Moving to Hawaii!

Rosie was just about a month old here!

Big news guys!! I’m moving to Oahu!! I want to try living there for around 6 months and see how it goes. My grandfather actually grew up on the big island! I’ve been considering trying living in Hawaii for a few years now and I’m happy to say it’s finally going to happen this year. I found a roommate since I didn’t want to live alone, and her name is Lena! She currently lives in SF.  She is really sweet and I think we are going to have a great time living together.

I thought it would be fun to share the moving process, starting with my puppy (Rosie) and Lena’s puppy, Berkeley. In case you have ever considered moving to any of the Hawaiian islands, and you have a furry critter you’d like to bring along, the protocol is not exactly easy to follow, whether or not you want to avoid animal quarantine. You can look at their website for the checklist to follow that applies to you here. I once thought of bringing Rosie to Oahu for a family trip and the vet exclaimed that it simply was not worth the effort and $$! I was so surprised to realize this, and while I do understand it, it’s still crazy to me haha…  Hawaii just doesn’t want rabies on their island I guess but a lot of the steps to follow are outdated and could be streamlined.

Doggie heaven!! Hugging Berkeley and Rosie at the same time, and you can tell that neither of them are enjoying it.

Doggie bows here

If you choose to let your pet be quarantined (which one might think it to be the easier way), it will definitely cost you an arm and a leg! I wouldn’t suggest quarantining because it’s not that kind to your pet anyways. It all starts with the pet needing at least 2 rabies shots in its lifetime (and you must have rabies vaccinations certificates for each, both signed in ink by the vet). This was harder for Berkeley because he was only 9 months at the time of his second shot (which was just done about a month ago), though usually your pet waits at least a year to get the second shot after the first shot which isn’t usually done until the pet is a few weeks or months old.

After the second rabies shot however, your pet needs to wait at least 30 days before receiving the rabies titer test. If you get the titer test the same day or too close to the rabies vacc, it can lead to incorrect results.  So when you take your pet in for this titer test (which costs around $300) you must make sure the vet knows it is for a move to Hawaii so that they send it in to the correct lab to be tested. Rosie’s results went to the Kansas State lab, but there are at least 3 listed on the Department of Agriculture’s website that are OK-ed.

Top | Leggings

But don’t forget that even before the rabies titer test, you must make sure your pet is microchipped and you must know the microchip number! I am guessing most puppies are microchipped in the first few weeks of their lives. If you don’t know the microchip number, you can ask your vet to scan the chip and give you the number. You need to be able to provide this on the form for the airport arrival.

Once the titer test blood samples are sent to the lab, you have to wait another 30 days for results!! If the results are negative for rabies, (I mean I’m guessing you can tell if your pet has rabies lol) then you need to make sure you know your fly date. To know that you just basically need to figure out where you are going to live and how much time you need to take care of everything at your current home, such as sell or move your furniture, end your lease, etc. I still have to start packing up everything and figuring out the storage situation.

Rosie is so sweet you wouldn’t believe it.

When you know your fly date, you can start the next steps of the pet fly process. This includes an original health certificate by your vet, a money order/cashiers check, as well as a professional tick treatment, all within 14 days of your flight. The documents should be mailed to the Animal Quarantine Station and arrive at least 10 days before your flight.  So you have to make sure that the day you get the tick treatment, you have the money order/cashiers check, your vet fills out a health certificate and it all gets mailed via express to Hawaii.

Last but not least, you must make sure your flight arrives between 8 am and 4:30 pm!  And there you go. I hope you guys enjoy this post!

5 Comments

  1. July 23, 2021 / 8:04 am

    Congrats! I wish you all the best and waiting for many posts from Hawaii! ๐Ÿ™‚

  2. Paul
    July 24, 2021 / 4:25 am

    Wow, big move! ๐Ÿ™‚ Best wishes on your adventure.
    The process to get Berkeley and Rosie ready to move along with you two to Oahu is so much more involved than I would have guessed. I appreciate your great guide through the process.

  3. Douglas
    July 25, 2021 / 8:11 am

    I wrote that not too long ago that’s where you belong, you’re so blessed. I’ll just have to rough it out here in Daytona.

  4. August 21, 2021 / 2:58 am

    Ooooh! Iโ€™m envious! In a healthy way though ๐Ÿ˜‰ Youโ€™re moving to Hawaii I canโ€™t believe it!
    P.S. Your style is always cute, casual but nice ๐Ÿ™‚

    Xoxox

    seryfashion.wordpress.com

    • Hapa Time
      Author
      February 6, 2022 / 1:27 pm

      aw thank you Serena!

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