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Pawhopper

Pet travel route

Dog or cat from Israel to Türkiye: official requirements

Possible. With nothing done yet, start at least about 4 months ahead. The main steps: microchip, rabies vaccination (inactivated vaccine) and rabies antibody test (0.5 IU or more) and a 3-month wait and 2 more.

Rules checked up to 13 October 2026From 6 official pages

In short

Limited official guidance. The authority for leaving Israel publishes little for this route. Everything it does say is here, with its wording. Israel's Veterinary Services publish the export procedure on a gov.il service page (last updated June 2025), read from a stored copy because gov.il blocks automated readers. It says that the international health certificate must be signed by the Veterinary Services before your pet leaves and that your private vet applies online through the 'Ye'ela' system. The page's details by destination (the US; Canada, the EU and some other countries; all other countries) load only by script, and no stored copy of them exists, so we don't know how long before departure to apply, where the certificate is signed, or the fee. Ask your vet or the Veterinary Services' import-export unit (03-9688986) before you plan the dates.

Limited official guidance. The authority for entering Türkiye publishes little for this route. Everything it does say is here, with its wording. The conditions come from the ministry's border veterinary offices (Istanbul Airport, Trabzon Port) and its certificate form; the regulation they refer to is not quoted here. An older notice named banned dog breeds, but the current pages we read don't, so ask the border office at your entry point. The Istanbul page says the certificate is issued within 2 days before travel while the certificate itself says the clinical examination is within 24 hours: plan for the stricter.

At a glance

The rules on this route are the same for dogs and cats.

How early to start

about 4 months

if your pet has no microchip or rabies vaccination yet

Set by: Rabies antibody test (0.5 IU or more) and a 3-month wait (enter at least 3 months after the blood sample (Istanbul: 90 days from the result date, so allow a few days' margin))

about 3 months

if it is already microchipped and vaccinated

Set by: Rabies antibody test (0.5 IU or more) and a 3-month wait (enter at least 3 months after the blood sample (Istanbul: 90 days from the result date, so allow a few days' margin))

The least time the official waiting periods allow. Vet, lab and paperwork appointments come on top.

On this route

  • Rabies blood test needed
  • No import permit
  • No quarantine

Prefer a feed reader? Israel rule changes · Türkiye rule changes

Israel → Türkiye

What your pet needs

In the order you do them. Each step says whether Israel (leaving) or Türkiye (entering) asks for it.

  1. Get ready

    1. IdentificationEntering Türkiye

      Microchip

      Your pet must be microchipped (ISO 11784 / ISO 11785), and the rabies vaccination must be given after the microchip. Bring a reader if your chip isn't ISO standard.

      Details and the official words

      “The pet must be microchipped.”

      “Rabies vaccination must be administered subsequent to the microchip implantation.”

      “When electronic identification is used, the type of microchip must comply with ISO Standard 11784 or ISO Standard 11785.”

    2. VaccinationEntering Türkiye

      Rabies vaccination (inactivated vaccine)

      Vaccinate your pet against rabies after its microchip was implanted, with an inactivated vaccine produced to the WOAH (OIE) rules. A booster given after the previous vaccination has expired counts as a first vaccination.

      Details and the official words

      “The rabies vaccine used must be an inactivated vaccine produced in accordance with OIE”

      “Rabies vaccination must be administered subsequent to the microchip implantation.”

    3. Blood testEntering Türkiye

      Rabies antibody test (0.5 IU or more) and a 3-month wait

      At least 30 days after the rabies vaccination, a vet takes a blood sample for a rabies antibody titration test at an EU-approved laboratory, with a result above 0.5 IU/ml. After the first test you must wait 90 days (the Trabzon office counts 3 months from the blood sample) before entering Türkiye. The wait applies only to the first test: if the vaccination is renewed within its validity, later trips don't need it.

      Details and the official words

      Older notices gave a different interval between the vaccination and the test (21 days); the current Istanbul page says 30 days.

      “At least 30 days following the rabies vaccination, a rabies antibody titration test must be conducted at an accredited laboratory listed below, and the test result must demonstrate a titre value exceeding 0.5 IU.”

      “In the case of the initial titration test, a waiting period of 90 days from the date of the test result must be observed prior to travel.”

      “Dikkat: kuduz titrasyon testi için kan serumu alınma tarihinden itibaren en erken 3 ay sonra ülkeye giriş yapılabilir.”

  2. In the days before you travel

    1. Vet examEntering Türkiye

      Clinical examination within 24 hours before travel

      The certificate's clinical examination (your pet is free of clinical signs and fit to travel) must be done within 24 hours before movement.

      Details and the official words

      “The clinical examination(Part IX) must be done within 24 hours before movement.”

    2. PaperworkIsrael and Türkiye

      Veterinary health certificate from the exporting country's authority

      The competent authority of the exporting country issues the ministry's Veterinary Health and Origin Certificate within 2 days before travel (it records the microchip, the rabies vaccination and the antibody test, and is signed and stamped by the official vet).

      The official wording is ambiguous. Confirm this point with the authority.

      Details and the official words

      Health certificate signed by Israel's Veterinary Services: Before your pet leaves Israel, its international health certificate must be signed by Israel's Veterinary Services. Your private vet fills in and signs the certificate your destination asks for and submits it online in the Veterinary Services' 'Ye'ela' system; a government veterinarian then signs it. Its dates follow the destination's rules for the certificate.

      The service page's details by destination and the list of offices that sign pet export certificates didn't load from the stored copy. Ask your vet how far ahead to submit the request and where the certificate is signed.

      “Within 2 days prior to travel, a Veterinary Health Certificate , as stipulated in the annex of the relevant regulation below, must be issued by the competent authority of the exporting country.”

      “I have seen an official record of the result of a serological test for the animal”

      “שירות זה מספק מידע לאזרחים ולווטרינרים על הנפקת תעודות בריאות בינלאומיות שיש להחתים לפני שמוציאים חיות מחמד לחו"ל.”

      “הגשת בקשה מקוונת לווטרינרים במערכת "יעלה" - יצוא חיות מחמד”

      “יום החתימה הקובע הוא יום החתימה על ידי הרופא הווטרינר הפרטי”

Good to know

  • A passenger may bring a maximum of 2 animals (for example 2 cats, or 1 cat and 1 dog). The documents must be made out separately for each animal.
  • At entry you need the animal's passport (identification document), the original rabies antibody test result and the veterinary health certificate.
  • If you only pass through Türkiye to another country and your pet does not enter, you only have to meet the destination country's health conditions.
  • Unvaccinated cats, dogs and ferrets under 3 months old may be allowed in only if they meet the health conditions the ministry sets for the rabies status of the country they come from: ask the border office.
  • Until further notice, the Veterinary Services offer no pet-export service at Ashdod port: signed health certificates can't be sent to or collected at Ashdod through the Ye'ela system, and certificates aren't signed by hand there.
  • If your destination needs a rabies blood test, an Israeli vet takes the sample, fills in the Veterinary Institute's online form (with the exact sampling date and the microchip number), pays in the ministry's online shop and delivers the printed form and the sample to the Veterinary Institute's reception. The result is emailed to the vet and to you; the cost depends on the number of tests.
  • Planning to come back to Israel soon? If no more than 30 days have passed since your private vet signed the export health certificate, Israel accepts that certificate, signed by an Israeli government vet, for the return trip instead of a certificate from the country you're coming from (for a dog, also bring its valid dog licence).

Money

What it costs

Government fees exactly as the official pages state them, and what vets and labs in Israel publish for the steps above. The two are never added together.

Government fees on this route

No government fee is published on the official pages we use for this trip. That doesn’t always mean it’s free: ask the authority.

What vets and labs charge Not official figures

No published prices yet for Israel: microchip, rabies vaccination, vet examination, health certificate (vet’s fee).

Prices that businesses publish on their own pages, quoted as we read them; yours can differ. Ranges are the lowest to highest of these examples, never our estimate. How we collect prices

Airline fees aren’t included: check your airline’s pet page.

Round trip

Coming back to Israel

Nothing for the trip back has to happen before your pet leaves Israel (dogs).

The trip back asks for 9 steps: arrive at Ben Gurion Airport or the ports of Haifa, Ashdod or Eilat, at least 4 months old on arrival (3 months from rabies-free countries), ISO microchip (134.2 kHz), before the rabies vaccination and rabies vaccination from 3 months old, at least 30 days before arrival and more.

Nothing for the trip back has to happen before your pet leaves Israel (cats).

The trip back asks for 9 steps: arrive at Ben Gurion Airport or the ports of Haifa, Ashdod or Eilat, at least 4 months old on arrival (3 months from rabies-free countries), ISO microchip (134.2 kHz), before the rabies vaccination and rabies vaccination from 3 months old, at least 30 days before arrival and more.

Every step from Türkiye to Israel

Nearby routes

Other routes

Where this comes from

Official sources

Questions owners ask

Does my dog or cat need a rabies blood test to go from Israel to Türkiye?

Yes: At least 30 days after the rabies vaccination, a vet takes a blood sample for a rabies antibody titration test at an EU-approved laboratory, with a result above 0.5 IU/ml.

Do I need an import permit to bring my dog or cat into Türkiye?

No. The official rules we have verified for this route don't ask for an import permit.

Will my dog or cat be quarantined in Türkiye?

Not on the routes we have verified: the official rules list no quarantine for a pet that meets the requirements.

How early should I start preparing my pet for Israel to Türkiye?

With nothing done yet, start at least about 4 months ahead. The main steps: microchip, rabies vaccination (inactivated vaccine) and rabies antibody test (0.5 IU or more) and a 3-month wait and 2 more.

Every rule here is quoted from the official page and checked word for word; not legal advice. How we verify · Report a mistake

Read next

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Where from, where to, when. You get every step with its deadline and the official page it comes from.

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