[lindajax]

Yes a very sad day today,

The friends who were to take on two of our fab cats were not up for it and cried off at the last minute - I don't balme them its a big responsibility and if they're not 100% commited to them then its only right that they should not take them on.

But , I cried my eyes out today when we had to take them to the cats home - no where else and no-one else could take them and when we rang the cats home they wanted them today because they had people queuing up for cats.

I know this should make me feel better that they'll be rehomed quickly but I feel so so sad about it.

I agonised over taking them and decided that one in particular would not make the journey so in the end though it was best to rehome them.
saying is definately not doing and it nearly killed me today to part with them.
In the end i had to run out and let Ali deal with it which, I know was a bit off but I just couldn't do it.

Ali is as gutted as me and to top it off today was a day for deciding what exactly goes and stays and we tipped and charity shopped a lot of things..

I'm rambling on but I just had to share!

I know deep down I've done the right thing but WE DO UNDERESTIMATE WHAT OUR PETS MEAN TO US!!!!!

Haven't told Lucy - we have agreed to tell her that a nice lady has asked for them and came while she was out - cowardly I know but she's 4 and I'd like to protect her from reality for a little while longer!

Gonna go now and watch Billy Connoly on telly!

Love
Linda
xxx

[Diny]

Linda

I know what you're going through. When we were first married and lived in Oz PB bought me a kitten which we called Derrick.

He was my saviour (and I'm the one who doesn't like pets) - great comfort to me when I was homesick and when PB was away.

When we left we thought about getting him shipped to the UK, but we were having 6 months in NZ on the way so it was going to cause problems. He was a cat who was use to living in the tropics .... we didn't think the hostile conditions of Aberdeen would suit him.

A little boy from the same complex as us came one day and asked if he could have Derrick - it was the perfect solution.

I remember the day we left and I had to say goodbye to him. I'm a hard hearted cow who often proclaims that animals should be kept in a field for profit .......it broke my heart.

So I know how you feel. Comfort yourself with the knowledge that if a person is prepared to go to a cats home and take on a fully grown (maybe fairly old) cat instead of the usual cute, fluffy kitten, then they really do WANT to have it.

Take care and chin up ...... nobody said this was gonna be easy.

Diny

[tigerlily]

I'm so sorry about your kitties. That is very hard. Please do take comfort in knowing that they will be loved. Cats are so smart. I've had a couple who got run over by cars just a day or two before a move, they seemed to know that a change was afoot and did not want to make it. Your cats will have a lovely life without the trauma of the long flights and will still be happy! But it is very sad to part with them, I know.

[Milliemoo]

OMG Linda, I'm in tears!

That has got to be one on the hardest things to do. It's good that your neighbour had the courage to tell you they'd changed their minds, rather than taking them on and then having to rehome them.

I understand why the cat home wanted them ASAP. It's the same around here aswell. So many families want to give cats/kittens a good home, and you know they'll be treasured.

I hope you feel better soon. At least you have plenty of things to be doing to keep your mind off it.

Milliemoo ;)

[Loulou]

Hi Linda

It is very sad having to rehome your moggie, we did it when we our son was about 6 months old, he kept going for the cat and in the end she just stopped coming into the house, we found her a new home and I think she was happy to go with the nice man (wouldnt you if youd been dragged from the bed bed by the tail about ten times).

We adopted our current cat about 2 years ago from the RSPCA, she is really beautiful, she wasnt a kitten, I couldnt face the destruction, Im sure your kitties will go to a loving home, we had to be checked then rechecked to make sure we were happy and the cat was happy. They will be fine.

Loulou

[Moorf]

Leaving our cat, Grumps, behind was heart-wrenching. He was more like a dog than a cat and he followed us everywhere. Some v. good friends of ours cat died just a couple of months before we were due to fly out and they took him on - which was really nice as we gave Grumps to them a few months before we left the UK and we visited him at this new home each week. He settled in very well indeed and they love him to death and send us pics of him :P

I would reallly have liked to have him here with us but knowing he's a loving home is just as nice a feeling :nice1

[Diny]

Moorf

Love the name Grumps - conjours up all kinds of images.

We've had 3 cats in all:

Derrick
Rangi
Clawed

Much better names than Mr Tibbles (apologies to anybody who has a cat called Mr Tibbles).

Diny

[sarahw]

Ahhh Linda - you poor thing. I'm sure a lot of people are having to do the same. Its so sad!

I can relate to what you're going through - I had a puppy and had to give him away as he gave me really bad asthma. I know its not easy but the comfort is that someone else will get such pleasure and companionship from them.

Take care

[jo b]

Aw,

Linda how sad. Ian said he doesn't want to take George our cat. The kids will be devastated.

But My mum has said she would have him.

As for names Diny

My cats name when I was a kid was Tiddles :eek

George is from the Cats protection League they called him Armani so we just call him George.


Linda they will be well looked after from someone who has to go through the vetting procedure.

Jo

[Diny]

Jo

Well..yeah....but....what I meant ....... err..... :oops:

Come on woman !!!!!! Tiddles !!!!!!!!!!!!! I'll trust it was somebody else who named him.

I think George is a cool name for a cat. If we ever have another we'll call him Dave.

Diny

[Mildred]

Linda,

Cats home are usually fussy who they rehome to. I should know, I've had two cats from rescue centres. The last one was 5 years old and so overweight no one wanted him. He had 5 glorious years with us until July when he had a heart attack - yes it was his weight that meant he didn't survive an operation.

If you were nearer and I knew what my future plans were, I would have had your cats.

Are you able to find out from the rescue centre who they go to and maybe send your cats a postcard and xmas card? Perhaps the new owner would do the same and keep you updated.

Keep looking forward

Frances

PS my son thinks it brilliant that there is a cat on this forum named after him - that's George not Mr Tibbles :laugh :laugh

[Loulou]

From another perspective....

My Kiwi friend has just gone home after 6 months, leaving her cat with her mother, got home yesterday and the cat looked at her as if to say who are you!

Just goes to prove, cats have very short memoires.

Loulou

[Juniper]

oh i don't know about that...my cat gives me the "who are you?!" look every time i come up the stairs...until i open the door and he gets a good whiff of me i guess :P

i also had a cat who ran away when i was little, then a year later he just showed up at the food bowl, and picked up where he left off!

[lindajax]

I also know one of them stories
Its about an old lady who's house burned down. She was taken to a rest homeand her cat was never found, presumed cremated . However, three yearslater it was found on the door step of said house ( now derelict) looking for its owner. It was eventually reunited with its mummy and both lived happily ever after!!

Love Linda

Ps feeling abit better about roger and molly now

[Diny]

Roger ????????????

Now that's a real cats name :nice1 :nice1 :nice1

Diny

[Juniper]

hahahahaha

that roger post really made me laugh...my husband has said for -years- that roger is an excellent cat name...seems random to me...

he thought about naming our dog roger, even though she is a girl, before deciding that it's a name for kitties only...i don't get it...

[lindajax]

Roger was named bas such because before he got to us he was a stray that frequented my friends house.

To cut a long story short she tried to rehome him with various friends and it never went down well with thier cats or dogs etc and hence roger - the - lodger!

He really loved being called woggi big lad though!

As for molly we called her floppy pop because she was always flopped down somewhere relaxing!

[Diny]

Woggi big lad?

Not exactly PC old gal.

Diny

[Mildred]

woggi big lad

hate to think what you call Ali :roll:

[kiwidebs]

:laugh :laugh :laugh

When I left NZ I left my cat (Topaz) with my Mum and Dad, and very quickly she became Dad's cat - on visits home she just looked at me like 'who the heck are you?' and that was that. Ungrateful wee beings are cats!!
Our two here (Frodo and Gandalf - named before the movies came out!!) will be coming with us, at some immense cost!! If I knew someone nearby who'd want them I'd give them away rather than put them thru the flight and all, but hubby won't let me give them away to a cats home!!
Oh well, home wouldn't be home without my smelly boys (the cats not hubby and son......well......hmmmm).

Debs

[Soon2baKiwi]

Oh God - we have to try to find a home for our two as well. Problem is they are mother and daughter and we want to keep them together but bringing them with us is not an option as we did this before with our first cat just from the UK to Ireland and the poor thing didn't settle for months. It would be a bit easier I think if you had a house already arranged before you get there but you don't know where you'll be and if they'll be welcome etc.etc. The mother also thinks she's a dog - even down to playing 'fetch' with bottle tops and sitting by hubby's feet looking up at him whilst he's eating :roll: We keep putting off the evil day but this thread has made me realise that i'll have to do something soon. :(

[Juniper]

you've just made me realize something - what if we get down to nz, and can't find a place that allows pets by the time they get out of quarantine?

i suppose we could leave them in the states until we got that figured out, but that's just as much hassle if not more...

any perspectives on how common it is for rental houses to not allow pets? We will have 2 cats and one dog (sadly our chinchilla will have to be given away :wah nz only allows them to be "imported" from uk!!!). We would be looking around wellington.

[Mildred]

Surely they can't let chinchillas into NZ and not my bunnies - definite case of rabitsm if you ask me :(

[Juniper]

it seems to be a matter of whether they have protocols established or not... i talked to someone in NZ who's been trying to set up a chinchilla protocol with the US, but apparently it's a matter of red tape - and about 7 years!!! she has to wait for another 5 years (she's been waiting for 1) before they (NZ govt.) even look at her application.

apparently it has to do with the fact that they have to write up some big report for her, but if she came up with $10k, :eek they would happily write it much sooner so the wait is 1-2 years instead of 7. Not worth it unfortunately.

it might be worth talking with bunny people in NZ about whether they know about any bunny apps in the works, but chances are, you're out of luck just like me :(

[captainxmas]

Sitting here with chills, sorry for you Linda and Ali.

I think the bond between pets and owners is a wonderful thing and it is so wrenching to tear it.

We have 2 cats, Cyber and Tiger, both amazing personalities and definately both coming with us. We openly admit that whilst we are working on a family of our own it's us and 'the girls' at the moment and when they are more reliable and genuine that a lot of humans it's no wonder it hurts so bad when they can't be there.

We had another cat Angel, who got run over when she was 8 months old, we cried for days and would have happily given up limbs to have her back.

The best way to look at it I guess is to look forward to the NZ cats that are waiting to take you in... :hopeso

[helen]

Have some sympathy pleeeeas!
We have seven dogs, three cats and a snake, case of one go, all go.
Think it may be cheaper and easier to see if Noah wants the contract:laugh
H

[Pam Learnihan]

Hi Linda,

It's very hard is'nt it. I miss our cats. Tigger is very happy in his new home, my girls are still waiting. :( They are with a foster carer as I want them both to be re-homed together.

Anyway our flights are booked for 12th Jan. :P

We are trying to do as much of the paper work on our I. T. A plus medicals before we go.

Love Pam

[westie]

We have (had) 3 cats. Puss Cuss, Stalin and Paddington. I know all very silly names but Puss Cuss came from rescue centre with name intact, Stalin was named by the children after an excess of the history channel and Paddington came to us sitting on a Paddington bear pillowcase.

We have rehomed Paddington 2 weeks ago and he is happy on a friends farm with lots of mice to catch and new sights to see. We are saying goodbye to Stalin at the end of this week and Puss Cuss the week after. It already seems strange not to see Paddington trott in the house after the other 2. Very sad for the kids but thankfully christmas is taking their minds off it a lot. The house we have organised to rent will let us have a cat but only one and we thought all 3 or none we couldnt make a choice. :(
Maria