Relocating with Pets: The Saga Continues

In two of my previous posts, I mentioned some of the struggles we've had as we try to figure out how to get our pets from Post Falls, Idaho, to Denmark with us (see Challenge: Accepted...But Why So Many? and Our Roadside Rabies Vaccine).

Alas, the saga continues, but first, a couple of good things happened!

#1 - We can probably make our crate IATA compliant by drilling some 1" holes along the back upper half of the crate and Gorilla-taping some fine wire mesh over the slightly-too-large openings in the door grate. (Though I haven't stopped looking for one that is truly compliant.) I purchased some "Live Animal" stickers, interior food bowls that attach to the door, a large absorbent potty pad for the bottom liner, and some extra metal bolts in case we don't have enough to put the two halves of the crate together securely.

#2 - AirFrance has a greater weight allowance than Iceland Air and did not list any restrictions on the size (Iceland Air had a max length of 36" and a max weight of dog+crate of 88 lbs). I relayed the weight and crate measurements to the agent on the phone at AirFrance and she didn't stop me at any point to tell me the dog+crate was too heavy or too large. We have tickets to fly with our pets!

***

On Wednesday, June 28th, Marabel had her chip placed and got all up to date on her boosters. Before I took her in on July 19th for her boosters, I noticed that her name was spelled wrong on her medical records. I also noticed Han's microchip number in his medical record was missing the first three digits. I made myself a reminder to correct these when we went in for her boosters, and the receptionists fixed both errors quickly. Good, right?

***

So our animals are properly vaccinated and chipped, all chips and vaccines have been administered in the proper order within the proper timeframes, we have their carriers sort of figured out, we've rented a large van so we can drive our family, our luggage, our animals, and our massive dog crate to Seattle for our international flight, and all that's left is the APHIS USDA-certified animal health certificates for international travel.

For civilians, these certificates have to be filled out by either a USDA-certified veterinarian (which we definitely don't have access to near Post Falls) or a USDA-approved veterinarian followed by a USDA APHIS review and certification stamp. I obviously have to do the latter.

With this option, the paperwork needs to be filled out within 30 days of travel, mailed to the area USDA APHIS office, and stamped by the USDA not more than 10 days prior to the animal's arrival in Denmark. At the 30-day mark, I printed the paperwork and an instruction form from the APHIS website for both animals and called our vet. They told me there was no way to get our animals an appointment to fill out the health certificates before July 28th, which was the absolute last possible day I thought we could have an appointment and still potentially get the stamped form back before we drove to Seattle. My dog's vet is in Europe on sabbatical for the summer. The remaining USDA-approved vets at the clinic were all booked up, so I got put on a call list.

I tried the sister clinic and they were able to get me in the afternoon of July 27th. Not great, but it was something, so I took it. I dropped off the paperwork and the instructions and begged them to call me if there was a cancellation sooner.

In an attempt to be preemptive, the receptionist at the sister clinic called me multiple times for information so she could pre-fill in as much info on the forms as possible (shoutout to Julie at VCA Kootenai Animal Hospital). I decided to do my part by calling the USDA APHIS office in Tumwater, WA (our closest office) to alert them my paperwork would be coming and that I would need a pretty quick turnaround.

The person who answered my call at APHIS was not very kind. She responded to my statements and questions with thinly veiled annoyance, and it became very clear to me that she was not going to provide me any information that I hadn't already gotten from the website. Further, she told me they need at least 48-72 hours to turn around the paperwork. That was a huge problem.

So after hanging up with APHIS, I was feeling pretty dejected. I called the sister vet clinic again to try to beg an early appointment, and Julie wasn't working but Marissa had been briefed on me and my plight. I offered to pay an emergency fee or whatever was needed so I could get in sooner. She said she would talk to a few people and get back to me, so I waited anxiously and when she called back, it was good news: I could have an emergency appointment Saturday morning (the 22nd). She even called back a couple hours later to tell me there had been a cancellation and they could get me in for a regular appointment at 8:00 a.m. Saturday (the 22nd), meaning I wouldn't have to pay the emergency fee.

My first time at the vet with both animals!

Han was obsessed with Marabel in her carrier.

Marabel went first. She got a clean bill of health and is fit for travel. Phew.

Marabel getting thoroughly checked out

Han went next and was a perfect gentleman as he was examined. He's also fit to travel. Double phew.

Han smiling away as the vet and vet tech fawned over him

Then came the paperwork, and that's when things started going south again. The vet needed to document the date Han's microchip was placed. I don't know what date it was placed because I got him 9.5 years ago from a rescue and he was already chipped. I messaged the rescue and the owner said that he was likely chipped at the Spokane Humane Society but that they wouldn't still have those records. I asked the vet if we could simply document the first date that they scanned his chip at the vet when I took him there to get established (because the purpose of documenting the date is to show that the chip was placed before the rabies vaccine was administered), because that would show he's had it for 9 years at least. They were hesitant about that, but then I found instructions from the USDA that said we should do exactly that if the date was unknown.

The vet scrolled back in the medical record and saw proof the chip was scanned back in 2014 at our regular vet's office. He said, "I just need to confirm the chip number matches the number I scanned today..."

Remember earlier when I said Han's chip number has been missing the first three numbers in his medical record this whole time? Ugh. I explained to the vet what happened, he said I had to get it corrected, I told him I did, and he said there was no note in the record to indicate that. He told me not to send my papers to the USDA until I go in to my regular vet, ask them to print his record, footnote that they made an error entering it when they created the chart, and ensure a vet signs it.

I made a note to take care of this Monday. We'll see what happens. Hopefully, I can send out the paperwork that day, too!

The rest of the paperwork is filled out and signed. My Quality Assurance/Data Review skills came in quite handy as I reviewed each page for both animals. I found a typo in Han's chip number, a write-over on a date that wasn't clear, an incorrect breed for Marabel, and both the "cat" and "dog" boxes checked for Han's paperwork. All were corrected, the papers are signed, and we are one (surprisingly expensive) step closer to getting our animals to Denmark.