For anyone who hasn’t looked at the “Taking Pets to South Africa” thread, here’s a quick summary of events. For those who have read it, skip to the next paragraph. A while ago (I guess 2 or 3 months) I found a stray kitten that was in very poor shape, so I took her in and got her fixed up and healthy.
I’ve fostered a few animals before, and decided that I would like to keep this one, as I’ve grown very attached to her - she’s a great kitten, really playful, and affectionate. However, I’m going back home to South Africa in July. I’ve done a lot of investigating into the procedure of taking an animal to South Africa, and it looks like an absolute nightmare…
So, I’m faced with a dilemma - Do I take her home, or find her a new home here before I leave?
Taking her home:
ADVANTAGES
She will be living in a good home with lots of other cats.
DISADVANTAGES
A lot of hassle.
Total expenses will be around NT30,000 or more.
And the worst thing, in my opinion, is that she would have to spend 2 weeks in quarantine.
Finding her a new home here:
ADVANTAGES
She won’t have to go through the trauma of a flight, and quarantine. I won’t have to deal with NT30,000 expenses and hassle.
DISADVANTAGES
I’ll be heartbroken…
I’m totally stuck as to what to do now… Maybe you Forumosans could give me some advice. I need to make up my mind pretty quickly too because since the SA procedure is such a process, I have to apply for import permits, health papers and all that crap ASAP.
Wow, weighty decision there Trapjaw. I think the only one who can decide is you.
Myself, I’d only give my pets to people I absolutely trusted would give them at least as good a home as I can give. Any doubts and not a chance. So, I guess if you found someone you were completely convinced would care for your cat adequately, then maybe consider it.
Is the expense and hassle of shipping your pet something you can bear with right now? It would be hard on the cat, no doubt, but I’m sure she would recover. The long term prospect of a stable home beats out the unknown if left here, in my books.
hold on there. I’ll try my best to see if I can find a better way to let her/he go home with you. Firstly, can you tell me which city in South Africa you’re heading to?
I’m heading to Pietermaritzburg, but as long as I could at least get the cat to Joburg I’d be fine. Easy to get it to PMB from there (well, if you consider a 5 hour car drive easy)…
At least it is only 2 weeks in quarenteen, It could be worse, that time would fly by. I also have to say I would be nervous about giving up one of my animals to someone in Taiwan, I would always be worry about them ending back up on the street.
To me, the only deciding factor would be the money, but it would have to be a million pounds per animal before I would even contemplate not taking them, and then I’d have to stay with them. I simply couldn’t take the risk that the next person would be good enough for them … plus I would miss them like crazy.
The only savings I have are precisely enough to evacuate me and my four-legged family back to Ol’ Blighty. Though, I could go somewhere nearer and take more of them with me.
Good luck whatever you do, but, for me, if you wouldn’t leave your child or sibling, you shouldn’t even think about leaving your cat. Lucky she can’t read this thread!
Easy decision trapjaw. YOU should take YOUR cat. She loves you. I know the red tape is a pain in the ass, but only for a couple weeks, you can pull it off trapjaw. Just make the decision right now, you will feel better.
When we came to Taiwan, we had two pets. A cat, and a dog. Minou the cat stayed with my sister in law and Leo the dog stayed with good friends of mine.
We knew they were both looked after very well but as time passed, we began to feel like we had abandoned them. You’d think that over time maybe this feeling would fade but it just kept getting stronger not to mention we missed them dearly.
So six months later we went back to get them both. Leo was sick and he couldn’t be transported here, in fact he was euthanized shortly after we returned to Taiwan. Minou found the trip really hard, she was dehydrated, disoriented and weak when she arrived. That was 2 years ago and she’s adapted really well to her new environment.
It cost about 35 000NT in total and she spent 21 days in quarantine. We never looked back on that. She’s with us now and it’s for good.
I think there is a difference between our situation and yours. We adopted Minou and Leo from a humane society in Alberta and we made a commitment to these animals which is to look after them as long as they are alive.
In your case, I know that you just recently rescued this kitten and you changed its life forever. That animal was going to suffer on the street and probably live a short and very difficult life. Not anymore because she found you. So you could look at it as an animal you rescued and you are now trying to find a loving home. In other words, you did not adopt that cat, you rescued it and I think that ethically speaking there’s a difference.
The bottom line is if you find a home for her, you will look back and probably question that move for years to come. The money part…There will be more money, you’re young and you’ll have many opportunities to make that up. If you leave your cat here, you’ll never make up for that.
It’s a though decision, one of the toughest when it comes to caring for an animal. You have my support whatever your decision will be.
My friend in South Africa intorduce me following agencies. And glad to tell you that importing cat from Taiwan to South Africa doesn’t need quarantine at all http://www.globalpaws.co.za/rules2.htm
Yeah, I rescued her, not adopted her… but she does feel like my cat now. It wasn’t so much the money I was worried about as the stress all of this would put her though, but as you guys have said, she’ll recover, and it will be worth it in the long run. And there’s no way I could leave her in the care of someone else. Thank you for all of your advice. I’m going to brave it, and send her back. Wish me luck! I’ll keep posting in the “Taking Pets to South Africa” sticky, so that any South Africans in future who wish to do this will maybe have an easier ride than me!
That’s good to hear, I had a good feeling you would, being the cat lover that you are.
I suggest you buy a feeding bottle, the kind used on kennels and get your cat used to drinking out of it. If your cat isn’t used to drinking out of a self-feed type water bottle, it may not drink at all during the flight because it will not know how.
