Just in case anyone is emigrating with their cats, be aware that all cats with Serval blood, such as Savannahs, have been banned from import to Australia from July 30th 2008. All cats are visually reviewed, and if certain criteria are met, such as ear size, tail length, facial markings, spots (not rosettes) etc then the cat will be investigated by the Department of Environment to ensure the cat does not contain Serval blood.

I found out about this after bringing our two boys with us mid September and received a call from the Department telling me they were investigating Nutty. He is definitely pet quality only, and met loads of their criteria for potential Serval blood so reasonably enough they were investigating him. Fortunately I had their 5 generation pedigree with me on the flight not in the container as that was required, as was some evidence that I had bought them as pets, not for breeding, and they also wanted confirmation that he had been neutered. I should say I don't have any issue with them investigating him, nor the way they did it - they couldn't have been nicer, especially when I broke down in tears on them

Basically, if anyone if exporting/importing to Australia, make sure that you have the 5 generation certificate to hand, evidence of why you have the cat, and ideally evidence they have been neutered if relevant.

Oh and one final thing we found, Zylkene in the UK and Homeopet in Australia really helped keep them chilled and relaxed during the flight and quarantine - their carer in quarantine kept commenting on how relaxed they were and apparently they were very chilled after the flight as well. Stopped the homeopet a couple of days ago after they'd been home for a few days and normal bedlam service has now been resumed

Hopefully nobody on here will be affected by this, but if it helps even one person to be prepared for that phone call then it's worth it.

oh blimey that must have been stressful for you.
it's so important to have all your relevant paperwork in order for any import/export to help it go smoothly.

are they satisfied with nutty now then or still investigating? i do hope they accept he is bengal & legal.

It should only affect the Serval itself, Ashira and possibly Savannah Cat shouldn't it?

Bengals are from ALC rather than Serval, unless I'm mistaken?

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I think OskaNutty's point is that even though her cats didn't have serval blood, they still got questioned based on visual criteria (ear size tail length etc) and it would have been a lot worse for her if she hadn't had proof that they had no serval blood in them

This is useful, it will be several years before I get enough cash to move to Australia but it's the long-term plan

Ah right. Of course.

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They have now told me they're happy with Nutty (ironically enough Oska was fine, but he's marbled not spotted). Got the call Friday afternoon when they were due for release on the Sunday which was getting very hectic!

It was the visual identification check list that flagged Nutty up, and we then had to provide the evidence that he didn't have Serval blood. The chances are that if anyone brings in spotted cats without rosettes they may have the same problem, but the guys heading up the investigation really were fantastic. Having said that, its not something I would want to go through again

Swirlypepper, if and when you do move here (and boy do I recommend it!), you'll need the 5 generation pedigree certificate for the import permit - what I'd recommend you do is get a certified copy scanned in colour, scanned copy of the receipt when you bought them and any other evidence you have (I used a couple of emails to and from the breeder when I got the boys) that they're pets. If you can get something from your vets on official letterhead to state they're neutered, get that certified and scanned as well. You may not need any of it, but you're covered just in case.

Oh, and make sure you have an msn or hotmail email as well that can travel with you!