Sorry for the long delay, but I felt I should update this in case anyone else is in the same situation.
Before anything else could happen, I had to wait for an import permit from the CFIA. This could only happen after the vet had done his wuarentine inspection of the room Fufu will be staying in.
On my wife's end, she had to work on getting his export certificate. Basically a written confirmation of your pet's health, immunizations, etc. The exact means of getting this vary from country to country. For my wife and I, we hired someone from a pet export service to make sure we were getting the right thing.
As for travel, here is what has happened thus far:
Day 1: My wife flew with Fufu to Shanghai. Because no Chinese domestic flight would allow rabbits in cabin, he had to fly in crate. They went to a hotel near the airport where my wife created a play area for him. He had a food bowl, water dish, and the "toilet" (plastic tray) from home. He ate and drank well, and seemed relatively unfazed. Total travel time: about 3 hours.
Day 2: I arrive in Shanghai. We spend the night.
I'm writing this from our hotel room. Fufu is on the floor, happily destroying the cardboard box his travel bag came in. The next steps are:
Day 3: We stock up on fresh vegetables and head to the airport. The woman who arranged Fufu's export certificate will meet us there to hand it off to us. Last minute I know, but there was just a national holiday in China, so this was the best we could do.
Because United is letting us travel with Fufu in-cabin, we are ditching his hard crate for the biggest "soft" bag we could find that fir the requirements. The great thing is that it includes an expandable end. One the flight takes off my wife and I are going to stretch it out to give him a bit of room to hop around under our feet, with periodic bathroom trips to clean it out. Total trip time: about 12 hours.
We land in O'Hara and have a three hour layover before our flight to Toronto. Because it is a transfer we don't need to provide any documentation beyond our Canadian import certificate (for America at least; transfer policies vary by country). I'm going to find the pet area and, if no one is letting their dog out for a run, I'm going to let him out on his harness for a bit.
The flight to Toronto is only two hours more, but it is the moment of truth. At customs we have to declare we have an animal with us. Fufu will be examined by a CFIA approved vet and, if he is satisfied by the paperwork and our credentials, Fufu comes into Canada.
There are no flights going out of Toronto that night, so we have to spend the night in an (animal friendly) hotel.
Day 4: Last step. A two hour flight to my hometown. Fufu's room is all ready to go. With any luck he will take to it with his usual unflappable charm.
Advice thus far:
- Make sure you call all airlines at least a few days ahead of time. They will mark your reservation to show you are travelling with a pet. There will probably be a fee associated with this.
- In Canada you need to call the CFIA office closest to the airport and let them know ahead of time when you are arriving. For Pearson, this would be the Mississauga branch.
The CFIA has vets on call, so you don't have to arrange for a vet to come to the airport, but there will be a fee to pay. This fee increases if they must come in after hours or on holidays.
- Air travel makes everything, pets and humans, very thirsty. Make sure you have water and a dish/bottle on hand.
