, are given by your own vet after arrival and are written in the passport with the next due date.

• 8 weeks: first DHPPi, internal deworming
• 12 weeks: second DHPPi, leptospirosis, rabies, deworming
• 15 weeks or later: earliest travel date after the 21 day rabies wait
• 16 weeks: third DHPPi, given by your vet at home
• 1 to 5 days before entry: tapeworm tablet for the UK, Ireland, Finland, Norway and Malta

Vaccination schedule for kittens

FVRCP at 8 and 12 weeks, rabies at 12 weeks, then 21 days. FIV/FeLV test on request.

FVRCP protects against feline herpesvirus, calicivirus and panleukopenia, the three infections that cause most illness in young cats. Our kittens leave at 14 weeks, so the rabies waiting period is complete before departure; the exact dates are shown under the vaccinations heading on every kitten page, for example on each available kitten listed this month. Leukaemia vaccination is a separate decision for cats that will go outdoors, and your vet can add it after arrival.

Deworming and parasite control before travel

Internal deworming is given at 2, 4, 6, 8 and 12 weeks, and the dates are entered in the passport. External treatment against fleas and ticks is applied in the week before departure so the pet arrives clean and the treatment is still active for the first weeks at home.

The tapeworm rule for the UK, Ireland, Finland, Norway and Malta is the one that catches travellers out: the tablet must be given by a vet between 24 and 120 hours before entry, and the time must be written in the passport. Our nannies plan the departure around that window, and for a road journey of three days the tablet is given on the morning of departure.

The documents that travel with the pet

EU pet passport (or health certificate for non-EU destinations), pedigree, vaccination and deworming record, fit-to-travel certificate issued within 48 hours of departure.

The passport is the document the border reads; the pedigree is the document the registry reads; and the fit-to-travel certificate is the document the airline or the road officer reads. All three are handed over at your door together with the purchase contract. Dogs carry an FCI export pedigree, cats a FIFe, WCF or TICA pedigree, and the health and documents page shows exactly what each one contains.

Keep the passport in a drawer, not in the car: every future vaccination, every tapeworm tablet for a trip to Britain and every change of address goes into it, and a lost passport means repeating the rabies vaccine and the 21 day wait.

The United Kingdom after Brexit

Since 2021 an EU pet passport issued in the Union is still accepted for entry into Great Britain, provided the microchip, the rabies vaccination and the tapeworm treatment are in order. Pets must enter on an approved route, which for us means an in-cabin flight to London or Manchester with a nanny, or the road route through the Channel Tunnel; the ferry and tunnel operators check the passport before boarding.

What has changed is the return journey: a British owner taking the pet back to the EU needs an animal health certificate from a UK vet each time. For a one-way delivery of a puppy or kitten to a British home this does not apply.

The Gulf and other non-EU destinations

Import permit, rabies titre test for some countries, airline-specific forms. Your advisor prepares all of it; you only sign.

The United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain each issue an import permit before the flight, and most ask for a rabies antibody titre test taken at least 30 days after the vaccination. The blood sample goes to an approved laboratory, the result takes two to three weeks, and the permit is issued against it. Because the test adds a month, a kitten for Dubai is usually reserved at eight weeks and delivered at about eighteen. The same timeline applies to Switzerland and Norway only for dogs from outside the EU, which our puppies are not.

Pets for the Gulf always fly in the cabin with a nanny on a direct daytime flight; the delivery page shows the estimate for each country and the route we use.

Who keeps track of all of it

Your advisor. The breeder gives the vaccinations on schedule, our vet issues the passport and the fit-to-travel certificate, and the advisor checks every date against the rules of your destination before the departure is booked. You receive scans of each document as it is issued, so by the time the nanny rings your doorbell you have already read everything that is in the folder.

If you are still comparing routes, the guide to delivery by road or by air explains how the documents are checked on each one.

Frequently asked questions