Moving With Pets Planner

Who this is for

Each pet's move, planned in advance. The sheet covers the records and registrations to update, how each animal travels, where it is kept while the house is emptied and what to check before it is let loose in the new home.

Households moving with dogs, cats, small animals or anything else that cannot just be packed in a box, whether the move is across the road or across the country.

What this helps you track

• Every pet's microchip number, carrier and travel arrangement in one place
• Which records and registrations have been updated with the new address
• Where each animal is kept on moving day and who is looking after it
• The checks to make before a pet explores the new home

How to use it

1. Write the move date, your current vet and the new vet you plan to register with.
2. List each pet with its species, microchip number and the carrier or crate it will travel in.
3. Work along the records grid, writing the date each update is done under each pet's column.
4. Agree who has each animal on moving day and fill in the travel and care columns, so nobody assumes someone else has it.
5. After arrival, work through the settle-in checklist before doors and windows are left open.
6. Fill it in on paper, or in the browser version, which saves in your own browser.

Formats

• Printable PDF (A4 and US Letter)
• Fillable PDF with form fields
• Fill in online, saved in your browser

The printable is laid out inside a box that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the two files are identical and neither one is scaled. The fillable PDF has real form fields. The online version keeps what you enter in your own browser and builds the completed PDF on your device.

How to print

Download the A4 or US Letter file to match the paper in your printer, open it in a PDF reader and print at 100% — not "fit to page", which shrinks the writing space. Both files leave a 14 mm margin, which clears the unprintable edge on home printers. To print the online version with your entries in it, use the Print this sheet button, which prints only the sheet and none of the page around it. More on printing.

Questions

Which records need the new address?

Usually the microchip database, the pet's tag, your vet and any insurer. Depending on where you live there may be registration or licensing too, so check the rules where you are; the grid leaves spare rows for anything specific to your animals.

Why plan where a pet is kept on moving day?

Doors are open for hours and strangers are carrying furniture. Writing down whether the animal is shut in one room, with a friend or boarded, and who is responsible, stops it being left to chance on a busy day.

Does the sheet say how long a pet can travel between breaks?

No. It has a column for the breaks you plan, but how long an animal can travel and how it should be fed on the way is a question for your vet, who knows the animal.

What about moving a pet abroad?

Use the records grid for the paperwork and add a row for each document the destination asks for. The rules differ by country and change, so check them with the official source and your vet well ahead of the move.