Caribbean Cruising with PetsEntry rules for cats & dogs arriving by boat

Leeward Islands

St Kitts and Nevis

Import permit neededRabies vaccine neededRabies titer test neededVet certificate within 10 days of arrivalQuarantine of 2 weeks

Before you sail

  • Import permit
  • Rabies vaccine at least 30 days before arrival; at least 3 months old when vaccinated
  • Rabies titer test — blood drawn at least 30 days after vaccination
  • Veterinary health certificate issued within 10 days of arrival, endorsed by the exporting country's veterinary authority
  • Parasite treatment — internal and external
  • Microchip
  • Quarantine of 2 weeks
  • Cats vaccinated against: Must test negative for FeLV and FIV within 30 days of travel

Timeline

  1. 30 days before arrivalRabies vaccine given by now at the latest
  2. 10 days – arrivalVeterinary health certificate issued in this window
  3. ArrivalPresent the permit and certificate; clear the animal before going ashore.

On arrival & aboard

Ports of entry
Robert L. Bradshaw International Airport, Basseterreconfidence: Secondary. From a non-government source; treat as a lead, not gospel.[2]
At the dock
The only port of entry named by the available source is the international airport, which does not describe how a yacht arriving at Basseterre or Charlestown clears an animal in. Confirm the marine procedure with the Chief Veterinary Officer.

Quarantine

Quarantine
Requiredconfidence: Secondary. From a non-government source; treat as a lead, not gospel.[2]
Duration
14 days (Home quarantine, not a government facility.)confidence: Secondary. From a non-government source; treat as a lead, not gospel.[2]
Where it is served

HOME QUARANTINE WITH CONDITIONS A BOAT MAY NOT BE ABLE TO MEET, and this is imposed on EVERY arriving pet, not only a defective one: "All pets entering St Kitts and Nevis will be subject to 14 days of home quarantine. During this time, dogs must be kept in the house or a fenced and secure enclosure. Cats must remain indoors. There will be monitoring by veterinary authorities. Pets must not be removed from quarantine facilities without the permission of veterinary authorities. Violations will result in the deportation of your pet." A yacht is neither a house nor a fenced enclosure, no government facility is named as the alternative, and the sanction for getting it wrong is the animal's deportation. Settle with the veterinary authorities BEFORE arrival where the fourteen days will be served and what counts as secure. All of this rests on one commercial source; nothing official was found that addresses it.confidence: Secondary. From a non-government source; treat as a lead, not gospel.[2]

If your papers are not in order

Dogs must be kept in the house or in a fenced and secure enclosure; cats must remain indoors. The source describes monitoring by veterinary authorities.confidence: Secondary. From a non-government source; treat as a lead, not gospel.[2]

Open questions

High priority

  1. HIGH PRIORITY — almost everything on this page comes from a commercial pet-travel site, not from the Federation. The government's own page confirms only that a permit is required. Treat every figure here as a planning estimate and confirm each one with the Chief Veterinary Officer before you sail.

Also open

  1. The source describes a second rabies titer whose results go directly to the Chief Veterinary Officer, but does not explain when the first is taken, what threshold applies, or how long the wait is after the second. Confirm the whole titer sequence — it is the field most likely to delay a departure.
  2. The only port of entry named is the international airport. Nothing describes how an animal arriving by private yacht at Basseterre or Charlestown is cleared, which is the case this site exists for.
  3. No permit fee, processing time or validity period is stated by any source obtained.
  4. Nothing addresses an animal that stays aboard and never lands, so no transit section is authored here.

About this page’s sources

  • HIGH PRIORITY — the Federation's dog and cat protocol is published as a PDF hosted by USDA APHIS at https://www.aphis.usda.gov/sites/default/files/st-kitts-nevis-dog-cat-protocol.pdf . That host was unreachable at time of authoring. Retrieve it and re-author this file from the protocol itself; almost every field here should then be upgradeable.

Page status

Leeward Islands · Independent federation, Commonwealth realmDataset status Secondaryconfidence: Secondary. From a non-government source; treat as a lead, not gospel.Last checked 2026-08-11 Recently checkedfreshness: Recently checked. Sources were last re-read 62 days ago, well inside the 180-day window. Recent is not reviewed — this page is still an unreviewed draft.

Evidence

Import permit

Permit
Requiredconfidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.[1]

Rabies

Vaccination
Requiredconfidence: Secondary. From a non-government source; treat as a lead, not gospel.[2]
Min. age at vaccination
90 days (An animal may not be vaccinated for rabies before three months of age.)confidence: Secondary. From a non-government source; treat as a lead, not gospel.[2]
Min. before travel
30 days (Vaccinated at least 30 days before entering the Federation, and the animal must enter during the validity period of the vaccine.)confidence: Secondary. From a non-government source; treat as a lead, not gospel.[2]

Rabies titer test

A blood test that measures rabies antibodies, to show the vaccination actually took. The sample has to be drawn a set time after the jab, and some places then make you wait months more before the animal may land — so this is the requirement most worth checking before you plan a route, not after.

Blood titer
Requiredconfidence: Secondary. From a non-government source; treat as a lead, not gospel.[2]
Test after vaccination
30 days (Drawn no sooner than 30 days after the rabies vaccination. A second titer is described, with results submitted directly to the Chief Veterinary Officer.)confidence: Secondary. From a non-government source; treat as a lead, not gospel.[2]
Required level
Not stated by the available source. The numeric threshold is presumably in the Federation's own protocol, which could not be retrieved.confidence: Unknown. Not located in any source yet.

Veterinary health certificate

Certificate
Requiredconfidence: Secondary. From a non-government source; treat as a lead, not gospel.[2]
Completed within
10 days (Issued within 10 days of entry.)confidence: Secondary. From a non-government source; treat as a lead, not gospel.[2]
Gov. endorsement
Requiredconfidence: Secondary. From a non-government source; treat as a lead, not gospel.[2]
What the certificate must say

A government veterinarian must either issue the certificate or endorse it.confidence: Secondary. From a non-government source; treat as a lead, not gospel.[2]

Parasite treatment

Internal

Required within five days of import, including treatment against Echinococcus multilocularis.confidence: Secondary. From a non-government source; treat as a lead, not gospel.[2]

External

Required within five days of import, including fleas and ticks.confidence: Secondary. From a non-government source; treat as a lead, not gospel.[2]

Timing

Within five (5) days of import.confidence: Secondary. From a non-government source; treat as a lead, not gospel.[2]

THE GOVERNMENT SAYS NOTHING ABOUT THIS. The Department of Agriculture's permits page was read in full: it states that an import permit is required for all live animals and that "Each species has its own conditions for importation", and it does not publish those conditions. Every figure above — the five days, the Echinococcus multilocularis treatment, fleas and ticks — comes from a commercial pet-travel site and from nowhere official. Note also that the commercial source counts to IMPORT, not to export or departure, which on a passage of any length is the harder reading. Confirm with the Chief Veterinary Officer before sailing.[12]

Identification

Microchip
Requiredconfidence: Secondary. From a non-government source; treat as a lead, not gospel.[2]
Standard
ISO 11784 or Annex A of ISO 11785, 15-digit; Avid chips also described.confidence: Secondary. From a non-government source; treat as a lead, not gospel.[2]

The chip must be in place before entering the Federation.[2]

Animals & vaccinations

Dogs

Cats

Vaccinesconfidence: Secondary. From a non-government source; treat as a lead, not gospel.[2]

  • Must test negative for FeLV and FIV within 30 days of travel

Sources

  1. 1

    Agriculture Permits — Government of St Kitts and Nevis — Department of Agriculture

    agricultureAccessed 2026-08-11archived copy

  2. 2

    Saint Kitts and Nevis Pet Import Requirements — PetTravel.com

    secondaryAccessed 2026-08-11Published 2026-02-15archived copy

Last checked August 2026 · 1 high-priority open question · Sources & questions

What the dots mean

confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer. official-backed, awaiting human reviewconfidence: Secondary. From a non-government source; treat as a lead, not gospel. non-government sourceconfidence: Unknown. Not located in any source yet. not yet documented· How we grade