AQIS

Australia has the distinction of being one of the hardest places on earth to bring a pet to. Actually it is not that hard if you READ THE INSTRUCTIONS and DO YOUR HOMEWORK. Getting a head start is essential which is why I just dropped $650.00 in microchips and blood tests to get a head start in the event this actually goes down. I was surprised to hear my vet tell me about people that just gave him the paperwork to fill out or thought it was too complicated and just left their pets behind. On the flip side, he told me that he had a couple recently that moved to Australia with 2 cats, 2 dogs and, two horses. yow, talk about expensive. Already the cats alone are going to be about 2 grand by the time we get done with it.
The arm of the Australian government that grants access for pets is the AQIS or Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service. They run three Quarantine centers in Australia being; Perth, Sydney and Melbourne.
Just getting ready for Quarantine in Australia is a big operation and i will try and explain below a snippet of the first step in getting them over there. All cats (depending on country of export) must go through 180 days of Quarantine and a mandatory 30 day in country. Which means that the clock starts ticking on the day the blood test is taken. We have four to five months of home quarantine then they are off to the land down under for 30 days in Sydney.

1) All pets must be micro chipped. This is actually a great thing as chipped pets can be tracked. Now my little guys have their entire lives and medical histories on these chips that are embedded in their skin. It is a bit Orwellian to say the least but they will have to deal with that. Heck, I scoop their poop, I can chip them too.

2) Vaccinations must be up to date, we do this anyhow so we are good to go. Meow.

3) RNATT (Rabies Neutralization Antibody Titre Test) blood must be collected and sent to a USDA lab at Kansas State University for testing.

4)These tests will be certified by a USDA veterinarian, signed and stamped for approval.

5)At this time I can apply for a permit with AQIS for import into Australia.

6)Import permit number will be received.

7)Call AQIS with provided Import Permit and reserve a quarantine space for said cats.

8) At this point I will be using a pet travel service to handle the logistics from LAX to Sydney.

I have started the process and am at step 3 and waiting on the results for the blood tests. I am feeling nervous that if this whole thing falls through as in I don't get offered the job or the offer is not in our range than I have dished out $650.00 all for not. I am hoping that is not the case. General Dwight D. Eisenhower was supposedly a great card player, never gambled but only took calculated risks and I feel at this time that it is a well calculated risk. We will see....