Flights between EU countries are becoming cheaper every year. Travelling, even for great distances, seems to be a natural part of life for more and more people. Though, many of us simply hate flying even if we have the ability to adjust to the new situation and control emotions or influence them so we do not let the fear overpower us. We can get used to flying, but what about our pets? We may not want to leave them alone and put them in the stressful situation of travelling in the luggage cabin. What are the other options for transporting a dog or a cat and what would be the cost?

Why transport company?

So, this is when the transport companies come into play. There are many advantages of transporting your pet with a transport company:

• most probably you will choose a company that already has previous experience with transporting animals
• less stressful for an animal
• can travel in its favourite pet transporter/bag
• can have its fav blanket and toys around
• you can discuss with transport provider what your pet’s needs are and adjust travel conditions to them
• transport provider will take care of pet’s comfort and access to water and food

There are of course some drawbacks:

• if your animal, somehow still prefer to travel in a luggage cabin over a car/truck it might be better to let it do it its way 🙂
• your animal can be sensitive and have nausea while travelling with a transport provider, consult the possibilities e.g. medications, with your local vet

Cost analysis

We analysed hundreds of transport jobs, offers and online quotes placed by varied transport providers. Most of them were dog and cat transport jobs, but there were some other animals e.g. rabbits, ferrets as well. For this analysis, we focused specifically on cats and dogs transport cost.

The average cost of cat/dog transport is £109 depending on the route length, a size of your animal and its transporter,  any special equipment and conditions that transport provider needs to arrange and factor in.

Cats

The average cost of shipping a cat across the EU countries is £123, though it is mostly the route length that has the biggest impact on the price.

Where does your cat need to travel? If your kitten needs to go just a couple of streets away from where you leave now it might be around £20-30.

Routes up to 200 miles may vary between £40- £100 depending on the equipment your cat needs to be transported safely (crate, travel bag, straps, food etc.). You can ask transport provider do these arrangements for you or handle this yourself and decrease the price.

Remember that if you are planning to ship your car across countries the cost will be higher not only because of the route length but also because of formalities, that you need to sort out beforehand (more about it here).

Example:

Here is the exemplary auction made on Clicktrans.com

https://clicktrans.com/delivery/cat-transport-new-home,364557

This Kitten has been transported to its new home safely, from Oxford to Swindon in the pet transporter. Transport provider offered to ship this lovely little cat only for 30€.

You can see how attractive quotes can be, especially if the transport provider is already going the same direction with other deliveries and has a free space in a car.

If you need some advice on how to prepare your feline friend for a ride in a car, read the following article: “How to travel with a cat?”

Dogs

The average cost of dog transport turns out to be quite similar to cat shipping. It is around £93. Again, routes up to 200 miles are rather cheap, between £40-60. So if you would like to send your dog from Leeds to Manchester or Durham to let’s say…Galashiels – this is the price you should expect.

Pay attention to the EU regulations, when transporting your dog across EU countries (read more about this here). There are some important steps to follow when it comes to your dog vaccination.

If you’d like to know more about how to prepare your dog for travelling, get some insight into behavioural aspects that need to be taken care of and read about pet bloggers experience they shared with us here  “How to travel with a dog?” 🙂

Example:

Another exemplary action from Clicktrans.com

Dog from Southport to Gdańsk

The owner of this dog wanted to transport his canine friend from Southport (UK) do Gdańsk (PL).  He’s got three different quotes and chose one transport provider, who offered to transport this dog to Gdańsk for £290. Such a decent price for a long trip like this (1200 miles). 

You can make a good deal, especially if the transport company can realise this transport job on the way back or along with another delivery.

Other sample auctions to look up:

Kitten transported from Kaźmirów (Poland) to Fano (Italy) for 250€ (140€ saved)

https://clicktrans.com/delivery/kitten,1081212

Dog transported from Dublin (Ireland) to Zaragoza (Spain) for 790€ (440€ saved)

https://clicktrans.com/delivery/dog,446322

Your “To do” checklist

• Write down your requirements for this transport job, any special treatment or equipment you request for your pet
• Find a transport company (You may get quotes for pet transport here)
• Check their credentials, website, profile
• Check their previous experience in pet transport
• Find opinions about the transport provider
• Pay attention to any negative reviews and reasons behind them, you may not want to be disappointed in your transport provider, especially if it is your dearest animal fate that is at stake.
• Prepare pet’s transporter, food, water and toys that go inside.

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