The EU pet passport for cats: what your cat needs to travel from Spain
Taking a cat out of Spain is not complicated, but there is an order and some deadlines you cannot skip. The EU pet passport, the microchip and a valid rabies vaccination are the basics for the European Union; outside it, everything takes longer. What you cannot do is improvise it the week before.
What the EU pet passport is
It is an official document in a common format across the European Union, issued by an authorised vet, that identifies your cat by its microchip and records its rabies vaccination and other treatments. The rules for non-commercial movement of dogs, cats and ferrets within the EU are set by Regulation (EU) 576/2013, which lays down common requirements for every member state. The passport is issued once and stays with the cat for life, updated with each vaccination. In Spain it costs between €15 and €40 at most clinics, not including the vaccine and the chip if it does not have them yet.
The three essentials, and their order
To travel with your cat in the EU you need three things, and the order matters. First, the microchip, which must meet the ISO standard and be readable with a standard scanner. Second, the rabies vaccination, given after the microchip or on the same day and always once the chip has been read, when the cat is at least twelve weeks old. Third, the passport, in which the vet records the chip number and the vaccination. If a cat is vaccinated against rabies before it has a chip, that vaccination does not count for travel and has to be repeated. In Spain, microchipping and registration are also compulsory for cats even if they never travel.
The waiting period: 21 days
This is the detail that ruins the most trips. After the first rabies vaccination, the cat cannot travel until at least twenty-one days have passed, the time it takes for the vaccine to be considered valid. In practice, that means a kitten cannot travel between EU countries before it is roughly fifteen weeks old. If the rabies booster is given before the previous one expires, according to the manufacturer’s schedule, there is no new wait; if it is allowed to lapse, even by a day, it counts as a first vaccination and the twenty-one days start again. Check the validity date in the passport before booking anything.
What a cat does not need
There is one requirement that is often mentioned and that, in the EU, only affects dogs: the treatment against the tapeworm Echinococcus multilocularis required by Ireland, Finland, Malta and Norway, and also by the United Kingdom, within a window of days before entry. Cats are exempt. For an ordinary trip within the Union there is no rabies antibody test or quarantine either. Even so, before a trip it is worth having your vet check that your cat has been treated for internal and external parasites and that its other vaccinations are up to date, even though the border does not ask for them.
How many cats, and who takes them
The passport scheme is for non-commercial movements, in other words your cat travelling with you. The general limit is five animals per person; above that, unless it is for a show or competition with documents to prove it, the commercial rules apply, which are much stricter. The cat can also travel with another person authorised in writing by the owner, as long as the animal’s journey is no more than five days apart from the owner’s. What does not fit is sending the cat on its own as cargo with nobody travelling: that falls under a different scheme.
The United Kingdom
Since the United Kingdom left the European Union, a pet passport issued in Spain is not enough to enter Great Britain. To take a cat there you need an animal health certificate issued by an official vet shortly before travel, as well as the microchip and a valid rabies vaccination; cats are not required to have the tapeworm treatment. The rules between the EU and the UK have been renegotiated in recent years and may change, so before a trip there, confirm the current requirements on the UK government’s official guidance and with your vet, rather than relying on what applied a year ago.
Outside the European Union
If you are going to a country outside the EU, the destination country sets the rules and they can be much stricter: official health certificates endorsed by the authorities, import permits, rabies antibody tests showing a minimum level and, in some destinations, quarantine on arrival. When an antibody test is required, the sample must be taken at least thirty days after vaccination, and there is often a wait of several months before entry. The safe course is to check with the embassy or veterinary authority of the destination country, and to start three to six months ahead.
Coming back counts too
Returning to Spain from another EU country with a valid passport does not usually cause problems. But if you have been in a country outside the EU, re-entry may have its own requirements. Depending on the country you are coming from, the EU requires a rabies antibody titre test carried out in advance at an approved laboratory, and without it the cat may be held or quarantined. That is why you need to look at both directions of the trip before you leave, and do the test in Spain before you go if the destination makes it necessary for the return.
The Canary Islands, Balearics, Ceuta and Melilla
Within Spain, you do not need an EU pet passport to travel to the islands with your cat, although ferry companies and airlines usually ask for a microchip, an up-to-date vaccination record and sometimes a current rabies vaccination; some Spanish regions require it for cats under their own rules. Carrying the passport is the most convenient way to prove all of that in one document. Ceuta and Melilla have their own particularities because of their border situation, and if you are crossing from there into Morocco, the rules for a non-EU country apply. Check the conditions of the transport company and the destination region before you travel.
Transport: the other half
Having the paperwork in order does not guarantee your cat can travel on the transport you choose. By air, each airline has its own conditions for weight, carrier and number of places, and the cat’s place has to be booked in advance. By train, conditions depend on the operator and the international route. By car, the carrier must be well secured, just as within Spain. It is best to sort out transport at the same time as the paperwork, because a perfect passport is no use if there is no room for the cat on the plane.
The checklist before you buy the ticket
Go through this calmly. Does it have a microchip, registered and with your details up to date? Does it have a rabies vaccination given after the chip, still valid and at least twenty-one days old if it is the first? Does it have an EU pet passport with the vaccination recorded? Is the destination Great Britain or a non-EU country with its own requirements? Does the transport company accept the cat and is there a place? If any answer is “I do not know”, sort it out before you pay. An appointment with your vet to plan the trip clears up almost every question in one go.
To travel in the EU, your cat needs a microchip, a rabies vaccination given after the chip and at least 21 days old if it is the first, and an EU pet passport (Regulation (EU) 576/2013). Cats do not need the tapeworm treatment. Great Britain and non-EU countries have their own rules: start months ahead.
Educational content from Michipedia, translated from the Spanish original. It does not replace the advice of a vet or a feline behaviour specialist. Every cat is an individual.