Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Importing Pets to Norway

I really thought that after their harrowing van ride and trans-Atlantic flight, the cats would be a little scared and withdrawn for a while. They're not at all, as you can see from the photos. Toonces is the big guy (about 20 pounds) in the top photo. He has been lounging around, cuddling and trying to steal the dogs' food ever since he arrived. Frank (the little orange cat) and Figaro (the black and white cat with his head stuck up the flue) are absolutely fascinated with our fireplaces. I hope they get over their obsession before we decide that it's chilly enough for a nice fire!
Now that all of our animals are safely here with us, I can laugh about the whole importing experience, but it was truly an awful, ulcer-inducing journey. (Mostly because I was an idiot, I willingly admit it!) If you are trying to bring animals from the U.S. into Norway, the good news is there is no longer a 4 month quarantine, as long as all the medical requirements are met. The bad news is there are so many medical requirements, and none of them are cheap! All animals must be microchipped with either an ISO or FECAVA chip. After they have been chipped, they must receive a rabies shot. At least 120 days after the shot (but no more than 364) a blood draw must be done to determine the rabies titer levels. (This one test costs about $200 per animal.) It takes about 3 weeks for the results to come back, and if they are acceptable (I believe the number has to be over .5) then the animals go to the vet for a final exam/flea and tick treatment/tape worm treatment/reams of paperwork fest. Once they are seen by the vet, all their paperwork goes to the USDA, and if everything is approved, the animals have a 10 day window to be imported.
It doesn't sound so complicated, right? But when I first found out that we were moving to Norway this past spring, I was so overwhelmed with everything that we needed to get done in a couple of short months, and apparently my brain stopped working. I read the requirements and didn't understand that after the microchip is inserted, the animals have to receive a rabies injection. I just assumed since all of my pets were current on their vaccines, once they were microchipped, they could just get their titers measured. Wow, what an expensive error on my part! We did eventually hire a pet moving company and thankfully they explained what I had done wrong. Unfortunately, by the time I had spoken with them, it was the middle of June, so my animals would not be able to travel with us by August, as they still had to be revaccinated and then wait the 120 days. The pet moving company employees did talk to the Norwegian border vet, who said that an exception could be made with the dogs as their titer levels came back very high and because they had received a 3 year rabies vaccine only a couple of months before. No such deal for the cats, though. Luckily, I have incredible friends, and one of them, Carrie, offered to take all of the little feline monsters for the 3 months until they could join us in Norway. I can't explain what a gift that was, to know that they would be living in a home and getting lots of attention, instead of being boarded in a cage at a kennel. (And I don't have normal cats, either. I volunteered for years at an animal shelter, and I adopted some "special needs" cats. One has chronic upper respiratory infections, one was semi-feral as a kitten and still bites a little, one has some neurological problems and falls over a lot.)
Once I knew the cats would be okay, I just focused on getting the dogs overseas safely. I took them to their final vet appointment, and then brought the paperwork to the USDA. The vet at the USDA wouldn't approve the paperwork because I hadn't done everything in the right order. I tried to explain that the Norwegian officials already knew and approved their entry into the country anyway, but the vet wouldn't budge. Kevin and I ended up having to change our plane tickets (at $500 apiece) so we could stay an extra day in the U.S. and obtain a letter of exemption from the Norwegian Ministry of Agriculture and Food to present to the USDA vet.
During the two days when it looked like the dogs would not be able to come with us, my friend Amanda in North Carolina and my friend Katrina in New York offered to take care of the dogs until November. I am so blessed to have the best friends in the world! (Of course, after hearing about all of the things the dogs have eaten and destroyed in the past couple of months, I think Katrina and Amanda have realized that they really dodged a bullet when the USDA finally approved the paperwork!) On those days when I feel especially homesick, it helps to know that even though I am so far away now, I have the most amazing, supportive and wonderful people in my life...just a phone call away.