Bringing a cat into Taiwan part 1

Can't forget the cat and the cat adventure. As I have included previously, discovered the issues that pertain to bringing the cat into Taiwan in September 2020, which required me to begin altering my plans. I managed to book the cat in for her rabies vaccine in October 2020, with a follow up for a titer test 30 days later. The rabies vaccine was straight forward, and so was the titer test. Got the titer test results just over 4 weeks later.

At this point I started to figure out where to put my cat as I was planning to leave Canada before the 180 day mark following her titer test. I found Cats Castle in Oakville. It was the best decision I could have made. I will return to discuss Cats Castle shortly. With this set up it was time to find a company to ship the cat to Taiwan. For a pet exporter I turned to https://www.ipata.org/. This site has registered exporters by country and city. I chose to go with Worldwide Animal Travel ("WAT"). More on WAT further down.

With the cattery and shipping booked, it was time to move onto the import permit and booking the quarantine space. But before I discuss these, I'm going to spend a bit of time discussing Taiwan's requirement. 

First, rabies. Taiwan is considered a rabies free country and recognizes the following countries as rabies free countries. This list is subject to change so please check it before planning to move a pet. 

• Australia
• New Zealand
• United kingdom
• Sweden
• Iceland
• Japan

I will not discuss the process of importing a pet from a rabies free zone as it did not apply to me. For full rules and regulations, click here. For FAQ on importation of pets click here.

The following were the requirements for me to bring my cat from Canada, and some were mentioned before:

• Microchip - 15 digit non encrypted ISO chip
• Microchip implant certificate
• Rabies vaccine that was given 30 days to one year prior to import
• Titer test given 180 to one year prior to import
• A veterinary certificate issued within 10 days of the flight. The closer to the flight the better. The certificate required can be found here for pets coming from a rabies infected zone
• In Canada the CFIA needs to endorse the veterinary certificate. In the US it's a USDA stamp
• All documents need to contain the name of the cat, microchip number, sex, breed, and age

Why I used a pet shipping company? First and foremost because I was not going to be in Canada at the time my cat was ready to get shipped, but the following are also included as part of their service:

• Collection of the cat from the cattery
• Travel carrier that meets IATA requirements. The included carrier is a Pet Palace BB25. IATA requirements can be found here
• Vet visit for export health certificate
• CFIA government endorsement of all documents
• Air transport with Eva Air
• Booking, handling, admin fees, airline surcharges and taxes

Currently, in the US, United Airlines, still allows pets in the cabin. All other airlines including Eva require pets to be sent in cargo. If you are considering using United please double check with them first to ensure this is still correct.

The following are things that one should double check when choosing a pet shipping company:

• Cost they are carrying in their quote for the airline ticket. This is crucial as their contract will allow them to charge you an additional fee should costs go up, and without knowing the amount they carried versus actual cost you might end up paying extra for no reason.

• Whether the original documents are required on the Canadian side or whether the CFIA will endorse photocopies of documents. This is crucial as need the originals of everything on the Taiwan side. There is only one original titer test result available, so guard it carefully

With all of these items in place, and the flight scheduled for May 13th barring any last minute issues, it was time to get the import permit and book the quarantine facility. Much like a lot of things in Taiwan, one will find that all websites are badly outdated, and not easy to navigate or use. I would say they are about 15-20 years behind on their websites. That said, the import permit can be obtained here. I completed the booking late January 2021. I chose to book my cat into National Chung Hsing University ("NCHU") for the quarantine as I did not want to leave her at the airport. 

Following my application I got an email stating that I needed to choose a quarantine facility, and enter the date of the cat's arrival. As I was sure I completed these sections when I submitted my application, I asked them how I can change the application. The answer was that I couldn't. I needed to email them the changes, and they would in turn update the information on the site. Slightly antiquated. 

Please note the following - need to make sure that the flight arrives on weekdays and before 5 pm on Friday. If your pet arrives after 5 pm on Friday it will be stuck at the airport until Monday. Same applies for holidays. Quarantine time starts when the pet arrives at the quarantine location, and ends seven days after that. Time at the airport does not count as quarantine time. If your pet arrives early in the morning, which is the case with my cat, as she's arriving at 5 am, there are additional issues. The cargo building doesn't open to people until 7 am, so can't pick up the cat until at least this time. The customs office doesn't open officially until 8:30 and is open until 5 pm with a break in between. To get them to process the paperwork before 8:30 am, need to pay them an additional $200 NT.

You can also send any special diet food for your pet to the quarantine location ahead of time or with your pet. You will need to ensure you fill in the relevant section on the pet care questionnaire. 

I received the import permit within 3 days of applying and all was set. So began the waiting game.

Following the import permit I received an email with a pet care questionnaire which I needed to fill in, along with the fees I needed to sign off on. I completed these and sent them in before the end of January 2021. 

Early May 2021 I get an email asking for the above documents and so I forward the email I had sent them in January. This is where the real fun begins.

NCHU emailed me and gave me the line number for their vet. I added the vet with just three days to go prior to the flight. The vet began to provide me with instructions on how to prepare my cat for the flight, which at this point was useless information as there was no way to make any of it happen with such a short time left and with the cat being in a cannery.

At the same time I started inquiring with the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine ("BAPHIQ") office as to where my cat will arrive into and how to pick her up. Things got very interesting here to. For 2 days I was sent between BAPHIQ, Eva Air, and Eva Cargo and no one would tell me whether the cat would end up at the terminal or in the cargo building. Being me it was off to FB and the Gold Card group to see if anyone could help me out. It was Hrdinternational Ndc that came to my rescue and managed to confirm that the cat will in fact be in the cargo building. One problem resolved.

Next step was for me to contact the vet again at NCHU and ask him about the process, time and date for me to pick up the cat, and things got interesting again. He informed me that BAPHIQ will provide me with a certificate to pick up my cat on day 8, subject to all of the paperwork being complete and the cat having no signs of rabies. I was confused as BAPHIQ informed me that I need to pick up my cat at the end of seven days. Back to confusion central with two differing answers. At this point I recognized that this was just too much for me to handle and I hired a local pet company to deal with everything on the Taiwan side. The mass confusion and constantly getting two answers just didn't sit well with me. Also, as my cat would be in quarantine in Taichung and I am in New Taipei, this posed logistical issues on how when and where to get and stay in Taichung. I will follow up on the company once I receive my cat at the end of the quarantine.

Back to Cats Castle - the staff there is just awesome. Can't say enough good things about them. My cat decided to make us all paranoid by not eating for just over a week. The staff kept in constant contact with me regarding her condition, bowel movements, etc. The day they were going to take her to the vet due to the obvious concerns the cat finally decided to start eating on her own and all was back to normal. The facility provided a large area for my cat, along with constant check ups on her, play time, tooth brushing, and most importantly a lot of TLC. The facility is also equipped with cameras and I was able to view my cat anytime I wanted. This was extremely useful as my cat spent nearly three months there. They also helped facilitate the pick up of the cat for shipping. I would highly recommend Cats Castle to anyone that needs to leave their pet somewhere in the GTA for any period of time. Words can't describe hoe glad I am that I found them and left my cat in their care. On the morning my cat left the catery I got the best email I could have ever gotten from them, and they confirmed the cat got picked up as well. A very special thank you to Jessie, Melanie, Miranda, Laura, Madeleine. Hopefully I haven't missed anyone, and if I have please accept my apologies.

Back to WAT - another great decision made. I was provided with an all inclusive quote that they upheld, and took care of everything. Roughly 10 days before the flight, they officially booked her and sent me the way bill number. Following this, I was provided with a complete schedule. The cat would get picked up at 8:45-9 am on the day of the flight, would be taken to the vet for the examination at 10 am, then the paperwork would go to CFIA for signature, and my cat would eventually get checked in at 4 pm. This process was extremely smooth. I first got a copy of all of the documents from the vet and CFIA, and this was followed up with pictures of the cat in her carrier. They spent some time with her and told me how well she was doing. 

As an accountant I am pretty certain I should mention the costs involved in this process. It is definitely far from being cheap. All amounts are in Canadian dollars unless noted otherwise:

• Vet check up in Toronto and rabies shot - $276.85
• Titer test administered by a vet and sent to Kansas facility - $553.70
• Cats castle - nearly three months stay - $2,206.94
• Worldwide Pet Travel shipping cost - $2,439.75
• Bravecto Blue Cats flea and tick treatment $78.47
• Import permit - free
• Taiwanese pet representative - $33,000 NTD ($1,500 CDN) cost includes customs and shipping to quarantine, all paperwork, quarantine for 7 days, and pick up of the cat from Taichung and returning her to Banqiao. https://jetfastpet.com/

Shipping a pet is both stressful and expensive. I do hope this helps you with your process. The Taiwanese side of the shipping process is covered in part 2.