FIRSTLY

The cats need to be fully vaccinated, micro chipped and have had the necessary blood drawn and sent for analysis.

As the analysis report takes at least 3 months I would suggest that you do it sooner rather than later. As long as their Rabies jabs are up to date you don’t need to repeat..

Book the flights and check with the relevant airline (in our case Gulf Air) as to what they require. The page on their website, http://www.gulfairco.com/ground/pets.asp gives helpful information. To find this page without typing it in, go to their sitemap and scroll down to Pets, under Reservations. In our case they required the size of the cat carrier (one for each animal), the dimensions and the weight including the cat.

The animals need to be inspected by a vet not more than 72 hours prior to exportation and found to be in good health. Your Vet will give you a certificate confirming this. They also need to be wormed and given injections for parasites. Mine hadn’t been but I managed to talk my way out of it.

You must advise the relevant authority in Cyprus of the impending arrival of animals at least two days prior to their arrival. Department of Veterinary Services. Ministry of Agriculture, Nicosia. Tel. 22305235. It is also essential to inform the District Veterinary Office at Larnaca. Tel. 24305195 or 24304275. Their hours at the airport are 0700 until 1430 but given prior notice they will be ready for a call from the airport. If you fail to inform them, you and your pets could be in for a long wait at the airport if you’re on a late flight.

SECONDLY

Make sure you have all the relevant paperwork to hand for crossing the Causeway. I did check with them and they said ‘No Problem’ but I’m advised not to make a fuss at the Customs in Bahrain. The animals need to go directly to the airport for checking in and perhaps an inspection.

It is also cheaper to take the animals as excess baggage in which case you need to travel on the same flight as your pets. It doesn’t matter how much luggage you actually have with you, the cat and carrier are charged as excess baggage anyway. You can’t get away with it by traveling with zero kg’s baggage and expecting the cat to be part of your normal weight allowance, that’s not how it works.

I’m advised to secure the cat carriers with a padlock to make sure they don’t escape as recently Gulf Air did lose an animal on its way from London Heathrow to Bahrain and none of us wish that to happen. (That animal was actually stolen from it’s carrier at Heathrow)

The cat carrier’s are not that secure even with a padlock. One of our cats caused so much agro getting him into the carrier that the hinges came undone. It wasn’t actually the cat that forced the hinges, it was me trying to manhandle him into the carrier that caused the frame to become distorted and the bottom hinge just popped out.

To prevent this happening, drill a couple of holes at the hinge side of the door and put a heavy duty tie wrap through each and round part of the door.

The flight is only three hours from Bahrain to Larnaca but you have to remember to add on traveling time both to Bahrain airport, waiting for flight at the airport and also the waiting time once you arrive in Cyprus. I would suggest that you work on the animals being in their carriers for at least eight hours.

I lined my cat carriers with carpet and then sewed baby’s diapers in between dishcloths (bought from the Commissary for SAR3 each)

NEARLY THERE

I checked with Gulf Air before I boarded to ensure my cats were on board and also when I left the plane at Larnaca.

Once in the Arrivals hall I went to check where I should collect my cats and was told they would arrive on the conveyor belt! And sure enough they did.

You then need to go to the Red section of Customs and advise them of the animal’s arrival and ask that they call the vet.

In my case it took around 15mins for a very nice lady vet to arrive. She was very pleasant and efficient and processed the paperwork quickly. The cost for each cat was CYP35 but if you haven’t had their blood analysis done more than 3 months prior the cost will be more than 3 times that amount.

There is now no house quarantine or house inspection required. You DO NOT need an Importation license.

NOTES

My cats were put in their carriers at 0700 on the morning I was flying for a flight leaving Bahrain at 1120. I finally got to our house at 1800 so in total the cats were in their carriers for 11 hours as I needed to drive them to Paphos.

Our 2 cats arrived in good shape but I have to say they were shell shocked. I kept them confined to one room for 2 weeks and then they went to the cattery while I returned to Saudi for my EXIT only visa.

Gulf Air quoted us SAR82 per kilo for the cats as excess baggage which would have cost us SAR1500 approximately as they weighed 19kgs in their carriers. However at Bahrain check in I was charged approximately half that figure so I coughed up very quickly in case they changed their minds.

I hope this information is of use but if you have any queries please feel free to email me ellecoop@yahoo.com

Janice Cooper

August 2006