Travelling with 2 cats from Philippines to France

[agswagler]

Hello, my partner (French) and I have plans to move back to France in August. We have two cats, both of whom were adopted here. We've been doing our research, and have found that a blood titer test is required at least 3 months before travel, and must be done in an EU-approved lab. I checked the website and there are NO labs approved in the Philippines. Furthermore, we are flying into Nantes, an airport that is apparently not approved for air travel import of pets.

We still have to get our cats microchipped, and then give them the rabies vaccine again. and then a month after that we can do the titer test. Unfortunately, that all puts us at less than 3 months before travel. What are our options? Will they have to be quarantined upon arrival? We're fine with that, we just don't want any of the other options (euthanasia, return to Philippines) to be enforced.

We did NOT choose our flight itinerary. That was selected by my partner's boss, hence all this last-minute scrambling. If it were up to us, we'd have booked an itinerary within the time frame and in a compliant airport...

Any advice would be much appreciated!!

[admin]

Agswagler - France does not have any quarantine facilities (that we are aware of) and so, you may want to consider providing care for your cats in the Philippines until they conform to regulations to import to the EU, then fly them as air cargo into an approved border inspection post (BIP) (Paris, Reunion, Marseille, Nice, Lyon and Toulouse). You can import them into the UK under quarantine regulations. Thirdly, France has passed a temporary resolution allowing French citizens to return to France before the 3 month wait has been completed. We do not know how long this resolution is in effect. It was passed for Franch citizens wanting to return to France with their pets due to the COVID-19 crisis. The cats' owner would need to be a French citizen. Also, the cats would need to enter France at an approved BIP. You will need to change your reservations as the cats need to enter the country with their owner.
Susan