Your dog or cat to Finland: the tapeworm clock, and the dog register within four weeks

Yes, your dog or cat can come to Finland on the ordinary EU pet passport, with microchip and rabies jab. For dogs, one Finnish requirement is added: a treatment against the tapeworm Echinococcus, by a vet outside Finland, one to five days before you cross the border, recorded in the passport. The finding at the Finnish Food Authority Ruokavirasto: that treatment may not be given at the border just before crossing, and whoever drives via Sweden needs it too. The pitfall comes after arrival: the dog must be in the Finnish dog register within four weeks, and online registration works with Finnish login tools that you often do not have yet.

What does every pet need?

For dogs, cats and ferrets that travel with their owner and are not for sale, the EU system applies. Ruokavirasto lists it:

• a microchip complying with the ISO standards 11784 and 11785, inserted before the rabies vaccination (a tattoo only counts if it dates from before 3 July 2011);
• a valid rabies vaccination, given at an age of at least twelve weeks and at least 21 days before travel; with a timely booster that waiting period does not apply again;
• the EU pet passport from your vet, with the animal's details, the vaccination and, for dogs, the tapeworm treatment.

If you travel with more than five animals, or the animal travels without you, additional rules apply. The animal may travel up to five days before or after you without counting as trade, provided you can show this with, for instance, a consignment note or ticket.

How does the tapeworm clock work?

Only dogs need it; cats and ferrets do not. Puppies under three months are treated too. The medicine is praziquantel, or something at least as effective.

Route	What Ruokavirasto requires
Standard	one treatment 1 to 5 days before entry, by a vet outside Finland
28-day rule (from the EU or Norway)	at least two treatments 24 hours to 28 days apart, then repeated at most 28 days apart; the last one after arrival in Finland
Directly from Norway, Ireland or Malta	no treatment needed

The 28-day rule is meant for people who travel back and forth often. For a one-off move, the standard route is the simplest.

Count the clock from the border, not from your departure. The treatment must be given one to five days before entry into Finland. Whoever travels by car and ferry is on the road for several days. So do not let the vet in the Netherlands treat a week in advance, and remember that a Swedish vet halfway is also possible: dogs coming from Sweden must be treated too.

Does my dog have to be in a Finnish register?

Yes. Since the Ministry of Agriculture decided in 2021 that all dogs living in Finland must be microchipped and registered, there has been an official dog register at Ruokavirasto. A dog that comes to Finland permanently must be registered within four weeks of arrival, or earlier if it goes to a new owner within those four weeks. A dog that stays in Finland temporarily for more than three months also falls under it. The dog must be microchipped on arrival and have the right papers, such as the EU pet passport.

How you register	Cost per dog
Online, in the register's e-service	€ 10
With the form, by post or secure email	€ 20

This is the Finnish squeeze. Online registration runs through Suomi.fi identification, and for that you need Finnish login tools, such as bank codes; how to get them is in banking and paying in Finland. Whoever does not have them within four weeks uses Ruokavirasto's form and pays double; the invoice comes afterwards. On the form you fill in your name and personal identity code, so in any case wait until your henkilötunnus is there, and put the four weeks in your diary on the day you arrive.

If you have a cat: the registration obligation from 2021 applies to dogs. Your cat does need a microchip and a passport for the journey.

May my pet's medicines come along?

Yes, but only just. The Finnish medicines agency Fimea allows a private person to bring veterinary medicines for at most one month of use, only legally purchased and intended to treat the pet, and only if they travel together with the animal. Having them sent on by post is not allowed. If your dog or cat is on regular medication, ask the Dutch vet for an overview and find a Finnish vet in your first month for the follow-up prescription.

If something changes later, the dog register charges nothing: changing your basic details, reporting the dog missing or reporting that it leaves Finland for good is free. Only a new keeper pays € 10 or € 20 again.

Where the pet fits into the rest of the move is in the step-by-step plan, in the moving phase.

In Vertrekklaar this is phase 3 of 5 of the journey, step 3.3: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Finland or go straight to step 3.3 in the open plan.