Moving pets is very stressful for animals and their owners. Close family friends of mine were under urgent pressure to move internationally, but the restrictions and costs associated with transporting their dog were prohibitive. Sadly, they decided to leave him behind. With all of the serious emotional and financial issues around the move, they had to deal with the added guilt of leaving behind their much loved pet. They did eventually find a good home for him.
When my husband and I decided to move back to Australia from the United States, we were investigating how to move our two elderly cats. Our vet advised us that they were too old for the move. We had adopted them as mature cats and they were now in their dotage. Despite the advice, I was not going to leave them behind unless we could find a suitable home. What was the answer? We did not know anyone who could adequately care for them and yet the stress of an international move and quarantine meant they might not survive the trip.
Miraculously, our vet offered to adopt them! We were overwhelmed by her kindness and compassion in agreeing to adopt both of them. This was the signal that our move was the right decision.
When we moved to our new home in regional Australia, we weren’t certain whether we would adopt new cats. I was still feeling unsettled and unwilling to commit to new animals. It felt as if pets would be just another complication.
Despite my reservations, we visited an animal refuge. As I walked passed an enclosure, there was a large cat sitting on a tall stool staring intently at me. I looked at him and there was an immediate connection. We had found our new cat! Storm, a name inspired by his coat of swirling patches of grey and white, looked like an abstract painting on four legs. But it was a two for one deal. We were told Storm had bonded with a tabby named Morka and they had to be adopted together. This was ideal because I liked the idea of a pet having a companion. We explained that we were in the midst of moving and asked whether would it be possible to complete the paperwork, pay the fees and pick them up in two weeks. They said no. We had no choice. We had to leave them behind because there wasn’t a safe place for them to stay meanwhile. At this point, I had become fatalistic – fate would decide if they were to become ours.
Two days after moving in, my husband had gone to run some errands. He returned and called me to come to the living room. I walked in to hear Storm and Morka miaowing anxiously from beneath the couch. Morka, a muscular grey, brown and beige tabby, was the bolder of the two. I gently coaxed him out with some food while Storm eventually emerged to explore his new surroundings. I knew that adopting these cats meant we were finally home.
