Why consistent rabies, microchip and patient information matters before your veterinary appointment
Recent international pet-travel consultations have made one thing very clear: missing or inconsistent information can delay the health-certificate process.
Before your appointment, gather all available:
Rabies vaccination certificates
Microchip records
Previous veterinary records
Compare your pet's date of birth, breed, color and microchip number across every document. The information must be consistent across the documents submitted to USDA for endorsement for most international destinations.
Your veterinarian may also need to confirm whether there has been a lapse in rabies-vaccination coverage and whether the microchip was implanted or verified before the qualifying rabies vaccination.
Do not wait for your veterinarian to request this information. Identifying missing records or discrepancies early gives the veterinary team time to address them before completing and submitting the international health certificate.
Not every destination requires USDA endorsement. However, having complete and consistent information available still helps the veterinarian verify the pet's identity and vaccination history and accurately complete the required international health certificate.
Missing or conflicting information may delay the process—or change your pet's eligibility and travel timeline.
Need Help Preparing for International Pet Travel?
For pet owners: When Pets Fly® offers individual pet-travel consultations to help you understand what information and documentation to gather, identify questions that should be addressed with your veterinarian and prepare for the entire journey.
For fellow veterinarians: Confidential veterinarian-to-veterinarian consultation and pre-submission document review are available for international pet-travel cases. This additional review can help identify inconsistencies, missing documentation and questions requiring resolution before the international health certificate is submitted through VEHCS.
The issuing veterinarian remains responsible for examining the pet, verifying the information, completing and signing the certificate and submitting it for endorsement. A consultation or document review does not guarantee USDA endorsement or acceptance by the destination country or airline.
Visit whenpets.com or email whenpetsfly@gmail.com to request a consultation.
Safe Pet Travel Starts With Us.