EU pet passport & travelling

Cats and dogs need an official EU pet passport when travelling outside Finland’s borders. The requirement for granting a pet passport is that the cat/dog has a microchip implant under the skin and has had a certified rabies vaccination. The rabies vaccination, whether the pet’s first or a booster vaccine, should be administered by a veterinarian within a minimum of 21/28 days before travel depending on the used vaccine brand.

Different countries have different requirements for travel with pets and returning home, and you can find out about them on the website ruokavirasto.fi. Different countries’ embassies can also give advice on the matter.

Treatment against tapeworm is required for returning to Finland (not for direct arrivals from Norway, but for everyone else). There are two options:

• have the dog treated abroad by a veterinarian 1–5 days before arrival in Finland (with an entry in the pet passport)
• use the so-called 28-day rule, meaning the dog is treated twice in Finland (or another country) before leaving Finland and once after returning to the country. The interval between treatments may be a maximum of 28 days (but any interval between 1 and 28 days is possible). Our clinic offers a “package” covering these three treatments.