The legislation has now been laid in Parliament to make cat microchipping compulsory.
The new rules mean cats must be implanted with a microchip before they reach the age of 20 weeks and their contact details stored and kept up to date in a pet microchipping database. All owners must have their cat microchipped by 10 June 2024 and owners found not to have microchipped their cat will have 21 days to have one implanted, or may face a fine of up to £500.
Have you experienced our new lane? The access lane to the practice has now been covered in tarmac and is running smoothly. The only advantage of the old potholes was that they acted as natural speed restrictions, so in their absence, please don’t drive too fast!
Our emergency service, Vets Now, have produced a helpful tool to help you assess what action to take if your dog has eaten chocolate. Chocolate consumption for dogs is not just a problem of an expanding waistline. It can be very serious – even life threatening – because dogs don’t process the chemicals in chocolate in the same way humans do. Please treat it as a potential emergency. This tool can help you decide whether the amount consumed is a potentially toxic dose. If in any doubt please call us or Vets Now if out of hours.
Of course nothing is certain right now and travelling is probably far from your minds, but I just wanted to update you on the latest situation regarding pet travel to Europe from 1st January 2021. Our updated guide is here Pet travel post brexit Jan21
It has been confirmed that the UK will become a part 2 listed third country under the EU pet travel scheme. This means that most of the process for preparing a pet to travel remain the same but the paperwork is very different.
From 1/1/21 to travel to Europe with a dog or cat (or ferret) you will need to complete the following steps:
Step 1 – Microchip
Step 2 – Rabies vaccine
Step 3 – Wait 21 days
Step 4 – Issue AHC (Animal Health Certificate) within 10 of travel
Step 5 – Leave the UK (good luck with that)
Note there is no blood test requirement.
The AHC will replace the old blue pet passports and is a travel document that must be completed less than 10 days before your departure. It is only valid for ONE entry into Europe and for ongoing travel within Europe for up to 4 months. You will need a new AHC for every trip out of the UK. Should you require an AHC then we can issue one, just book an appointment and we will need you to bring your microchipping certificate, any old vaccination documentation and your old passport to this appointment.
The tapeworming requirement 24 hours to 5 days before your return to the UK is unchanged.
See https://www.gov.uk/guidance/pet-travel-to-europe-from-1-january-2021 for more detailed information and if you have any questions feel free to contact us.
Should the situation change we will let you know but please keep an eye on the web link above as nothing that is confirmed every stays confirmed for long these days it seems!
