02/09/2026
🐶MOVING HOUSE WITH PETS 🐶🚛🚛🚛
Check the destination’s pet-entry rules, especially if moving internationally.
• Make sure microchip details and contact information are current.
• Review vaccinations, parasite treatments, and any required health certificates.
• Choose how your pet will travel: car, train, plane, or professional pet transport.
• Ask your vet whether your pet needs any travel-specific advice.
• Start getting pets comfortable with their carrier/crate if they aren’t already.
2–4 weeks before
• Confirm accommodation allows your pets and check for restrictions or deposits.
• Gather records: vaccination history, microchip number, prescriptions, insurance details, and vet contact information.
• Prepare a pet travel kit: food, water, bowls, medication, waste bags, bedding, familiar toy, cleaning supplies, and copies of documents.
• Keep some familiar bedding/toys unwashed so they retain familiar smells.
• If driving, gradually introduce longer journeys if your pet isn’t used to travelling.
Moving week
• Keep your pets’ routine as normal as possible.
• Don’t pack their essential supplies until the last moment.
• Consider arranging a sitter, boarding, or a quiet room away from movers on moving day.
• Put a visible note on doors such as “Pets inside — please keep closed.”
Travel day
• Use a secure, appropriately sized carrier or harness/restraint.
• Never leave a pet unattended in a parked vehicle.
• Keep identification on your pet even if they’re microchipped.
• Bring food they’re already accustomed to rather than changing diets during the move.
• For anxious pets, ask your vet before moving day about appropriate options. Don’t give sedatives without veterinary guidance.
After arrival
• Start with one quiet, secure room containing food, water, bedding, litter/toilet facilities, and familiar objects.
• Let them explore gradually rather than giving immediate access to the whole property.
• Check doors, windows, fences, balconies, and potential escape routes.
• Locate a nearby vet and update the microchip registration/address.
• Expect some temporary changes in behaviour while they adjust.
If you’re moving internationally
This needs substantially more advance planning. Requirements can include microchipping, rabies vaccination, blood tests, waiting periods, veterinary certificates, import permits, and specific parasite treatments, depending on the countries involved. The rules can also differ for dogs, cats, birds, rabbits, and other animals .