Thanks for all the PETs help- we have arrived!

Hi all-

Thanks to all the info here on the UK-Yankee forum, we all made it over successfully through the PETs process last Thurs.  Aside from a mad dash back home to pick up one forgotten piece of paperwork, :-( it all went smoothly.  We flew from San Francisco to Heathrow on Virgin Atlantic .  They were very nice to Grommet, our cat, as were the personnel at the animal reception center at heathrow.  One problem that I didn't anticipate was  a bad case of cystitis that Grommet developed the next morning - stress-induced. :-(  It's been a rough 4 days, but he is on the mend.  We found what appears to be a great cat vet 2 blocks from our flat in Maida Vale, and she has been wonderful. 

Two other cat-related stories:
I am from California, where a lot of the houses are one story.  Grommet is pretty freaked out by the view from our fourth floor flat, so much so that we leave the curtains closed most of the time until he relaxes more.  Of course, he is a curious fellow, so occasionally I catch him up peaking under the drapes, until he runs way.  It's like he dares himself to do it :-)

Plus, he is so crazy, our first morning here he found a small hole underneath a cupboard and disappeared into it - we couldn't see or hear him.  ACK!  I lured him out after about 20 minutes with food, but it was scary - I had visions of trying to find a builder who could tear apart the cupboard. We of course inspected the rest of the flat for holes, and plugged up the other 2 we found.

It's like having a 2 year old! Anyway, thanks for indulging me, and for all the great info!!

Cheers!
Aline

PS - if anyone has any questions about the process, let me know!

congrats. It's good to hear a positive pet relocation story.

I'm pretty torn up about my cat situation.  We are moving to London mid July but since the relocation sort of happened suddenly, I will have to leave my cat with a friend in the US for the next 5 months (until all of the bloodwork & vaccinations are done) and then come back and pick her up ! What if she doesn't recognize me anymore ?? :\\\'( :\\\'(

...I will have to leave my cat with a friend in the US for the next 5 months (until all of the bloodwork & vaccinations are done) and then come back and pick her up ! What if she doesn't recognize me anymore ?? :\\\'( :\\\'(

She will!  I moved from the US to the UK a year ago March (2004) -- have been back for short visits in June 2004, Nov/Dec 2004, and another one coming up soon.  My cat now actually belongs to my best friend in the States -- for various reasons, I was not able to bring Chaos over with me.  Even being away the last year+ for all but 4 weeks, he STILL knows me when I return.

Firstly, Aline, thank you so much for posting this--I'm quite nervous about flying our cats to the UK next year, and any story of how well it went is music to my ears.

Secondly, carolyn_b, I wouldn't worry. I had to leave my cats for 9 months when I went to study in England (I think saying goodbye to them was one of the hardest things I've ever done), but everything went fine. When I got back I got 1 evening of "we don't like you so we'll ignore you" treatment. Even that faded towards the end of the evening, as they forgot they were supposed to be mad at me.. They'd come up to me to play and cuddle, and all of a sudden backtrack as they realized they were supposed to punish me! The next day everything was back to normal again.

Just be prepared to make amends and apologize profusely!

Aline,
How old is your cat?

I had to leave mine with my folks when I came, initially temporarily, since I didn't know what my circumstances would be - had nearly all the PETS stuff done; now we are all a bit torn, as my mother takes him to the vet every single day to give him a shot for his liver - which is mildly debatable on how necessary it is to do daily - he's 13, but after the first shot, his appetite kicked right back in - but she thinks he'll need daily care and almost constant attention, which I can no longer give.  And on the other hand, the vet thinks he's gone a bit downhill because he misses me so much, but again, not sure how he would handle the long journey at his age, and if he'd recover fully.

 :\\\'(

My dog is staying with a friend in CA and he still knows me.  I always worry he won't know me but he does!  Last time I saw him, he jumped all over me and then ran right over to the car to get in and go home.  He doesn't like to go back either.  Don't worry.. your animals don't forget. 

Thanks for the positive words ........I'll try to remember that the next time she sinks her teeth into my hand..hehehehe...

I just hope my vet knows what she's doing so that all of the paperwork is in line.