The Travel Diva

For the love of my cats

It wasn’t meant to happen like this but now I have two homes – one in mainland Europe and one in the UK. Picture the scene: France’s Pet Reception Area at the Euro tunnel crossing to the UK. My car is idling outside containing two kids and four cats – a predelivery to the removal truck arriving.

Frenchy looks at my cats papers and asks “… verr ur de udder pypers?”

“I beg your pardon?” I squeaked, both feet leaving the ground at once. “What other papers?”

“Du bluud test pypers!”

At which point I thought the ground would swallow me up. Not two years ago I wrote an article on the very subject and warned readers that in order to take a pet abroad there were various hoops to lump through, and to re-enter the UK, there were several more. One of them being a blood test required six months before the actual move date - and the one red-tape hoop I overlooked!

My husband, supervising the removal men in Brussels, became so distraught he resorted to the only way he knows how to cope and headed straight to the local pub, patiently waiting outside for them to open at 09h00. However, his sorrows could not be sufficiently drowned as after his first pint the bar's beer pump broke and sent him on his way to find another.

By the time I got home my husband had arranged an extension on our Brussels home lease, held back some of the furniture and a few boxes in order that he and our cats would have a place to sleep. The next morning the removal truck left for the UK.

Many who read this may relate to just how such a traumatic event could turn one’s life upside down. I don’t know what I would have done had my husband not been so resourceful.

We have now moved into my new UK home (my son returned to Brussels via the Eurostar to cat-sit) – all the boxes are unpacked, furniture polished and carpets cleaned. This afternoon I drove back to Brussels to spend a few days with my cats, an event that will now occur on a regular basis.

My husband recons I should start reading my own articles, and perhaps write another based on my experience. Perhaps this occurrence is still too fresh for me to see the irony...

Labels: blood test, pet passport, rabies

posted by Cindy-Lou Dale @ Sunday, August 26, 2007