Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. I only link to things on which I can speak with authority. It is also full of information that a lot of people have found to be incredibly helpful, and I hope you do, too!
This is a 3-part series. To skip ahead to the other sections of the journey, check out Leg 2 and Leg 3. Or, to hear more details that I didn’t discuss in the blog, listen to the podcast episode where we discuss it! For more general information and things I learned about traveling with pets, be sure to stop by my newer post on traveling with animals.
We’re currently in LA, in a hotel 5 minutes from the airport, on our journey to Shenzhen, China. And yes, we have our cats. Here’s how we got this far.
First, things I’m so happy I did for myself on this trip with cats:
- registered for TSA precheck a long time ago
- used my skymiles to get 1st class tickets from Atlanta to LA
- spent a day and a half in LA to let the cats rest and regroup before the long haul
- married an airport partner — airport partners are CLUTCH ❤
- bought a portable kitty box that zips up and can be carried in a carry-on
- triple-wrapped the bottoms of the carriers with puppy pads (we got some cheap ones from Walmart) — two of Lexie’s puppy pads were yellow, but the third layer was clean!! So now we don’t have to search desperately for a washing machine before the next leg; we can just re-wrap it
- In retrospect from China: used THIS WEBSITE from the USDA — it was literally the ONLY website with accurate, straight-forward, up-to-date information regarding importation requirements for bringing the cats to China. The customs at Guangzhou airport were happy with all our papers.
Leg 1 of the journey: Oak Ridge -ATL-LAX
We were planning on keeping the cats in their carriers on the drive from Oak Ridge, Tennessee (where we’ve been crashing at my mom’s, while finishing up the visa process) to the Atlanta airport for our 10:30AM flight. This would have meant keeping them in the carriers from 3AM to about 5PM Eastern time, or 14 hours – a good practice run for the upcoming 23 hours in the carrier. BUT HOW CAN YOU SAY NO TO THIS FACE
Just try it. Try looking at this face and saying “no.” You can’t do it, can you?
So our extremely spoiled cats got to ride in our laps during the 3.5-hour car ride to Atlanta airport, for which my dad and stepmother graciously woke up at 2AM to pick us up at 3 for a 7-hour round trip. Well, I should say: Winston rode in my lap. Lexie (high on a kitty sedative) paced from Seth’s lap to Darlene’s in the passenger seat about 20 times, but luckily there was very little yowling involved. Thank you, acepromazine!
When we arrived at the airport, we checked in at the first class counter and the ladies working the counter failed to coo over our cats. In fact, they were completely unfazed by them. I did reserve the spots for the cats in advance, but it seemed like it’s not uncommon to fly with pets. Good! We unloaded our 200 POUNDS OF LUGGAGE and proceeded to walk – gently – to the TSA precheck area. The cats count as one carry-on bag, and then we’re allowed one personal item (a backpack). Since we were bringing our entire life to China, we each had on a 40-liter backpack with waist straps, meaning the cats didn’t really work on the sides of our bodies. Their carriers were positioned around one arm and our necks, but really we walked with them in front of us. In order not to hit them with our moving legs, we needed to go at about 30% of our normal airport pace. Here’s us ready to go through security:
“holy shit holy shit holy shit”
Once at the metal detectors, we were instructed to take the cats out of the carriers, run the carriers through the machine, and walk through while carrying our squirming ferrets cats. People who know Lexie will not be surprised to learn that she kinda freaked out and climbed onto Seth’s back while he was waiting for her carrier to come out the other side. A nice teenager was the only stander-by the whole day who didn’t stand idly and laugh at our struggles, but brought him the carrier that was waiting to be pushed down to us. He only lost a little blood. We thanked her profusely.
Luckily, we didn’t have to take a train to the terminal (another win) and were sitting at our gate within a few minutes. But not before I caught Winston’s carrier. The strap came off on one side! I carried him by the bottom of the box and put everything down with Seth when we got to the gate. Then I walked to a little magazine store while praying to Jesus, Allah, and Buddha, and lo and behold when I got to the store: found that they do still sell little travel sewing kits!
I used my incredibly amateur sewing skills to patch up the carrier, while Winston sat calmly inside.
The flight was surprisingly uneventful. One of my last-minute orders on Amazon was a large microfiber towel for each of us, which was lightweight and compact — they’re still very much in use over a year later. Seth had the idea to use those to drape over the cat’s carriers, per the vet’s recommendation. We did, and wouldn’t you know it: we didn’t even need to redrug Lexie. She was quiet the whole flight!!! We sat back, and enjoyed the complimentary booze and fancy food (including a lemon merengue pie for dessert!).
fancy Seth
fancy me
Winston got a little panicky during takeoff (so we saw a little head move around under the towel for a few minutes), but otherwise it was smooth sailing. As soon as we got to the hotel and let them out of their carriers, they gobbled up their food and used the litter box. We were relieved to see they weren’t too traumatized. We relaxed and de-stressed at the Sheraton in the evening.
Things I plan to change on the next journey:
- bring some little vacuum-sealed salmon treats in the backpacks that we’ve brought with us — they love these things and since they still have moisture, the cats will be able to have snacks and be encouraged to take in fluid so they don’t get dehyrdated (we had bowls with water in the carriers but they just spilled, not sure they were effective) *edit: they did not care about these treats whatsoever. They didn’t eat again until we were in Guangzhou and relaxing at our AirBnB. But I had the peace of mind knowing that they had the option there.*
- keep the cats covered the whole time with these fast-dry towels on the flight except to give treats — I put Winston’s carrier on my lap a few times, and pet him in it, and he tried to get out. Seth left Lexie covered the whole time and she seemed very calm (so weird) *edit: I failed at this. Luckily the flight attendant was cool about me carrying Winston in my lap during the long flight.*
- Feed them all day with their favorite food so that they fatten up a bit, since they won’t be eating much tomorrow!
We leave tonight at 11PM Pacific time for Leg 2 of the journey: LAX-ICN-CAN! Stay tuned to see what kind of crazy shit happened on the flight from Seoul to Guangzhou!
Hi, I just found your blog and appreciate all the information about bringing your cats to China. I am moving to Shenzhen in August with one cat . I’m wondering what type of rabies shot you got for your cats? My cat just received a 3 year rabies shot, but I read somewhere that it needs to be a 1 year.
Thanks and keep up the great blog!
Hey Julie!!! So glad I could help! That’s awesome you’re coming to Shenzhen, you’ll love it! At least I do 😊 my husband just told me that we got them the kind that lasts for 3 years. I didn’t prime his memory either. Anyway everything I read said it just needed to be between 30 days and a year before entering the country. I’m so glad I could be helpful! I know it’s super stressful but I’m really glad we brought them in the end! So please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any more questions 😄
Thank you! What time you arrived in Guangzhou? I can only get a flight that arrives around midnight and I was told we would have to pay to have the inspection officer come at that hour.
Oh I see!! yes we arrived around 12:30 I believe, so they were there. I really wouldn’t know how much that costs, but I can’t imagine it would be outrageously expensive (China is so cheap). Maybe stop by a bank in the States and see if you can’t get $100 worth of Chinese Yuan so you can have it ready?
Wow! I’m so glad cat lovers are headed to Shenzhen as well! We are also moving with our cats to SZ! I just have one question that I didn’t see how you solved on here–how did you figure out the airline pet policy and did you call to reserve a special ticket to have your kitties in the cabin with you? Thanks!!!
Hey Erin!! Great question. When I was looking for flights, I found out which airlines went to Guangzhou and then checked their policies. But when I booked the tickets, I did that part over the phone directly with the airline, reserving a spot for the fur babies. A lot of airlines have a limit on how many animals are allowed in the cabin. We took American Airlines to LA and then Asiana the rest of the way. The cost was about another $100 per cat per ticket.
Thank you for taking the time to write this blog! It is full of the most useful information I have found on entering China with pets. I am moving to Wenzhou in three weeks and everything you mentioned is pretty much what I had planned to do so it was great to see it confirmed as a do-able plan. I am in Kansas and will fly to LAX and overnight there to get the crate ready for my dog. The next evening we will take the direct flight to CAN on China Southern. Your description of where to go once you are there with the pets was great! That was a huge question mark in my mind. One thing I don’t think I saw was much on the process of getting your pets through inspection and what fees you paid. I will probably have a two-hour connection to WNZ and wondered if that is enough time to clear customs with a pet. The next flight to WNZ is six hours later which is a long layover with a pet in an airport. My dog, a Scottish Terrier, will go as excess baggage in the pet hold of cargo.
Your quick response about entry fees, and the time it took to clear your pets would be greatly appreciated.
Hi Tissa! I’m so glad this blog has been helpful! I’m pretty sure I didn’t actually have to pay any entry fees, actually. Since we took our cats on the plane, we got off, went through customs, picked up our luggage once out of customs (which is where I’m sure you will pick up your dog), and then just before we got to the exit we were stopped by inspection and quarantine. There, we showed them all the papers we brought (picture of each cat, a copy of our passports, the health certificate with the USDA form which was about $70 in the States, and a rabies certificate for each cat), filled out the forms, and they noted where we would be staying. But we did not have to pay any fees to enter China with them. It took about 10 extra minutes 🙂 Please let me know if you have any more questions! I know how stressful this can be!
I really liked your blog and the post about the kitties was priceless. I hope that they will be happy here. Make sure that you get fixed up with a local vet and a local hair groomer. They are NOT the same.
I used to live in Louhu (shenzhen), and own a house in Nanshan (shenzhen) and both locations have pet groomers everywhere. Make sure that you locate a VET. They are the ones that can help you if you have a cat emergency. There is nothing worse than have a cat emergency and no knowing where to take the little ones. Seriously. Locate a vet. You can tell it is a vet if they have an operating room, and a cat ICU. That is where you go for the injections.
It’s kind of hard of the guys here, so be care in case they get out.
I live in Zhuhai and there are cats everywhere. My Marketing Manager lost her cat when it jumped from the fifth floor in her apartment building and ran off after some birds.
Here in Zhuhai, because of the temperature, many owners cut the hair of the cats and the dogs to keep them cool. I used to think it was silly, with huskies looking really strange. But then again, you don’t want huge masses of fur balls all over your house.
I think your little family looks wonderful. Have a wonderful adventure together.
Hi Robert!! Thanks so much for your advice! I am happy to report that I have found both a groomer and a vet, as Sir Winston is a high-maintenance little kitty. We’ve gotten him a lion shave a few times like you’re referring to, and it has been totally worth it!! We are also super careful about letting them out. We’ve actually had a false alarm once — we thought he had gotten loose (turns out he was just sleeping somewhere) but now we know all the groups and people to reach out to if that happens. I have to say I’m impressed with the pet owner community here!! 😻
Hi Patrice,
Your detailed info on pet importing to cn is invaluable! Here’s my big question for you:
If your final Chinese destination was not GZ, but elsewhere, did you simply put that place and customs was ok with that…or does the address of where you will be staying in China need to be in GZ?
Thanks so much.
JoJo
Hey JoJo! Glad you’ve found this to be helpful! I wrote the address for the AirBnB where we were staying in GZ on the form. Customs made a note and was fine with it. They didn’t ask any questions about it.
Hi JoJo! Glad you’ve found it to be helpful! ☺ I wrote the address for the AirBnB where we stayed in GZ on the form. They were fine with it and didn’t ask any questions. They mostly seemed to want to make sure that we had all our documents in order.
Hello! My question to you: Were you going there as English teachers? Did the schools’ accommodations allow your kitties or did you have to find elsewhere to live?
This has been really the only positive experience shared about bringing pets to China… It’s nice to see.
Also, I’ve read that when coming in, there a 1 person – 1 pet policy. Do you think that if I had my other cat (I have 2), come in by courier, that might work?
Hi Sandra ☺ we booked a pet-friendly air bnb before coming to China, then found an apartment when we got here. And I honestly am not sure about the courier. I would have someone else bring them in on their passport. I’ve read about people coming in with family members on tourist visas with a pet.
Sorry I can’t be more helpful, but I’m always glad to know the post helped someone searching for information (like me before)! Probably, like most things, the people with good experiences are the majority but don’t report it. Good luck!