[Paul and Linda]

We took our cats Tabitha and Luther to a persian Rescue centre yesterday to be rehomed.

We cried all the way there and all the way back, and all night, and still this morning.

During the night, about 3am, we were awoken from our sleep (airbeds in the living room as we've moved our stuff into storage) by loud miowing.

My heart leapt as I thought that somehow they had come back (highly unlikely as the cattery was in the next county). It was a neighbours cat who had come in, to find Luther and Tabitha, and probably pinch a little food, and found himself locked in.

Everything that has happened has made us realise how much our cats meant to us (we have kept them at the back of the house in the kitchen and garden for months while we redecoated and sold the house) and how much they are a part of our family and lives.

I personally think that they would have been happily rehomed and after a short while with love and attention would not have missed us one bit.

I however would have packed my bags and come home!

It's like leaving one of the kids behind.

so, I have just phoned up the rescue and asked them to board Tabitha and Luther till the weekend, to allow us to make some decisions and plans.

The cats are both 9 years old but fully healthy, and whilst we are a little concerned about them having to be in a cattery for the next few weeks and then the 24hr flight over, i think we can make it up to them on arrival.

We were concerned that perhaps we would be limited as to choice of rentals, but everyone seems to moan and complain that much about cold damp mouldy rentals, no matter what they seem to pay out in rent , then one that's a bit tatty from clawing, peeing and the occasional furball, shouldn't be that different.

Diny, could you (if you get the chance at all) start to look for rentals that would accept 2 cats, to give us an idea of how difficult it would be to rent somewhere in Palmy.

Looking forward to seeing my cats again.

Paul

L

[jubjub]

Our dog was 9 when we bought him over, he was OK, very happy to see us this end, and did not seem any the worse for his adventure. He has settled in great to his new surroundings, sure the cats would do the same.

Also dont know if this helps, but when we were looking for rentals, there were a lot more advertised as accepting cats than there were for dogs.

Good luck with your decision.

[RobDickinson]

Were taking our 3 cats, Golden arrow collect em, are keeping them for a month whilst they do tests and we find a rental.

[blue]

I have four cats and 2 dogs that will be coming with me. One is a cream persian whom is 3yrs old. My siamese is 9yrs and fawn Abbyssinian is also 9yrs the other one is a blue Abbyssinian whom is 3yrs. The hounds are 5yrs and 3yrs.
It would brake my heart to leave them behind and they are all from rescues. I would hate to go and then worry myself sick about them afterwards. 3 of the cats are indoor and dont venture out they could if they wanted to but dont. I feel that the price of getting Golden Arrow to transport them etc is a small price to pay for the love and companionship that they give me.
When the two 9yr olds came to me they took a long time to settle being older. I think your persians will be fine and if you get some felliway spray to send with them to spray in their travel boxes it will help them settle. I heard that the majority of pets sleep through it. The temperature in the hold will be at constant 60 degrees and it will be dark and due to the air pressure it helps in its self to relax them.
I am sure they will be fine and think you are making the right decision.

[Dave & Sandra]

Paul

I'd be happy to board them for you for free if you can't find a rental that will take them. You can have full visitation rights as well.

Sandra

[Paul and Linda]

Wow that's really generous, I'ts really great to have so much wonderful support at such difficult times.

If we get the ball rolling this week, then hopefully in 4 weeks time our cats will be arriving, shortly after us.

Do you haveb any idea what the availability of cat friendly rentals in Feilding is like, as Feilding is also somewhere we would like to live.

Cheers

Paul

[Kim39]

Paul,

Drop this guy an e-mail, john@nzrelocations.com he will help you find a rental that will take your cats. We have 2 dogs and this guy was great, he actually found somewhere within 48hrs of contacting him. Unfortunately we couldn't carry through with it as our buyer pulled out of the sale.

The company who he works for is based in Hamilton, but deal all round the country.

Unfortunately there is a small cost,but it does take the worry out of it, especially since your here and not there and require something immediately you get in country.

Hope this has helped.

Kim

[Mildred]

That's settled then. It's obvious your cats are meant to go with you. That thing called fate!

Better get onto Golden Arrow now to arrange the paperwork.

[chips]

We left our 2 lovely cats behind ,as we really couldn't justify spending all that money on them.( there are 5of of us anyway). They were found 2 wonderful homes ,which suit both of them. The older cat ,with an old lady ,and the young ,silly cat, with a young ,silly family.

Don't be disheartened. THERE ARE CATS IN NZ WHO NEED HOMES.!!!!!!
we arrived in our new home on the Friday, and picked up 2 great kitty's from the SPSA. It help the kids settle, and gave us all a good laugh, which kittens do. Now Mo and Jo are a great part of the family.

It cost $30 each i think , and it included a token to get the cats " seen to " ,as they required.

From the heart break , can later come great happiness.
Chips

[Jules]

We left our 2 cats behind :wah I couldnt put them through such a long flight (it was bad enough for me) but I miss them terribly :wah and Steve wont let me have another one here, I have been trying my hardest for him to agree but he wont back down.

Jules

[sweetpea]

Paul and Linda,

Know exactly how you feel. I have a 10 year old dog (an Australian Shepherd, a long-lived breed) who has two adoring godmothers here who would take him in in a second. But.... my heart would be broken. So he's coming along.

Laura

[Dave & Sandra]

Try filling in the enquiry form on this web site

http://www.propertybrokers.co.nz/31.html

You could specify that you want to bring cats and see what kind of response you get.



Do you haveb any idea what the availability of cat friendly rentals in Feilding is like, as Feilding is also somewhere we would like to live.

Cheers

Paul

[bob_the_engineer]

Paul and Linda, I just wanted to say how sad your story was (or started out). I’m sure if you had re-homed them they would have been happy, but taking them with you makes you happier so I’m glad you decided to go for it :D .

Dave and Sandra, how extraordinarily kind are you two. :nice1

Bob

[sizzlingbadger]

We've just flown our whippet out from the UK. Despite the cost it's the best thing we've done. It's like the final family member arriving and has helped us settle down even more so than we have already. My eldest (4yrs) has known him since they were both 'babies' and is really happy that he's got him back, they have a very close relationship.

While here we bought another whippet to keep him company, we couldn't have had two dogs back in the UK with the small gardens. They have now become best of friends. :o

We used Golden Arrow and can't recommend them enough. They have been fantastic and very thorough. Even the vet that my in laws took the dog to have his tests done is going to start recommending them :D

If you've got willing family I would suggest coming over settling down for a few months and find your feet and leave the cats with them. We left our dog over in the UK until we found and bought a house. NZ are a lot less keen on dogs than they are cats. Also because of the expense we wanted to make sure we were happy first. The last thing we wanted to do was bring our dog over only to have to send him back because we weren't happy, it also adds to the cost.

Good Luck :o

[Miffy]

We deiced to leave our cat Vince back in the UK.
He is living with my in-laws who already had a male cat. He came with us when we stayed there for 3 weeks prior to flying out so that helped the transission.

the stories and picture that we had got back seems he is loving it there. they have a massive garden with lots of trees for him to climb and watch the birds. Although they are alot stricter with him and he no longer has a cat flap so can't come and go as he pleases he still loves it. And they really love him which is good.

I really miss him and considered flying him out, but don't think we will. Am thinking about getting another cat (the house we rent has a cat flap so the owners will proly be okay about it) but we like having the freedom of going away for the weekend and not worring about getting someone to feed the cat, or going out after work and not having to rush back to feed / let the cat out.
Maybe when we buy a place we might get another cat :)

[Moorf]

We left our dear ginger tom Grumps back in the UK with our best friends. He's loving it there and whilst I'd love him to be here with us I felt that I couldn't put him through the process and flight. Plus, when we arrived here we needed rental accommodation and knew we might be moving about abit - not ideal for him to settle quickly. We missed him terribly at first but he's happy where he is and we get regular emails and pics :D

However, a dog, for us, would be another matter - I definitely couldn't leave a dog behind. Just my thoughts. ;)

[selchie]

We left our 2 cats behind :wah I couldnt put them through such a long flight (it was bad enough for me) but I miss them terribly :wah and Steve wont let me have another one here, I have been trying my hardest for him to agree but he wont back down.
That's grounds for divorce for me! :laugh Fortunately we're both cat lovers.

[gil]

We used Golden Arrow and can't recommend them enough. :o
That's really useful info sizzlingbadger, thanks. I can't seem to find a website for them, just a phone number. Please could you pm me their details? I checked with our vet whether Macy would be fit to ship, and she said yes on health AND temperament grounds. I don't think any of us (except Cardiff Irons) could bear to be parted from her, so shipping is definitely in the budget. Actually, Cardiff Irons has recently conceded that he's "not unfond" of her, so I suppose that's the strongest vote he's gonna give!
Thanks,
Gil

[sizzlingbadger]

Unfortunately they don't have a website. We rang them once and then passed the details of my in laws on to them. They then contacted them and sent all paper work to their address. Having someone in the UK that can do this for you will be much easier. I'm not sure if it's the same for cats but with dogs you have to measure them for the cage to be built (not easy when we're already in NZ :-)).

If you can use them do. We did look around but GA name kept coming up time and time again and we felt comfortable going on everyone's recommendations.

[gil]

Thanks sizzlingbadger. Same here, their name does seem to crop up frequently as a good company, so I guess it's time for a phone call.....We have got 2 quotes from other pet shippers, £1150 and £1750, so it will be interesting to get a third.
Glad your whippet arrived safe and sound. Macy is also a dog, so sorry if I've strayed too far from the cat thread....!!
Gil

[blue]

Golden arrow told me that I dont have to measure the cats so thats one less job for me to do! I will be using them for my 4 cats and two hounds. If you ring them they will send you the info out and are very helpfull

[jubjub]

Have to say I am a fan of Golden Arrow too, I actually dropped our dog off direct to them in Shropshire, its a lovely cottage with outbuildings on the edge of a lake, the dogs have a great view of a morning! did not see the cat bit, but assume they get the same care and attention, they will also keep your animal for periods of time, and do all the tests should that be needed, saves you trying to get poo samples from a cat, I believe that can be a bit awkward!

01588 680240 is the phone no.

[gil]

Thanks Blue. I've already measured Macy for the other quotes, and it doesn't seem too tricky once she's still! Her vital statistics as a Staffie are quite peculiar; you know when people say "if Barbie were human, she wouldn't be able to stand up"? If Macy were human, she'd put Arnold Schwarzenegger to shame!
gil

[gil]

Sal, thanks for that. I know (assume!) views don't matter that much to animals, but the kennels that we've used for years also has glorious views across a valley, and somehow that makes it feel nicer for Macy! I will ring Golden Arrow this morning, and thanks for the tel no. It never fails to amaze me how kind and courteous people are on this forum.
Thanks,
Gil

[nessie]

Gil

One thing to note, we rang Golden Arrow for quotes ages ago but when you actually ring them to book you need to give them a clear 6 weeks notice of your pets shipping date and contact details at your location. Because of this we have ended up using airpets - will let you know what they are like when Diesel (the dog) arrives on 30th Sept.

[gil]

Ah, thanks for that Nessie, we're not at that specific a stage yet, so I will wait to hear about Diesel with interest.
Gil

[Dave & Sandra]

We also used Golden Arrow for our cat Moxie - I can really recommend them.

I had real problems trying to get a poo sample from him. He's very good at keeping his legs crossed and I'm sure he could escape from Alcatraz if he had to. I taped over his cat flap, put a bookshelf against it and wedged that in with something and he still got out!!!! So had to start all over again. I actually nailed pieces of wood across the cat flap so he couldn't get out and I'd passed the deadline by 1 day for sending it to the laboratory. Decided to go home from work at lunchtime to see if he had produced and just as I was leaving to go back to work I heard the familiar scratching at the cat litter and pounced on him before he could cover it all up. There was a lot of cat litter sent with that sample. That was the hardest part. He hadn't used a litter tray since he was a kitten and obviously hates using them.

[gil]

Blimey, the info and quote request stuff arrived from Golden Arrow this morning! Very comprehensive information, although the poo test sounds a bit daunting. It must be easier with dogs Sandra!! :laugh
Gil

[Paul and Linda]

Thanks everyone, we will be going to see tabitha and Luther tomorrow. I think we'll be keeping them in the cattery (risk of them running away if they stay with relatives), and visiting them, until Golden Arrow come and pick them up.

I miss them very much and hope they don't hold this "cattery lodging" time against us. I am very much looking forward to seeing them in NZ

We may have to delay their arrival or lodge them when they arrive (probably the latter), because my new company have offered to lodge us all in a hotel for 3 weeks on arrival.

I have started a new thread, about what's happened in the last day.

I am only using my work PC at the moment so postings may dry up a little.

Cheers

Paul