Bringing a cat back to the States

[annegirl]

Hi I'm a u.s. citizen returning to the States after a year in Canada. I have had a cat since the beginning of the summer. He has his rabies tag which his previous owner said was good until Dec. 2014. I have looked online for any specific documents I would need for importing a cat to the states in Michigan but it is unclear whether I absolutely need a vet certificate of health or not? He's healthy and I plan to take him to my vet in another state in November or sooner to get him checked-on and to update his rabies. 

If I really need a vet certificate from a canadian vet to avoid problems I will get one but I would rather go to my family's vet and I would have to pay for a taxi or a pet taxi. 

[random17]

Assuming you're driving, as long as your cat is in visibly good health, you don't need anything else to bring him from Canada into the States. If your cat looks sick, then the CBP reserves the right to not let you cross until he's examined by a vet, but it sounds like that's unlikely to be an issue. We always travel with our pets' rabies certificates because they're required to enter Canada, but  we've never been asked for any records for our cats or dog when crossing the border in either direction (and the majority of the time we're crossing between Ontario and Michigan).

 

FWIW, US customs has gotten pickier this summer about letting you bring in pet food. As always, it depends on the border agent, but be aware that the rules technically don't let you bring in open packages of pet food and also ban pet food with certain meat ingredients.

Edited August 7, 2014 by random17

[annegirl]

Thanks! Yeah I won't be bringing any food or spices or open cat litter with me across the border if i can help it. 

[adela]

I'm not sure about getting a cat into the lower 48 but I just brought three from California, through Canada and back into Alaska. According to the website I checked I needed a health certification that was done within 30 days of arrival for Alaska and Canada needed a rabies certification. 

 

Neither borders checked for them. 

 

At least I had them, just in case.

 

You can always call the border patrol and ask them what they would require. 

[spectastic]

I prefer fedex

[annegirl]

Update: I've moved back to the US today and since they didn't even ask for me to roll my back windows down or ask any questions they didn't even know I had a cat. So that went well. Now I'll just set up his updated shots for November.