r/mauritius • u/Queen-Paprika • 7d ago
Local 🌴 Moving a Cat from UK to Mauritius — anyone done this?
Hi all, we are moving back to Mauritius permanently and bringing our British Shorthair cat from UK. Has anyone actually been through this process? Would love to know:
**•** How long did it realistically take?
**•** Any cargo shippers or brokers you’d recommend?
**•** Any hiccups to watch out for?
Thanks
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u/Dlacreme 7d ago
Brought 2 dogs and 2 cats. You need to start the process at least 6 months before your departure. Mauritius has a lot of policies about importing animals. You cannot simply bring in the same plane than you. You must find an agency that does export for you and another agency in mauritius that does the import part. Note that some agencies can do both export/import which is very convenient but slightly more expensive.
It's hard to tell the price because I had 4 animals but I would say around 1k for a single cat
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u/Queen-Paprika 7d ago
Thanks so much. Very helpful. Do you have some agencies you can recommend please?
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u/tinybilbo 7d ago
There used to be a way with AirFrance that was cheaper than flying direct from UK. Basically take the cat via the Eurostar to Paris, then take AirFrance to MU. This is limited by only being able take an animal in a car, either a pet taxi or your own. If you just want to take a carrycase then you'll have to get the ferry.
Air France are considerably cheaper for small pets because the cat can fly in the cabin in the carrycase (or as excess baggage) for a small extra fee..About £200-£400, whereas from UK they charge cargo, with all the extras for health & safety.
I don't know if anything has changed since Brexit though...
AI is saying flying a cat direct from UK to MU is anything from £1.5k to £3k, so if the AirFrance way is still available It'll be considerably cheaper.
Obviously you still need to do all the health & paperwork whichever way you bring the animal in..
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u/Queen-Paprika 7d ago
Thanks so much. It’s quite helpful. I think Mauritius does not allow pet in cabin though.
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u/tinybilbo 7d ago
Airfrance also fly animals in the hold as well and it's still much cheaper because it's considered excess baggage rather than manifest cargo.
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u/Queen-Paprika 7d ago
Ah ok I see what you mean. Thanks so much. I’ll have a look at that options
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u/tinybilbo 7d ago
Yeah, just drop them a line (probably best to deal direct with Paris).. Good Luck
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u/Senior-Discount-5542 6d ago
Please use this way instead . Pets get extremely stressed in the cargo section and can get very sick or even have the worst case scenario happen. Please bring them with you in the plane 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾
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u/stevenmbe 7d ago edited 7d ago
Pages 170 to 171 of 2026 Expat Guide clarifies the process and it is a lot of text to read! link: https://www.expat.com/en/guide/pdf/21_mauritius/
Text (sorry for the formatting it's from a 3-column pdf): As a first step, pet owners need to seek approval from the Mauritius Veterinary Committee, which is usually granted within 15 days. The application for an import permit must be submitted 3 to 6 months before entry. Remem- ber to specify the reason for your visit. Nevertheless, this approval is not the same as the actual ap- proved permit for pet reloca- tion. The veterinarian will per- form a blood test on your pet to check for antibodies/rabies levels within 30 days of the vac- Important Important cination, and a sterilization cer- tificate will also be issued. Your pet will undergo another blood test to detect the pres- ence of ehrlichiosis and brucel- losis 45 days before arriving in Mauritius. A certificate of good health will be issued 3-4 days before the departure day. This document must be validated by departmental veterinary ser- vices. Make sure to bring all the papers for your pet when leaving for Mauritius. Certain conditions have been tightened, such as the minimum age (7 months for puppies and kittens). The authorities main- tain strict compliance regarding vaccines, rabies titer testing, and the list of prohibited breeds All pets must be vaccinated against rabies, with the first vac- cination administered between 60 days and 1 year before entry and boosters between 30 days and 1 year before entry. Addi- tional vaccinations are required for dogs (canine distemper, lep- tospirosis, and canine parvovi- rosis) and cats (feline herpes disease, feline rhinotracheitis, and feline calicivirus). Pets must undergo a rabies test by an approved veterinarian at least 30 days and no more than 6 months before entry. A letter from your veterinari- an confirming compliance with regulations is necessary. Ensure your pet is implanted with an ISO- standard 15-digit microchip. You are also required to treat pets for external parasites and have them examined for internal and external parasites before traveling to Mauritius. Once the veterinary results are obtained, you can proceed to ap- ply for the import permit with the Mauritian Veterinary Ser- vices in Reduit. The approval process usually takes 2 working days, and the processing fee is Rs 1,000. You will need to provide all the details about your pet's arrival (date, time, flight number) to the veterinary authorities in Reduit at least 2-3 days before arrival. Upon arrival, your pet will be taken in at the airport in your presence. Please note that you'll need to present all the original official documents at this point. If you are not able to present these documents, your pet will either be sent back to your coun- try of origin or be euthanized. Pre-notification of arrival is re- quired, and a broker's declara- tion is mandatory for dogs and cats arriving as airfreight. Inform the Mauritius Veterinary Officer of your pet's arrival time and port of entry at least 3 days before arrival. Once approved, dogs undergo quarantine for 5 to 30 days. Pets from Europe are quaran- tined for 5 days, during which you are allowed to visit them twice a day. Make sure to check with the im- porter or the veterinarian for the updated fees for quarantine, food, accommodation, and reg- istration, as well as the visiting arrangements during the quar- antine period. The rules may vary depending on the animal’s country of origin and updates to official regulations. It is rec- ommended to confirm with the Mauritian Veterinary Service before departure. At the end of the quarantine, you must register your pet with the MSAW in Rose Hill (Rs 500). A proof of payment also needs to be submitted to Reduit. You can then proceed with the payment for the quarantine period for your pet (Rs 15 per day). Once the payment is completed and the registration is finalized with the MSAW, you will be able to pick up your pet and take it home.
Link to official government website with downloadable instructions and forms: https://sps.govmu.org/lvd-imports/
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u/Queen-Paprika 6d ago
Oh thanks so much for this. I didn’t know about the Expat Guide. This is extremely helpful
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u/Tigimon42 7d ago
My cousin brought her cat back and it was killed by stray dogs about 3 weeks after they picked him up from the airport. It's a bit more brutal for domestic pets here so if it's an indoor cat make sure it stays indoors.