dave7370

My wife and I are in a total dilemma over what to do about our cat. Part of us wants to take him, but the other part doesn't want to put him through the flight, quarantine, and then the never ending heat in Brisbane.

You may say that it's just a cat, but we've had him since he was a kitten (4 years old now) and he's just a total one off. He chases apples and brings them back to you, brings an endless supply of plastic bags from I don't where back to the house, and is the most friendly placid cat ever. You can be as rough as you like with him and he doesn't bat an eyelid, plus he's a tart and will go to absolutely anybody.

And what if (heaven forbid), after only a short time we find we don't like living in Oz and want to return to the UK? Having to put him back on a plane, then a possible 6 months quarantine is not what we'd want to do to him.

Then there's money side of shipping him etc, which we don't mind paying but it is a lot of money especially if we returned.

What to do? Advice from anyone who's been in a similar position would be gratefully appreciated.

Dave, Chez and Jacob (and Ollie the cat)

struth

we are taking our cat, in fact she will fly out in about 3 weeks, she is about 12 and i can understand all your fears, we have the added one of will she make the journey
the money is an issue but she was too much a family member to leave behind,
your cat sounds like a cutie who i'm sure would love life in oz.

allthejs

Reading between the lines it sounds like you have already made your choice

You just can't leave him behind and you just need somebody to tell you that

At four years old he will be fine

Jacky xx

sprug

I understand exactly how you feel. We leave for Brisbane in November and we dont know what to do about our nine year old cat called magic. Part of me thinks its cruel to take him with us as the flight is long and the quarentine issue, but another part of me cant bear to leave him. He too is cute, and a expert spider catcher that comes in handy. Im sure that he knows as he keeps getting in the suitcases. We are still waiting for a quote on taking him as we have no idea how much it will cost.

tazkenny

Brings back plastic bags ! Classic. Never heard anything like that before, LOL. What a crazy cat.

I, unfortunatley, will be leaving by wee cat behind with a new home. I can't suddenly subject him to city life, and he likes lying on roads so don't imagine he would last too long in Sydney.

eddie007

we are lucky enough to have my parents and our two boys have taken to country life like ducks to water... so they are staying here in the uk... We are going to miss them more than anything else, they are part of our family, but then my parents, sister, cousins etc etc etc are part of the family and we are managing to leave them behind (for the time being)... I would have loved to take them but the bank manager says NO.

dave7370

We've had a quote for taking him from Golden Arrow and it's about £1400 with all the quarantine costs etc.

The plastic bag thing is just one of the many weird and idiosyncratic things he does, he's not a cat, he's a mixture of all kinds of animals with a bit of humaness thrown in. For what's supposed to be a pedigree cat he's not exactly what you'd expect, he's the wrong colour, the wrong size, and he's cross eyed to boot. But the loving we get from him and querky things he gets up to make it all the harder to consider leaving him.

Think we'll have to get him booked in to the quarantine soon as they need at least 3 months notice at the moment.

Pipers Mummy

We brought our 2 cats (one 12 and one 9) and 2 year old Cocker Spaniel over to Melbourne (then we moved them up the road to Brissie). Same as you, we consider them to be very special family members and as such there was never any thought of not bringing them..... Be reassured that it is not 'never ending heat' in Brisbane, we have season's too - nice wet and chilly this week! If you were to move back to the UK (although I find it a little odd that you're already thinking about this probability) then your cat could enter on a pet passport. Takes 6 months (or thereabouts) to prepare in OZ - surely you could last that long?!

Incidentally, our cats came from Dubai originally so they travelled to the UK and did their 6 month stint in Quarantine and are quite normal despite being so well travelled....

m100

We emigrated to Sydney last October, we were all set to take our cat with us but one of my close friends offered to have him. After a lot of family discussions we decided to leave him with our friends. We have now returned to the UK (after only 6 months in Sydney) and we have been reunited with our very well looked after cat who was sooo happy to see us. Do you have anyone that can maybe look after your cat for 6 months until you decide if Aus is for you. Thankfully we did and it saved us alot of money!!

Stella340

We're bringing our cat over - she's flies on Wednesday!

Do you need to book him into quarantine? We're using airpets for roughly the same price as you're paying and they organise quarantine for you. Also we were told that Sydney is not up to capacity (Perth is booked till November! ) so there should be no problems getting a space there.

I do completely feel for what you're going through. We class our cat as part of our family and it does feel like something is missing over here at the moment. We too are worried about the flight but firmly believe she'll be much happier here with us.

I'll let you know how her flight goes at the end of the week if you're interested?

dave7370

Yes please, if you could let us know how it goes we'd be very grateful. We were talking last night again and I don't think there's anyway we could leave him... speaking of him, I can see him up the garden with yet another Sainsbury's plastic bag!

The S's

Hi Dave

Acocks green hey. Thats a place I haven't heard for a long time. I spent long periods at my Aunts house in Dryden Grove, along with hour after hour sat in the car outside the Fox Hollies pub, you'd get your kids taken off you for that now. Happy days...

Sean

Bunna_Wabbit

Our Cats and Dog entered Oz via the AQIS facility at Spotswood in Melbourne. The facilities and staff could not have been better for the whole 30 days they were there. It far exceeded our expectations

sloane46

Hi we also have the dilemma of whether to take our cat or not(14 months old). One of our main concerns is how we would adapt him to his new territory would he just take off? I read on a post on BE that some people kept their cats in runs but I don't think our Gizmo would be happy with that he likes to prowl. Also what about the spiders and snakes do cats often get bitten?
Also it is an awful lot of money, we are going with 4 children and the extra money in the end could be the difference on whether we make a success of Aus or not. I am so torn over this as the kids love him to bits.

Bunna_Wabbit

Despite being required to conform to the relevant local authority rules, there are many, many, cats living normal lives as pets in all parts of Australia.
The cost of shipping one cat is nothing compared to the full cost of the whole 'big move'. So, if that money is an issue perhaps you can't afford to emmigrate in the first place ??