Potential Rehoming/Moving Advice
Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2021 10:31 am
Hi all,
My name's Amy and my partner and I have two cats, Avicii & Furbo. They've both been neutered/spayed and are both a year old. They're not siblings/related and are about a month apart in age. We've had them both for the same amount of time and picked them up on the same day. Avicii is a ginger and white domestic longhaired tomcat (he's almost 1st in weight) and Furbo is a black and white domestic shorthaired queen cat (she's about half a stone). They both have access to food full time and neither seems under or over-weight. They're quite independent but enjoy one another's company and enjoy a good cuddle. They're mainly indoor cats as we live in an area where there is a busy main road near us but there is farmland behind us. Avicii would have an interest in the outdoors and would roam a little further than Furbo. They both like being outside but have no interest in it when it's not dry/calm. Furbo is more social when we've had people over, she will keep her distance but won't hide and come over to inspect the newbie before relaxing. Whereas Avicii is more anxious around new people, though he can warm up to them once he's gotten to know them! He doesn't like loud noises and runs every time the doorbell rings. They've only come into contact with a child/toddler once. Furbo was fine with him (18months-2yrs old) though she was more cautious around him than his parents and Avicii was terrified of him and would refuse to come downstairs. We live next door to four children and them playing out in their back garden doesn't bother him.
Basically, we want to move to Australia for a year or two once Covid allows and we were not expecting it to be as expensive as it is to move and quarantine the cats from Ireland to Australia. Just wondering if anyone has any advice on rehoming (really don't want to do it but it may be the less traumatic experience for them and least expensive for us) or if anyone has any advice/tips on moving with cats and/or pet mover recommendations. We had been thinking we could maybe have one of our parents look after them while we're away but if we like it there and want to stay 2 or 3 years it's a lot to ask of them to mind them for that long. No decisions have been made yet, I've contacted various Irish pet movers for estimates and I've looked at going through NZ (as when I was last quoted on quarantine facilities it was half the price in NZ than in AUS) but we'd have to go through the pre-travel vet visits again and stay in NZ for 90+ days before we could go to Australia and so far I haven't been able to get a quote on moving/transport costs from Ireland to NZ but have gotten quotes for transporting the two cats from NZ to Australia and it's more or less the same price as moving them from Ireland to Aus...
Any advice welcome! Open to new suggestions if there's something I haven't thought of. I really don't want to lose them.
My name's Amy and my partner and I have two cats, Avicii & Furbo. They've both been neutered/spayed and are both a year old. They're not siblings/related and are about a month apart in age. We've had them both for the same amount of time and picked them up on the same day. Avicii is a ginger and white domestic longhaired tomcat (he's almost 1st in weight) and Furbo is a black and white domestic shorthaired queen cat (she's about half a stone). They both have access to food full time and neither seems under or over-weight. They're quite independent but enjoy one another's company and enjoy a good cuddle. They're mainly indoor cats as we live in an area where there is a busy main road near us but there is farmland behind us. Avicii would have an interest in the outdoors and would roam a little further than Furbo. They both like being outside but have no interest in it when it's not dry/calm. Furbo is more social when we've had people over, she will keep her distance but won't hide and come over to inspect the newbie before relaxing. Whereas Avicii is more anxious around new people, though he can warm up to them once he's gotten to know them! He doesn't like loud noises and runs every time the doorbell rings. They've only come into contact with a child/toddler once. Furbo was fine with him (18months-2yrs old) though she was more cautious around him than his parents and Avicii was terrified of him and would refuse to come downstairs. We live next door to four children and them playing out in their back garden doesn't bother him.
Basically, we want to move to Australia for a year or two once Covid allows and we were not expecting it to be as expensive as it is to move and quarantine the cats from Ireland to Australia. Just wondering if anyone has any advice on rehoming (really don't want to do it but it may be the less traumatic experience for them and least expensive for us) or if anyone has any advice/tips on moving with cats and/or pet mover recommendations. We had been thinking we could maybe have one of our parents look after them while we're away but if we like it there and want to stay 2 or 3 years it's a lot to ask of them to mind them for that long. No decisions have been made yet, I've contacted various Irish pet movers for estimates and I've looked at going through NZ (as when I was last quoted on quarantine facilities it was half the price in NZ than in AUS) but we'd have to go through the pre-travel vet visits again and stay in NZ for 90+ days before we could go to Australia and so far I haven't been able to get a quote on moving/transport costs from Ireland to NZ but have gotten quotes for transporting the two cats from NZ to Australia and it's more or less the same price as moving them from Ireland to Aus...
Any advice welcome! Open to new suggestions if there's something I haven't thought of. I really don't want to lose them.