What is the purpose of the cat and dog vaccination card and what is the difference to the EU pet passport? Does every animal need a vaccination card? All questions about the animal vaccination card are answered here.
What is a vaccination certificate and what is it for?
The vaccination certificate is, just like the human vaccination certificate, a medical document. All vaccinations and their validity are entered in it.
On the one hand, you can prove that your pet has been vaccinated, and on the other hand, you can keep track of them and see when the next vaccination is due.
Sometimes other data such as deworming, parasite protection or even operations are also recorded.
What does it look like by law?
The standard vaccination certificate is usually in yellow and only valid nationally. This means that you are not allowed to travel abroad with your pet if you have a national vaccination certificate. This is also only in the national language and is issued free of charge.
For this you need the EU pet passport. This is blue and you have to pay for it. Certain data and entries must be foiled on it to make it forgery-proof. It is bilingual (usually the national language and English). Attention: Find out which regulations apply before you travel. Some countries require an additional rabies titer test (takes up to 3 months) or a certain parasite protection.
What is documented in the EU pet passport?
The following information must be included in the (EU) vaccination certificate:
- Name, address, telephone number and signature of the animal owner.
- Name, address, date of issue and signature of the issuing veterinarian
- Name, species, breed, sex, date of birth, colour and any special characteristics and photo of the animal.
- Microchip number, date and place of implantation (usually left side of neck)
- Vaccinations (name of vaccine, manufacturer, batch number), date (1. vaccination date, 2. validity date – from when the vaccination is effective, 3. expiry date – until when the vaccination is valid)
Where do you get the EU pet passport and how much does it cost?
Most of the time the document is already given to you by the breeder, shelter, etc. Sometimes you are “only” given the yellow vaccination certificate, if the puppies come from inland. Attention: Puppies from abroad (puppy mafia) can unfortunately be forged. As many puppies from abroad are still too young for the rabies vaccination, the vaccination certificate is unfortunately forged, or they receive the vaccination too early. Otherwise, animals under 3 months of age would have to get an additional rabies certificate.
If you want to travel abroad, you can have the vaccination certificate transferred to an EU pet passport at your vet. The costs for this are usually 15-25 €.
Which animals need the EU pet passport?
When travelling within the European Union and the European Economic Area, the document is required for cats, dogs and ferrets.
Summary
The vaccination passport is used to document vaccinations. The EU pet passport is also a document that must be present when travelling abroad.