Travelling with 5 cats from Egypt to Australia - Almost impossible!

[shelby7]

Re: Travelling with 5 cats from Egypt to Australia - Almost impossible!

Hi, I think I have found myself in the saddest impossible situation! I am an Australian (married to Egyptian) and have lived in Cairo for 10 yrs. We have just been through a ********** and life has become really more than difficult, in order to stay here I now must work (lost business) and this means travelling in an insecure chaotic city! I have 5 beautiful cats - 1 Siamese, 1 Chinchilla and 3 Beledi cats (not pedigree). Egypt is classed as a rabies country so in order to take them home, I must airlift them to Singapore where they go thru 3 mths quarantine then they must live for 6 months in Singapore? so six months boarding then they would go to Australia and then face another three months in quarantine - a total of 15 mths! It would cost approx 40,000 USD for the 5 of them. People say outside of Egypt 'find them a loving home'! Egypt is not pet friendly, Egyptians are not generally animal lovers and the ones that are don't have much of an idea how to feed and look after them. Most foreigners only stay 2 or 3 yrs and most people want young pedigree kittens. I have only met one Egyptian who has a Beledi cat (no pedigree) most of them love fluffy persians. The shelters here are mostly terrible, if they are good, they are full and I visited one 'good' one and I would not leave my cats there for one night. Before the ********** it was a bit easier but many foreigners left in a hurry and abandoned their poor animals on the streets. Many would say 'how terrible' and yes it was and is but if shelters refuse to take them and most of the emergency diplomatic flights refused to take them, what could they do. I refused to leave mainly because of the cats. Now my husband is ill and really we should return to Australia (he is an Australian/Egyptian), our business collapsed due to the ********** and our income is nil. I have been offered teaching jobs many of them are at night (teaching adults english) and this means travelling thru unsafe areas in taxis that are often not so safe either. I just needed to share this story, as I am really emotionally 'a mess' I just don't know what to do? Thanks for reading this. Any ideas for an almost impossible situation. I have thought of creating a facebook page and trying to find them homes in the US, as the Quarantine isn't so long, even paying for all of it. I just love them so much! Thanks!

roslyn,

I can feel the dilemna you are into now, I have like a similar situation, I am moving to australia in march, I have my mastiff dog, wanna fly her with me, i couldnt really estimate a cost for that, and also what i understood from gov website that she shall stay in "singapore" for one month only (quarntine), now am really depressed after reading your post. Could you please advise how could u calculate ur cost estimate and where u get the 15 months from, as what i know is 1month only, sorry for ur situation

Mohamed

[shelby7]

Re: Travelling with 5 cats from Egypt to Australia - Almost impossible!

roslyn,

I can feel the dilemna you are into now, I have like a similar situation, I am moving to australia in march, I have my mastiff dog, wanna fly her with me, i couldnt really estimate a cost for that, and also what i understood from gov website that she shall stay in "singapore" for one month only (quarntine), now am really depressed after reading your post. Could you please advise how could u calculate ur cost estimate and where u get the 15 months from, as what i know is 1month only, sorry for ur situation

Mohamed

[roslyn]

Re: Travelling with 5 cats from Egypt to Australia - Almost impossible!

Hi again fawny, I figured out how to send an email - technology!

[roslyn]

Re: Travelling with 5 cats from Egypt to Australia - Almost impossible!

hi

i am british living in Hurghada - i worked for a really lovely german woman here who has a fantastic cat hotel here - not sure exactly what she can do but contact me and with your e-mail and i will send you the information - sorry not sure if it is wise to put her contact number on here

fawny

Thank you so much, I do not know how to send private message to you, as I do not want my email address to appear in the forum. I will try to figure it out later or if you know please advice

[fawny]

Re: Travelling with 5 cats from Egypt to Australia - Almost impossible!

hi

i am british living in Hurghada - i worked for a really lovely german woman here who has a fantastic cat hotel here - not sure exactly what she can do but contact me and with your e-mail and i will send you the information - sorry not sure if it is wise to put her contact number on here

fawny

[roslyn]

Hi, I think I have found myself in the saddest impossible situation! I am an Australian (married to Egyptian) and have lived in Cairo for 10 yrs. We have just been through a ********** and life has become really more than difficult, in order to stay here I now must work (lost business) and this means travelling in an insecure chaotic city! I have 5 beautiful cats - 1 Siamese, 1 Chinchilla and 3 Beledi cats (not pedigree). Egypt is classed as a rabies country so in order to take them home, I must airlift them to Singapore where they go thru 3 mths quarantine then they must live for 6 months in Singapore? so six months boarding then they would go to Australia and then face another three months in quarantine - a total of 15 mths! It would cost approx 40,000 USD for the 5 of them. People say outside of Egypt 'find them a loving home'! Egypt is not pet friendly, Egyptians are not generally animal lovers and the ones that are don't have much of an idea how to feed and look after them. Most foreigners only stay 2 or 3 yrs and most people want young pedigree kittens. I have only met one Egyptian who has a Beledi cat (no pedigree) most of them love fluffy persians. The shelters here are mostly terrible, if they are good, they are full and I visited one 'good' one and I would not leave my cats there for one night. Before the ********** it was a bit easier but many foreigners left in a hurry and abandoned their poor animals on the streets. Many would say 'how terrible' and yes it was and is but if shelters refuse to take them and most of the emergency diplomatic flights refused to take them, what could they do. I refused to leave mainly because of the cats. Now my husband is ill and really we should return to Australia (he is an Australian/Egyptian), our business collapsed due to the ********** and our income is nil. I have been offered teaching jobs many of them are at night (teaching adults english) and this means travelling thru unsafe areas in taxis that are often not so safe either. I just needed to share this story, as I am really emotionally 'a mess' I just don't know what to do? Thanks for reading this. Any ideas for an almost impossible situation. I have thought of creating a facebook page and trying to find them homes in the US, as the Quarantine isn't so long, even paying for all of it. I just love them so much! Thanks!