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Domestic Health Certificates

Are you traveling domestically within the USA? As a federally accredited veterinarian practice, we can issue travel certificates for your healthy pet to travel with you.

Overview

If you are planning on traveling by plane, boat, or car with your pet to another state, your pet may require a domestic health certificate.

As a federally accredited veterinarian practice, we can issue travel health certificates (Certificate of Veterinary Inspection) for your healthy cat or dog.

Why does my pet need a certificate to travel?

Health certificates are federal documents that indicate your pet is healthy to travel and does not pose a health risk to other pets or people. Animal health requirements may differ state to state; even airlines may have their own pet travel requirements. Check with your airline and the states you will be traveling through to see if they require a health certificate. Check https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/pet-travel/interstate-pet-travel.

When should I start the process?

Since animal health requirements may differ between states and airlines, we encourage you to contact our accredited veterinary practice to obtain a health certificate as soon as your travel dates are solidified.

Certificates must be issued within 10 days of travel. It is important to note a pet must be at least eight weeks old and fully weaned before traveling. Again, it is highly recommend you look at the APHIS website for specific information. The process should be started early to allow time for meeting requirements. It is the responsibility of a pet owner to be sure all requirements for travel with a pet are met and all required paperwork completed.

How can I obtain a domestic health certificate?

First, check with your airline and destination states to see if a travel health certificate is required.

If a certificate is required, your pet must have a passing health exam and up to date rabies vaccinations to travel. If all of these requirements are met, we will issue a travel certificate for your pet.

Your veterinarian will work with you to determine the veterinary needs of your pet, based on your travel destination. Since requirements differ by each state and airline, we encourage you to gather information as early as possible and bring all relevant information required for travel to your pet’s appointment. https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/pet-travel/interstate-pet-travel