If you are like me you fall in love with animals everywhere. I constantly want to adopt and care for animals that I meet, but obviously can’t take them all around the world with me. One cat
however, won my heart and has travelled with me.
When I lived in
Turkey I met and quickly fell in love with a stray cat. I named her Sultan,
which is a regular female Turkish name. She was a nervous cat and was scared of
me and of anyone who came to visit. It took weeks of actively avoiding her
before she felt comfortable and calmed down a bit.
We soon got used
to each other and she quickly adopted the habit of curling up with me in bed
each night. She would scare me with her tightrope walking antics along the
railing on my balcony as I sat pretending to read a book (but actually keeping
a terrified eye on her). She also loved to sit on the coffee table and keenly watch
an aquarium screen saver on the television.
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| Sultan on a Turkish carpet at home in Fethiye, Turkey |
When the day came
to leave Turkey and move to the UK I faced a decision. What was I going to do
with Sultan? There was nothing to it; she was coming to the UK too. I spent
hours searching the internet for information and asked the local vet what was
involved. I called British Airways Istanbul office and was put in touch with
their quarantine agent who spoke me through the required vaccinations and
paperwork. I checked Sultan’s vaccinations were all up to date, packed my home
into a suitcase and off we went to the airport.
The Turkish
Airways flight from Dalaman up to Istanbul was memorable. As instructed, I had
not fed Sultan any breakfast so after half an hour in the car and some faffing
about at check-in she was ravenous. She mewed occasionally and was greeted by
admiration from anyone who looked her way.
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| Sultan |
We boarded the
flight and she sat in her carrier on the seat beside me. The aircrew kept
popping by to coo over her and tell me how beautiful she was. Sultan batted her
eyelashes in agreement. She was quiet for the first hour of the flight, but
somewhere approaching Istanbul (and about five minutes after I was handed a
turkey sandwich) she decided she had had enough of being hungry. Sultan got up
and pressed her whiskers through the grill of the cage and begged me to feed
her. I caved and gave her a little scrap of the meat that she scoffed down. All
was well until we started our descent into Istanbul. Sultan jumped to her feet
and started the rapid heaving about-to-spew motion favoured by felines around
the world. My heart sank. We were about to be met by the British Airways
quarantine agent and I really didn’t want to hand Sultan to him bedraggled and
covered in vomit. Fortunately all she brought up was the tiny piece of turkey.
In the arrivals
hall we met the agent and I handed Sultan over. My heart broke a bit as I
watched him carry her away, hoping he was trustworthy. He took her to a
veterinary clinic where she was to get a health check before travelling to the
UK. I really expected it to take no time at all for Sultan to arrive in the UK
but instead I got a lot of emails and telephone calls saying she needed another
vaccination and since it delayed her trip I needed to pay her keep for a longer
period. This was the most stressful point of the whole process because I was
completely at the mercy of the Istanbul vet and the agent. I kept sending money
and eventually they sent Sultan.
Sultan’s airfare
on British Airways from Istanbul to London Heathrow cost three times the adult
human fare, which was quite a surprise, but she did have the luxury of being
carried onto the plane and off again as well as a taxi to meet her and take her
straight to quarantine.
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| Sultan playing with a hairband in her quarantine enclosure |
Sultan remained
in quarantine for six months, which was the required amount for an animal
arriving from Turkey at the time. I was able to visit her but decided not to go
too frequently in case it confused her. She had an enclosure in a little outdoor
courtyard, the centre of which was filled with an aviary, for entertainment
purposes presumably. She had a cosy little box with a heater and a cushion on a
ledge, perfect for watching the birdies. I was also pleased to notice her
favourite toys had survived the journey as well as some of my hair bands. She
had plenty of space to jump around playing too and weirdly, given that
quarantine sounds like a prison sentence, seemed perfectly content in
quarantine.
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| Sultan had plenty of room to play in quarantine |
The day came that
she was declared rabies-free and would be released from quarantine and welcomed
to the UK. I was so excited that finally I could take my gorgeous girl home. We
coaxed her into her cat-carrier-basket, I settled up with the quarantine
facility and we were on our way. A taxi, a train, a London Underground ride,
and a ten-minute walk later, we were home.
The total cost to
move Sultan from Fethiye to London was about £2,000 and she was worth every
penny. I noticed no negative impact upon her as a result of the experience. In
fact I think she met so many people in that short period that her social skills
improved as nowadays she is quite insistently friendly and frequently demands
laps and attention. Another welcome side effect is that she is a very relaxed
little traveller. When I lived in London she would frequently accompany me to
my parents house for the weekend, a trip that involved a bus and a train trip.
The train journey was only complicated when the train was full of commuters and
Sultan amused herself by swiping playfully at the hems of their trouser legs,
through the bars of her carrier.
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| I woke every day to the sight of Sultan watching me |
Due to her
official rabies-free status Sultan acquired a pet passport, which, as long as
her vaccinations are kept up to date, entitles her to accompany me across
Europe. I know people who regularly travel between Spain and the UK with their
dog, but I’m not sure frequent traveller status is something that works with
cats. Everyone is different though and if you plan to do this make sure your paperwork and insurance is in order, as it would be heartbreaking to have to
leave a pet abroad for any reason.Sultan currently resides in the Kent countryside with my mother.
Have you ever
travelled internationally with an animal? Where did you go and how did you find
it?
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