Parting is Such Great Sorrow… Goodbye Vacation!

My Lovelies,

Hope you are all doing well. As you heard from Athena last week, we’ve been back in SoCal for near a month now and boy did we have some GREAT adventures on our vacation. Now, you’ve already had both of our perspectives with the pre-vacation prep and planning as well as Athena’s perspective on our time there, I figured it would not be fair to leave you without my perspective on what it was like not only while we were there but ALSO traveling back home with a furbaby. Disclaimer what I’m about to share with you has been my experience entering Colombia and Colombia ONLY. If you are preparing to travel with your fur-little one, please make sure to consult with a VCA certified veterinarian who can assist you with knowing the exact rules and regulations for both entry and departure of your destination country(ies). With that said and without any further ado… let’s begin!

As you all know, it was my first time ever traveling with my furbaby; thus, I had no idea what to expect either entering or leaving Colombia. In every airport that we landed it was required that Thena be taking out of her carrier, any clothing be removed (yes, I dress my little one in cute sweaters/shirts here and there LOL… don’t judge haha), her harness be removed, and that I carry her through the scanner with me. Her carrier also had to be sent in separately with the scanners for the luggage as well.

Now, upon arrival to Colombia, and this was a learning experience for me, I had to make sure to visit the ICA (Instituto Colombiano Agropecuario) office (AKA the office for the Colombian Agricultural Insitute). I figured that, by having our VCA documents in hand, I would just be able to grab my bags and go through customs until I heard the guard telling me “tiene que ir al ICA, tiene que ir al ICA” (“you have to go to the ICA office, you have to go to the ICA office”). Fortunately, the office was just a few steps away from the exit doors of the baggage claim. There, the guard took Thena’s paperwork and entered in the system. She asked me the normal questions (“how long are you staying”, “what’s your purpose in Colombia”, “is your pet American or Colombian”, etc.) and she charged me $64.000 pesos (approximately $13 USD). She kept the paperwork, which honestly was another shock to me as I figured I’d be able to use them to come back home since our stay was only 3 weeks. She also informed me I would have to do a similar process with a Colombian vet to come back home.

I kept that in mind, and after enjoying our time with family and as we neared the 10 day mark to come back home, I started inquiring with my cousins if they knew any Colombian vet who could help me get the paperwork for Thena to be able to enter the U.S. Fortunately for me, one of my cousins and her husband have a friend who does EXACTLY that. We set an appointment a little over a week out where he grabbed all the necessary information from me (my name and contact information, Thena’s name, age, breed, health history, vaccine history, a picture of her, etc.) He used everything I provided to fill out the paperwork and approximately 5 days out we set a quick home visit so that he could give her a brief physical exam. Once all checked out and he saw her and her paperwork (i.e., vaccine records) in person there was only one extra step to go. About 3 days out, we were to drive the airport in the city of Rionegro and go to the loading/unloading zone. There, we would have to take Thena and her paperwork to the ICA office (ah, yes! Good old ICA became my friend and became well-known to me on this trip, LOL) where they would, again, formally enter the paperwork the Colombian vet had put together and charge me another $64.000 pesos. Now, another quick disclaimer here that this trip to the ICA office was not mandatory 3 days before; however, it saved us the hassle and stress of having to worry about it the morning of our flight. With that, we were set and ready to go to return home. I will mention here as well that finding this vet was also a blessing because he is also a psychiatrist. My cousins had already told him about the loss of my husband and he ended up inquiring with them if I had registered Athena as an ESA (Emotional Support Animal). I told him I hadn’t because my insurance here does not do that paperwork anymore and he informed me that he could provide it for me. This was WONDERFUL and a blessing because this allowed for me to be able to carry Thena on the plane and hold her the entire time. Also, Copa oversold our return flight from Panama to LAX and I did our check-in a little late the night before oops, and we ended up having our trip postponed until the next morning. The hotel Copa had us stay at overnight was not pet-friendly; however, since I had my ESA letter they accommodated for us, and I was able to have her with me without any issues. Another side-note, if you are traveling with an ESA, make sure to have the veterinary letter and vaccines in hand with you at all times as some places (i.e., restaurants, hotels, etc.) will ask to see it and may even ask to make copies for their records raises hand I know this now from first-hand experience.

After our goodbyes with the family, we went through the normal immigration procedure to return home. My little furbaby was a trouper the ENTIRE way of this process: airport check-in, to flight, to airport check-out! I learned now from experience as well that, since she did so well on her way over, I only had to give her ½ of her Trazodone pill for her to be calm on the plane. I preferred that as she was still groggy but not so “out of it” so to speak as when we gave her and entire dose. We arrived in LAX without any issues and checking her into the U.S. was even EASIER. All the CBP (Customs and Border Patrol) Agent asked us was for her vaccine records and if Thena was born in the U.S. or if we had acquired her in Colombia.

As you can see my lovelies, as I mentioned in my post before, traveling with my furbaby may have meant jumping through some hoops to get her to and from; however, I wouldn’t have traded the experience for anything else. Seeing the joy in her little eyes, seeing the joy in my families eyes, and being able to have her with me every night as I went to sleep in my second home meant the absolute WORLD to me. Also, please keep in mind, and as cliché as this may sound, you only get so many years with your fur-little one. Make it the best it can be. Take them on that trip, give them that extra treato, spend those extra five minutes on that walk with them, whatever it may be. We really do become their world and they deserve us to help make their little lives the best it can be. Not to mention, the memories we’re left with as well are irreplaceable. We’re excited to be home and excited to have had so much fun in those three weeks as a family. I wholeheartedly hope you get to do the same with your furbabies!

Much Love my Lovelies,

XOXO Isabelle 💋❤️ XOXO