Which Health Certificate Does a Dog or Cat Need to Travel?

It depends on where the pet is going, because a different authority sets the rule for each kind of trip. Between US states, the destination state decides, and the document its pages name is a certificate of veterinary inspection from your veterinarian. Into Canada, a pet cat or a pet dog older than 8 months needs no health certificate, only proof of rabies vaccination. Overseas, a USDA-accredited veterinarian completes the destination country’s certificate and USDA APHIS endorses it.

The airline is a separate question. It can ask for a certificate the destination does not, and the destination can ask for one the airline does not check, so a single trip can need paperwork for both.

It is a veterinarian’s signed record that the animal was examined and found healthy, with the vaccinations the destination asks for written on it. Florida’s agriculture department, whose animal movement page was read October 14, 2026, describes its version, the Official Certificate of Veterinary Inspection, as a document signed by a veterinarian with the appropriate state licenses and federal credentials, stating that the animal has been examined, is healthy and is not showing signs of a contagious disease.

Vet certificate, CVI and interstate health certificate are other names for the domestic version. For travel abroad, APHIS calls the document a USDA-endorsed health certificate, and its form changes with the country.

Only if the destination state asks for one, or the airline does. APHIS’s interstate pet travel page, read October 14, 2026, says it doesn’t regulate the interstate movement of pets by their owners, that the receiving state or territory sets the requirements, and it links each state’s own page. Three of those pages, read the same day, show how far apart the answers are:

For any other state, APHIS’s list of state pages is the place to start, and the state animal health official is who APHIS says to contact about anything a page leaves open.

Some do, and the airline’s rule is separate from the state’s. Florida’s pet travel FAQ notes that airlines are not required to enforce state import laws, so a pet still has to meet the destination’s rules when the airline asks for no certificate. Both Florida’s page and the Texas health department say most airlines require a health certificate issued within seven to 10 days of travel.

What the airlines publish, read October 14, 2026:

A dog too big for a carrier under the seat travels in the hold, which is where those certificates come in. Our state to state pet transport plans that flight, or the move by road, around what the airline and the destination state each ask to see.

For a pet cat, or a pet dog older than 8 months, none. APHIS’s Canada page, read October 14, 2026, says neither needs a health certificate and that proof of rabies vaccination is what Canada asks for. The rabies certificate is issued by a licensed veterinarian, proves vaccination within 3 years of entering Canada, and is required for dogs older than 3 months, assistance dogs traveling with their user aside; kittens under 3 months are exempt.

A puppy under 8 months is the case that can need one. Traveling with its owner, one or two puppies need only proof of current rabies vaccination. Traveling without the owner, one or two puppies need an exam and a health certificate from a licensed veterinarian within 72 hours of arrival in Canada, and APHIS says that certificate does not need its endorsement.

The same APHIS page reminds owners that airlines have their own requirements for transporting pets. The route, the rabies timing and the flight are covered in our guide to taking a dog or cat to Canada.

The destination country’s own health certificate, completed by a USDA-accredited veterinarian and endorsed by USDA APHIS. APHIS’s export page, read October 14, 2026, tells owners to contact an accredited veterinarian as soon as they decide to travel, and says the vet submits the certificate for endorsement on the owner’s behalf. The destination sets the requirements, APHIS adds, and they can change at any time, so they are checked for every trip.

Where APHIS publishes a certificate for the country, its FAQ for accredited veterinarians says that is the only health certificate the pet needs to enter and the only one APHIS can endorse. An airline may want paperwork of its own to board the pet, and where it names no form, APHIS Form 7001 can be used.

Endorsement timing, fees and the electronic route through VEHCS are in our guide to the USDA health certificate.

That depends on the certificate. For travel abroad, a USDA-accredited veterinarian, because APHIS endorses the certificates accredited veterinarians submit to it. Between states, the state decides: Florida’s page describes a veterinarian with state licenses and federal credentials, and California asks for a licensed and accredited veterinarian for a dog changing owners. Canada’s certificate for an unaccompanied puppy comes from a licensed veterinarian in the United States.

Pet Travel Advisors prepares and checks this paperwork for a move between states or abroad, and can book the flight, arrange the crate, check your pet in with the airline and meet it on arrival, as one plan or only the parts you need. Request a quote with the route and the date.

Each page below was read on October 14, 2026: