Pets in france - advice needed please

We have just arrived for a new life in france, and need to register our dog under the pet micro chip regulations. (he already has his uk micro chip). Can we go to any vets to do this, or do we have to choose which vet we want to stay with for the future. As we have not researched the vets in our area enough, (want to find a good, english speaking one), but short term, want to get the micro chip done asap, due to it being a requirement. Is the french micro chip registered to the vets we attend?

Depending on where you are...town or country...
just a thought..
There's a world of difference - in my locality - between small animal/pet vets..and farm animal vets. The specialist small animals vet, knows much more than the farm vet about pet treatments.. And could make a big diffs in the health of your pet.
There's also a homeopathic treatment vet...who won't prescribe any of the meds offered by the non homeopathic vets...he said those Chem/meds are not safe..sometimes dangerous...eg metacam..pain killer that can cause kidney failure. Whatever your vet prescribes...you can check it on the www.
Get cheaper meds online too.

He was microchipped in the UK. We just filled in a form to register his number in Paris.

to be within the law for any cat that either changes hands (even if for free), and any cat born after the 1/1/12 who is 7 months old or more id is compulsory.

There are also huge benefits, as a vet I spend endless time, and so do fourrieres and gendarmes and chatsperdu websites trying to trace owners of cats. It would be so much easier if they were all id's.

Try "Reverso" and write it down or print the translation. It will not be perfect but it will help. If you make a little effort you will be appreciated.

Did you have to microchip your cat in France? I assume the question about speaking French is aimed at someone else as I do speak French and do not expect anyone to have to speak English?

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the french placement of the chip is left neck, not under the chin, just for clarification.

I recommend writing down on a piece of paper what your want to say, and also get the vet to write down what his thoughts are.

Most vets will speak some english, and as i found when working here , the technical language of vets is the same...

You can find the vet nearest to you using Pages Jaunes website. Have a look to see (a) if your nearest vets surgery has a website (b) if it does, does it give an impression of young eager vets who might be more likely to speak English than a vet of more mature years (but then you never know). Many French professionals with some English are more than keen to practise, I have had silly conversations in my pidgin French and said professional's pidgin English.

Meet the vet half way. You can find appropriate vocabulary in any French/English phrasebook under 'visits to the doctor', human beans being animals. "Il ne veut pas manger" for "off his food" is a useful addition to this. One minor point: French vets position the chip under the animal's chin whereas British vets put it in the back of the neck. Please don't throw up your hands at trying to speak some French, you will be made most welcome if you do. The more you do it the better it will get. Honest.

No worries mate. It just sort of happens. We came here 12 years ago with only school French & bombed dramatically. It's a sort of organic thing. If you really want to learn the language you have to put yourself out amongst 'em & make an arse of yourself whilst learning French & making friends. Most of us struggled, most of us are still here & most of us ain't going back. It's not easy but you will get out of it what you put in. Don't be put off by the 'smart arses'. Everyone has to learn. It's just that some do it quicker than others. Good luck to you & at the risk of sounding boring, put your photo up here. Most people (me especially) respond better if they can see who they are talking to ;-)

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We are happy to go to any French Vet, but feel a bit awkward initially, because we do not speak a word of French, and it is bad enough trying to explain to a vet in the uk what symptoms your dog or cat has, it is ten times worse trying to explain those same symptoms in French isnt it?

Ouch! If I said that I'd be threatened with all sorts of hideous punishments. Ian (who I'm sure will be posting a photo soon) has just arrived in France Pauline. There ain't no magic French Speak button. Some people make me seem like a saint :-)

I paid 11,36 euros to register my cat's microchip number in 2010. Why do you not learn french, instead of expecting the vet to speak English?

by law cats over 7 months have to be identified by chip or tattoo. The chip allows them to travel across borders, it is also wise to do this because they are traceable to you and therefore should not spend unnecessary time in the cat pounds. (with the possibility of euthanasia)

Do cats have to be micro chipped as well… They will never travel back to England?

yup, it is required by law now to have your dogs on the french register if you are resident here.

Also it makes it much quicker to find your dog or cat if it goes missing because the dog pounds, mairies, gendarmes and vets have instant access via computer to your details.

If you leave the registration in the uk and just update your details, you are relying on someone phoning the uk (there is not computer access) and they then try and contact you - they will not give us your details.

Photocopy of identity pages and as said above the clinical exam page signed, and form filled in by vet with your signature.

I just re-registered a UK microchip here in France. As suggested, you take the dog, UK micro-chip registration certificate and passport to a vet. I wrote a cheque for 9,38 euros and posted copies of everything off to the address given to me by the vet. You do have to have a signature and stamp in the passport on the page which states that the dog has been checked for being in good health.

The microchip reader does it all, change country or vet and they get what they need. No problem.

Hi your pets microchip will be the same just that you have moved countries all you do is find a local vet book an appointment take said animal and their pet passport and explain that you have moved to France and want to get them registered .It cost us around 30€ a couple of years ago.

The vet fills in the necessary forms and sends them off you will get a cert back in post confirming your animals details thats it!

We have since move areas and all you do is find another vet give them details of your pet thats all they need as your animal will be in the French data system.

Hope that makes sense!!

Going to the vet to change registration does not tie you to that vet in future. The majority of young vets speak English though they can be a little shy to use it initially and the vets in your area have lots of English patients so it shouldn't be too rare to find an English speaker. We've had a wonderful experience of French vets as have our friends. They take their time and are very thorough ours could do most diagnostics, blood tests, metabolics etc on site. Our experience is that we got a very much better service for much the same price as in UK The microchip will be registered to your address/telephone.

We sent the format to SIEV (signed by our new French vet) but got a reply back saying we needed to make a payment (vet didn’t mention any payment). Where or how can we make that payment? All I saw were people mentioning they wrote out a check, but I need more info :S