Having doubts about moving my cats.

My husband and I are moving to the UK in a few weeks, and I'm really starting to freak out about taking our 2 cats.

I'm going to be there 2 years on a student visa, and we're hoping he'll find a job that might sponsor us for longer (or maybe I'll do a PhD or something to extend the stay - we really want to be there for a while). Our plan has always been to take the cats with us. Unfortunately, we don't know anyone who could take them - everyone is either allergic, or already has 2+ cats and won't take them in.

The trouble is, our trip is going to be very, very long. We're flying from Phoenix into Amsterdam so we can keep them in the cabin with us to avoid the embargos. We have a layover in Detroit, and then once we get to Amsterdam, we're planning to spend the night in a pet-friendly hotel before taking a ferry across to England.

Am I being completely selfish by taking the cats? I couldn't bear re-homing them. They're my babies and very very attached to us. I keep telling myself it would be worse for them if we re-homed them because they would feel abandoned. But now I'm wondering if I'm actually being selfish, and if they would have been better off... I just really don't want to lose them.

They're young, only 2 years old, and very laid back, as far as cats go. I really want to do what's best for them. Am I terrible for taking them?

Bringing my 2 cats was the best decision I made in my move here.  They were 10 years old at the time.  Still my sweet happy little pussycats.  Though they do miss the sun.   

You won't regret bringing them.  They will be fine.  It'll be a long couple of days but you'll be waaaay more nervous than them.  Mine have made quite a few moves involving flights at this point.  My best piece of advice is to buy a couple of baby blankets.  In the airport, you can keep the blankets draped over their carriers.  This both keeps them calmer and keeps people from getting all excited about your kitties and wanting to poke their fingers in and say hello.

Seriously, it's fine.

Bring your kitties - we are only now working on getting ours moved into the UK from Sweden and we miss them every day and can't wait until the whole family is back together.  Yes, its a hassle and expensive, but ours came right through (and we drove Milwaukee to Chicago, got on a plane and flew 9 hours to Stockholm, got off, collected them from the hold and drove another 1.5 hours to my partners house, so they were in the crate a REAL long time) maybe a little confused but they adjusted quickly.  They were also 2.5 at the time.  We see them every few months now and they remember us immediately and its like we never left!

Amsterdam is supposed to be great for cat hotels - and if you just go with the flow and act like this is aaaallll normal, the cats will be calm too.

Also, and I can't stress this enough, dryfur.com have these GREAT pads to put in the carriers so in case of an accident they act like pop-up sponges and all urine and smell is contained so the kitties are comfy.  We got some for ours and I didnt even realize one of them had used it until I checked a day or two after because I was surprised they were able to hold it as long as they did.  But sure enough, someone had a little accident and the pad sucked it right up.

Finally, you may want to take them on some longer car trips in their carriers so they get used to them.

Thank you so much for the encouragement. Seriously. This is EXACTLY what I needed to hear, especially as a friend of ours was trying to convince us that our cats would be in quarantine for 6 months no matter what we do. His family's from Scotland, but they've been living in the US for like 15 years, and I know quarantine laws are totally different now than they were. Still - he had us freaking out last night. So thank you for the reassurance! I'm sure you're right. They'll be totally fine once we get there! And they would miss us too much if we left them behind - not to mention the fact that I would miss them too much, too.

Bertine, thank you for that tip! I had never heard of those pads, but I will definitely order them now! That's a good idea about the car trips. Maybe we can get them to a point where they stop meowing the whole time :/

They don't mind their carriers, but they really don't like the car. I know they're going to meow during take off and landing. I just hope they're quite while everyone is boarding and don't meow till we're in the air, so we don't get kicked off for having loud cats.

Planes are so loud, you'll struggle to hear them meow!

I flew my cats to Colorado where they stayed for 5 weeks (while I moved to the UK and found a place to live.  My corporate housing didn't allow pets).  My kitties LOVE my dad, so during those 5 weeks, when he got home from work, he'd put on one of two old t-shirts.  Then when the kitties were loaded into their crates for the longhaul over, he put a shirt in each crate for them and they definitely snuggled up on those all night.   

When I collect my cats from the Animal Reception Center, they had big eyes.  Saw me and were like, "oh!  that's what this was all about".  I put them into one crate on the front seat of the car for the ride home.  They were happy to be back together, took good baths, and conked out for the drive home.  When we got home, they had a sniff around and flopped on the bed and boom - they were home.   

Hardest part was one of my cats had an adjustment to UK cat food.  While it was the same name/brand that I bought in the US, it wasn't the same and he kept barfing.  As soon it clicked that it was probably the food and changed it, he's been fine ever since.

I can't speak to the flying aspect but since you'll have them in the cabin with you that's best possible flying scenario.  I can say that my husband and I moved heaven and earth to be able to bring our dogs over with us.  I could no more leave them behind than I could leave a child.  It sounds as if you feel as strongly about your babies as I do and I think you would regret what you would have to do before you left the US much more than taking them.