Moving cats to Iceland

2POSTS

14 years ago

Hello!

I want to go to Iceland, but I do not want to leave my 2 cats behind. They already are rescued and it breaks my heart to again have them abandoned.

I know about Icelands 4 week quarantaine. How are circumstances there? Can I visit? I could ask the quarantaine service but I would like to know from experience.

I have my cats imported from Egypt last year, they are in full health. But Egypt is of course a country with doubtfull animal healthcare, lots of diseases you don't want to spread. And Iceland sensitive to strange diseases.

My concern in this is that I of course do not want to bring disease anywhere (my cats are tested negative). But would Iceland customs be fuzzy about where the cats came from originaly? I simply do not want my cats to be quarantained in vain and send back to Holland again or in worse case risk to be killed.

Any other experience with importing cats would be very welcome. Especially from Netherlands.

As would be how easy it is to keep cats there (they live indoor, but I feed them raw food/ non commercial food and have special kind of litterstuff I swear by).

Thanx in advance!

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ECS Norway Expert

1568POSTS

14 years ago

I wrote about this in a thread here:

https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=103062

it's expensive and a long process to bring cats here- I only know one person who's done it.

There are lots of cats living here, many of whom are outdoor cats. If you're extremely picky about food and litter you might have a hard time though, since selection is naturally limited due to Iceland's remote location.

Blodeuwedd Member

2POSTS

14 years ago

It is what I expected. I had to wait 6 months (and spend lots of money) last year before my cats were finaly here with me. It is a lot of work and effort, I know... But leaving my cats behind is no option.

And about the pet stuff, I feared it already that choices are limited in Iceland. It is already here in mainland Europe according to my views on cats nutrition! Or maybe the few Icelandic petfood is just what I look for. ;-) I at least can get my cats ready to solely eat raw food (means whole animals including fur, bones and feathers) and nothing more. Maybe I can 'import' the dry food (if Iceland law allows that).