I've taken the difficult decision to sell my horse once my husband's TRA application has been accepted (fingers crossed). He's not getting any younger (the horse) and I don't think he would handle the stress of travelling such a long distance. Jack (the horse) is worth about £1,500 as he's getting a bit long in the tooth now and it would cost in the region of £6,000 to ship him! He's been part of the family for 8 years and its gonna break my heart. I hope to find him a good home and I'm allowing plenty of time so we don't have to deal with selling him at the same time as we're selling the house and anything else worth selling. Anyone else having to leave their pets behind?

Hi there,
We've no choice but to leave our african grey Im dreading having to rehome her
I real feel for you
Hilaryx

A very sad time for you. My wife had to very unfortunately let her two horses go a couple of years ago for other reasons but we knew there was no point in getting more because of our plans. Whilst I dont have much time for those who leave their dogs etc and rehome them due to cost, a horse is a slightly different affair and the costs to ship, never mind the regulations and the sheer logistics after import are absolutely unreal. All in all probably a wise decision, albeit an upsetting one no doubt.

I'm sure that you will find him a good home that will love him as much as your family clearly has.

Yes, I shall be leaving my tiny little whippet.

When people say 'There is no excuse they are part of the family' well its crap because EVERY animal and owners situation is different.

My dog is too ill to travel and bites. So my dog walker will have her - if she is still alive which I doubt as she is in early renal failure.

My husband is away tonight and Rema took full advantage of the situation and got on the sofa for a 'girls' night.

She has degenerative arthritis in her spine and legs, which is fairly Ok at the mo, but she finds going upstairs hard.

She fell up them yesterday and I caught her, held her in my arms whilst she regained her dignity.

Then she found herself again and ran up.

Standing in the living room, tail swishing, she looked at me as if to say 'thanks'.

'Thats OK Rema, that's what friends are for' I replied, because quite simply, she understood.

What I am getting at is that to love an animal, is to do what is best for them and that may or may not be taking them halfway across the world.

You are making a tough choice, but I would say the right one for you and your horse.

Please don't feel guilty and dont allow others to judge you.

Love Sam

God....im the one who feels guilty now!!!
We are leaving my daughters cat because its £1500 to take her and my ex wouldnt pay half....and i really couldnt justify spending that much of my savings on a cat.
He said to just buy another one, and although i dont feel quite that harshly it did seem a high price to pay to drag a neurotic cat halfway aroung the world to somewhere she may have hated/run away from or died shortly after!

Now that the day to give her up is nearing and my daughter is feeling it, it has begun to get upsetting, but i try to console both of us with the fact that she is going to a nice home with a garden by the woods....where hopefully she will live a contented life....at least she may have some territory. At our place she was the last cat in and every cat in the neighbourhood picks on her to the point where she is scared to go out half the time....Yes thats it - im convinced. We are doing the right thing!!!

Glad I'm not the only soft and soppy animal lover on this site. I think we need to make the most of the time that we have left to spend with our animals. This winter I will not moan about mud, freezing rain and numb fingers. I will pick up pooh with enthusiasm and I won't swear when my toes get stood on. I'm trying to fill my photo album to the brim with horsey pics although my husband is getting a bit fed up with doing hundreds of shots of "me and Jack". Hope you can collect many memories to take too.

You are doing the right thing! An animals well being has to come before our own emotions (she says with a lump in her throat).

We don't have our pets for long and as I discoverd when my cat died, they live on in your sofas, carpets and anything else they have chewed.

My cat will certainly live on in my flat until i get it thoroughly steam cleaned as(whilst not feeling brave enough to go out) she took to secretly weeing all over the bloody place....so you knew it was around but sometimes couldnt quite locate it ..........but im gonna miss her

My Gordon is in the bedroom as we speak, sitting high on the wardrobe because he knows i cant get him down.

Then, at 2am he will jump down with a crash as all 7kgs of him land on the dresser.

He will sit on my chest and gently paw my face to wake me up, which will be followed by a series of head butts, nudges and using his front paw to dig me.

Then if that fails, he purrs so hard and loud and dribbles down my face.

But I love him.

Lol. My cat crys to go out very late at night(because then most other cats are in bed and she would rather take her chances with the foxes!)
Then at about 4.30am she howls like a baby at the front door(right next to my bedroom) to come back in. It is impossible to ignore, so i get up, let her in, go back to bed and within 5 minutes she is walking on my face to be fed

Why do us cat owners put ourselves through this torment

I dont know, but my little cat is now running round the flat and you can hear him thumping over the carpet.

He has a habit of pulling towels down with his mouth and taking them to his 'house' he sleeps in.

At the moment, he is running around with a two foot hornbill feather in his mouth. He likes feathers by the way.

Gordon has his own 'Ginger Diaries' in my blog. Well, I write them for him but my imagination is vivid enough for me to believe he talks in his own way.

My cat will be 16 by the time we come to leave and I am sure that he probably has not got much longer to live so no we will not be taking him with us, it seems really awful cause we have had him since he was a kitten and now we are going off to start a new life and we can't take him with us purely because of his age I just dont think that he would make the flight.

My hubbys Grandma had said all along that she would have him when we left but we got a phone call this week from her saying that she wont be able to have him anymore, so now we are left wondering what we should do with him, no one else in the family wants him, I did say maybe we should have him put to sleep (I know that sounds really harsh) but I know that if I take him to a rehoming centre then I would worry and wittle about him being ok and happy, i know probably makes me sound selfish but I just want whats best for him.

I do keep asking round to see if anyone knows of anyone who would like him, but hes nearly 16, grumpy,bit smelly,dosen't really look after himself anymore,
so really has not got much going for him, but we still love him.

Anyway I still have 6 months before we go so still have time to find someone who could love him.

Claire

Oh you poor love.

I think putting him in a home would cause untold stress on him.

I would take him to the vet and have a blood test to establish his kidney status.

Because if he is in renal failure, then the choice could well be out of your hands.

I don't have the phone number, but do a google search for 'Cinnamon Trust' which homes animals when their owners cant look after them due to illness etc.

I know your situation is different, but they might well be able to help.

Just you hold your frail little boy closely and make the time you have with him count.

Love Sam