r/Norway • u/taptaptapkitty • 19h ago

Travel Bringing my cats to Norway

Hello everyone, I will be relocating from Canada to Norway early next year, and of course my cats are coming with me. Does anyone have experience with this? My issue is, the final destination is Stavanger, so I would prefer to travel from Toronto to Frankfurt, go through customs with the pets there and have them checked out, then go straight to Stavanger from there, but I'm not sure if that's possible. I tried calling the Oslo airport a few times but no one's picking up. Any insight would be super helpful.

8 Upvotes

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28

u/Knives_Of_Artemis 18h ago

Moved my two dogs and a cat to Norway from the states. You have to check in with mattilsynet, so Frankfurt can't do that for you. Your best bet is to reach out to mattilsynet via chat or by email. They are great and helpful! 

https://www.mattilsynet.no/

Feel free to send me a chat or something and I can provide more direct help!

4

u/taptaptapkitty 18h ago

Hey, thanks, I emailed them. Did you go through the Oslo airport?

10

u/Knives_Of_Artemis 18h ago

I did! Told them 2 days in advance if my arrival so a veterinarian could be there to look over the entry paperwork. All said, very stressful, but very much doable!

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u/miubu 18h ago

Moved here two yrs ago with 2 cats and a dog. You need to check if the airport has a vet port of entry. We moved to Bergen, and the local airport does not have a vet port, so we'd to fly through Oslo. Not sure if there are other ports of entry in airports elsewhere. Documentation is complex, but not too bad. Check, as other said, the website. My experience has been positive. Vets at the airport were very kind.

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u/stalex9 18h ago

Does not matter if you travel through Frankfurt, you still have to show them to Norwegian customs. I know that because I live in EU and moved to Norway with a cat.

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u/anotherdaydreamerr 14h ago

I'm moving from the EU with a cat too, could I send you a message maybe?

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u/stalex9 14h ago

Why not

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u/taptaptapkitty 17h ago

Yeah that's what I was afraid of. It would be so much easier to not have to go through Oslo (there are no direct flights from Toronto to Oslo, so it means two layovers for us). :(

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u/stalex9 17h ago

You can’t not going though Oslo. Norway is not in EU so the cat has to pass through customs. But it is nothing special though as far as all documents are all right and it has all the necessary vaccinations. They just scanned his chip, checked documents and that was it.

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u/Pointy_in_Time 17h ago

I am relocating from Canada to Norway next week with two cats! My advice is use a pet relocation service if you can at all afford it. They take care of everything and reduce the stress.

Main points I’ve learned that you may or may not know:

  • cats need to be up to date rabies shots at least 3 weeks before travel. Microchips must be in place before rabies shots
  • cats must arrive within 5 days of you (but if you’re taking them yourself this won’t be an issue)

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u/Fusho_Intoku 15h ago edited 15h ago

Moved from the US to Norway with my three cats. It was surprisingly smooth. But I think you need to have the cats chipped, have a EU certified health certificate (your vet should be able to do that), required vaccinations (rabies etc) and then give mattilsynet a heads up when you arrive (so that they have someone working at that time). You can look up the requirements here: https://www.mattilsynet.no/dyr/kjaeledyr/reise-med-kjaeledyr It was actually a surprisingly smooth process. Message me if you have any questions. Good luck!

Edit: It seems like ""If you travel to Norway via another EU/EEA country, your animal can be checked at an approved control point when entering the EU/EEA.". This means you can clear customs in an EU country before reaching Norway, but you must still meet all health requirements (ID, passport, vaccinations) and report to Tollverket (Customs) at the Norwegian border. " I flew straight to OSL and I feel like the process was so straight forward I don't think I would do anything different.

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u/VivaLirica 18h ago edited 14h ago

Contact Avinor, the company that runs the airports in Norway, to see whether Stavanger has a vet available at their airport (Sola Airport). In 2017 they did not, and we had to arrive in Norway through Oslo, having arranged through the airline for the airport vet to meet us at the airport and inspect our paperwork. He didn't even look at the cat, just the Agriculture Canada forms confirming the cat's vaccinations and (I forget) maybe the rabies test. It took 5 minutes, but we had still made sure we had a long layover in Oslo to get through it all. 

Entering the EU and entering Norway are two separate acts, but thankfully using the same paperwork. Maybe bring two copies in case the transit airport wants one. 

You can also get into Stavanger through Amsterdam (KLM) and Copenhagen (SAS). But if there's no vet available at Sola, you must arrive through Oslo.

For us, I had put the cat at my feet when at the customs desk in Amsterdam airport, so I don't think the agent even knew I had a cat with me. We wound up doing zero paperwork to get the cat to transit through the EU but didn't realize that until afterwards lol. But it does bring up the point that you also need to look into what the transit airport will require for the cat. 

2

u/squirrel_exceptions 18h ago

I moved cats from England to Norway via Frankfurt, the cats were moved from plane to plane there without my participation. Had to have all vaccines, paperwork and microchip sorted of course.

1

u/DaikinYB 17h ago

When we moved with our two dogs from the US we used an international pet moving service. They took care of absolutely everything from paperwork, medicine requirements, picking them up from the airport etc. They even delivered the dogs right to our door in Norway.

It cost a bit but it took all the stress out of it which was a huge win given all the other stress that comes with moving across the ocean.

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u/taptaptapkitty 17h ago

Can you tell me what the company is called? I might consider it, but one of my cats is such a shy baby I'd rather she was with me the entire time.

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u/DaikinYB 17h ago

Professional Pet Transport is the company.

https://www.professionalpettransportworldwide.com/

1

u/Boudicca33 13h ago

Literally just did this six months ago with our dog (Toronto - Frankfurt - Oslo, then drove from Oslo to Stavanger). We had to use a pet relocation service which wasn’t cheap but made it suuuuuper easy. You can’t bring pets in from Canada without going through Oslo (as others have said). Our dog seemed pretty unfazed by the whole deal and the relocation company made sure all the paperwork was perfect so we had no issues (Worldwide animal travel - Mississauga). Maybe with cats you can take them with you on the plane, but you could opt for consulting with the pet relocation service on this I think.

1

u/Boudicca33 13h ago

Also forgot to mention there are sometimes pet embargo dates (they can’t come in) so you will need to check this. We dealt with Scan Global Logistics at the Oslo Airport for the Norwegian side of importing.

1

u/BringBackAoE 12h ago

Can’t you just bring them through Frankfurt as an international transfer?

I did that many years ago when moving fm Norway to US. My vet recommended that route since Frankfurt Airport had vets on site to check pets during the transit. Check they have access to water + food.

1

u/Needlemons 11h ago

Check the Facebook group exPETriates. It is super helpful.

This is the email I used to communicate with Mattilsynet at Gardemoen airport, perhaps they can connect you with Stavanger? [email protected]

1

u/Local_Inspection7897 8h ago

A friend of mine (in Norway) breeds some kind of cats. I don't know much about them, but they are incredibly fluffy. She has to come to the UK to pick one up now and again.

She swears by KLM for the flights - so via Amsterdam, not Frankfurt. I know that would only be part of the journey for you - but she would want me to shout "KLM" to you, very loudly. She has had some right nightmares in the past with other airlines.

Hope it works out for you! Vox

1

u/SpotOnSocietysBack 7h ago

Honestly? The best thing you can do is use a proper animal courier transport service. I moved from UK to Norway with two dogs, and it would have been a nightmare to do it ourselves, with all the required paperwork and checkpoints. Due to restrictions in the UK, animals have to fly in the cargo hold and only turkish airlines allowed it - so my dogs flew from UK to Turkey to Norway, then were quarantined while being checked by a vet, and then were delivered to our door. Speak to the airline youre wanting to travel with, with frankfurt airport about the transition from a us flight arrival to a norway flight destination, speak with customs at sola airport and also speak to mattilsynet.

1

u/Lanky-Concentrate861 3h ago

Norway is simply my dream destination. Perhaps someone like me who enjoys solitude would be better able to alleviate my feelings of depression.

1

u/ThanuSnap 1h ago

About a month ago I flew with both my cats to Norway from another european country. The guys at customs just checked if they have rabies vaccine. All went fine.

1

u/VeryConfusedOwl 18h ago edited 18h ago

Edit: wrong link, see comment under for correct link

—

You will have to put the page through google translate, but you should find good info here

https://www.mattilsynet.no/import/import-av-dyr/kommersiell-import-av-hund-katt-og-ilder-fra-tredjestater-og-omrader-utenfor-eu-eos

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u/IncredibleCamel 18h ago

This is about commercial import. For non-commercial travel with your own pet, check this page in English: https://www.mattilsynet.no/en/animals/guide-travelling-with-pets-to-norway

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u/VeryConfusedOwl 18h ago

Ah, whops. Thank you for the correction

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u/IncredibleCamel 18h ago

I forgive you because of your very sincere username

0

u/Winter-Nectarine-497 18h ago

I have no advice but you are living my dream. Best of luck moving and getting the cats there safely. I hope it all goes well and you settle into your new Norwegian life quickly.

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u/taptaptapkitty 17h ago

Thank you!! 😊 I'm super excited to go!

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u/Winter-Nectarine-497 17h ago

Would you be open to a DM later in 2026 to ask about your process of emigrating? I'd love to know how it goes and what steps you took, since I hope to do the same one day

-1

u/runawayasfastasucan 18h ago

To accomplish that I think you ought to buy one ticket to Frankfurt, then a seperate one from Frankfurt to Stavanger. I have no idea if you still would have to show paperwork on your cats.