| Author |
Message |
treespirit
Post Roaster
Joined: Jan 02, 2006
Posts: 4639
Location: bubble bath
Status: Offline
|
 Posted:
Apr 07, 2006 - 05:15 PM |
 
|
| Post subject: Pet quarantine: My experience |
There's been a lot of confusion about the new quarantine law put into effect in Feb. 2006. We've all had lots of doubts and questions about putting our precious animals through it, so I thought I'd let you know what my experience with it has been. First, an opinion: the idea of quarantining animals for diseases that already exist (and probably on a larger scale) in China is old-fashioned and silly, especially if the animals have an international medical certificate. There is more likelihood of the animals catching something in a quarantine facility than there is that they will bring something in. I think the only reasons for doing this is a. to look like they are doing something to prevent disease and b. to make money.
That said, our experience has been this: We have a 15 year old pretty healthy cat. We used Jialiang to help us through customs, this included translating a letter from our vet to the quarantine vet regarding our cat's prescription diet. They also spoke to the customs/quarantine officials upon our arrival. This helped us in a couple of ways, they were able to emphasize the importance of his food and reiterate that if they changed it he could have increased urine output...they went from saying "no special foods", to "yes, we think it's a good idea to feed him his food" in a short amount of time. I don't think everyone needs a company to help them through the customs part of it, but in our case it was helpful since we can not speak the language. The customs officials were fairly nice and made sure they got feeding instructions written down and then they took him. That was the worst part, not knowing what kind of shape he would be in when I got him back.
On the 7th day of quarantine, Jialiang called the quarantine vet and confirmed that his "tests" were fine and he could go home. When we got him home I was surprised to find him fairly unstressed, curious, a little fat from lack of exercise, and of course very happy to see me. I have been observing him for the past 2 days and he seems well-rested and not over-tired, he is eating and eliminating normally. They did feed him his food, as the bag I gave them was almost empty. His soft-sided kennel was well taken care of and not all scroungy, his collar and tags were all in place, and there are no signs of flea infestation.
All in all, I am happy to have decided to bring him with me to spend his last years with us. We did not bring our golden retriever, and even given this fairly positive experience with the quarantine I'm not sure I would put him through it. Dogs require exercise and in my opinion do not do as well in a kennel situation, I know my golden would have been major stressed in comparison to the cat if put in quarantine after a long flight in a cargo hold. So, I won't advise you on whether you should or shouldn't bring your animals to Shanghai, I would say you need to honestly assess their health, temperment, and reaction to vets/stress/strangers before deciding that you absolutely must have them with you, and try to be as unselfish about the decision as possible. Hope this helps. |
_________________
|
|
|
|
gothsusie
Ranter
Joined: Oct 24, 2005
Posts: 522
Location: Shanghai
Status: Offline
|
| Posted:
Apr 07, 2006 - 10:53 PM |
|
|
hi, treespirit
Welcome to Shanghai.... Thank you for your post with your experiences regarding the quarantine. It was very interesting to read your viewpoint on how everything went. I'm glad to hear that your cat made it alright. |
|
|
|
|
|
Robtcb
Reacher
Joined: Nov 15, 2005
Posts: 288
Location: Shanghai
Status: Offline
|
| Posted:
Apr 19, 2006 - 01:34 PM |
|
| Post subject: My animals came out on 14 April |
I was MAJOR-LY stressed out about throwing them in the quarantine, but my experience pretty much matches up with yours, with the added bonus that I had a cat AND a dog. Overall, I think the cat came out of it better. My dog seemed stressed out after the experience, took a couple of days at home before she seemed back to normal....a lot of whining/pacing/following us everywhere. Both lost a little weight, but not an unhealthy amount.
Hints to others:
Call a lot, helps your piece of mind to know they are doing okay.
Make sure to get good directions when you go. It's off the Huqingping highway, but you don't actually access it from the highway, you use a side street.
They claim they need your original passport for retrieval, but we made do with a photo-copy. They DEFINITELY need a copy of the quarantine receipt, though, the one you received when you dropped the animal off at the airport customs office. |
|
|
 
|
|
AlliX
Ranter
Joined: Apr 25, 2005
Posts: 554
Location: shang-shady
Status: Offline
|
| Posted:
Apr 19, 2006 - 02:41 PM |
|
|
This may be a dumb question, but where is the animal kept in the quarantine, like, in a small cage the entire time? Dd you provide the cage? Did the animal ever get allowed out to walk around? Was he placed right next to or on top of another animal's cage, like how you see poultry kept in cages in farms?
I brought my cat here before the new laws went into effect, but I'm worried about our next move in Asia (albeit in a few years) - my cat is terribly scared of everything (he had some sort of abusive kitten-hood pre-adoption) and I don't think he would survive being in a cage in a strange place.
I'm happy you all had good experiences! It must be such a huge relief! |
|
|
|
|
|
travelinjack3
FooJay
Joined: Sep 19, 2005
Posts: 1710
Location: Right Bank
Status: Offline
|
| Posted:
Apr 19, 2006 - 03:28 PM |
|
|
The lack of consistency is part of the problem. A friend of ours just arrived with her dog. She showed the crate and the paperwork from the USDA and the vet in the States to the Customs person.
The Customs person just glance at it and waved her out the door! Not being able to speak chinese and not wanting to cause a scene she did just that. Got in a taxi and went to the apartment her employer had arranged.
She is about to get the dog registered in Shanghai and is freaking out a bit because the gov't may not allow her to register.
All too strange. |
_________________
If the billy goat was Bootsie and the troll was Maceo, then only the Godfather of Soul can really take you to the bridge. |
|
|
|
|
horsemandk
StreetBeater
Joined: Mar 23, 2006
Posts: 2241
Location: Shanghai
Status: Offline
|
| Posted:
Apr 19, 2006 - 06:41 PM |
|
|
You actually only have to keep the pet indoors for 2 weeks, which might pose a problem if you bring a dog of course. |
_________________
Those parts of the system that you can hit with a hammer (not advised) are called hardware; those program instructions that you can only curse at are called software. |
|
 |
|
gosteelers
Squeeker
Joined: Feb 28, 2006
Posts: 10
Status: Offline
|
| Posted:
May 10, 2006 - 04:14 AM |
|
|
I recently heard that dogs coming to Shanghai had to be microchipped by a vet chosen by the govenment. Is this anyone's experience? Is it part of the registration process orisit done in quarantine. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
Forum FAQ
Search
Preferences
Watched Topics
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
