Pet Travel Story: “Singapore Kitty”
Incredible Experiences: Purrla's Move to Singapore
A year ago we found out that we might be moving to Singapore. I had been offered an opportunity with a teaching hospital, and although I was not seeking an overseas position at the time, it really looked like this was going to work out and be a great new adventure.
During the next few months a lot of decisions had to be made. Do we try to sell the house, what do we take and do we want to store some things? And the biggest question was: what do we do with Purrla?
Purrla is our orange and white female cat that our daughter got through a feral cat society in Tennessee five years ago. She was just a kitten then, and she of course immediately took our hearts.
Our daughter got her and less than three months later found out that she was going to have to be traveling extensively with her job, so Purrla was offered to Mom and Dad. We knew that we would love to have her and off we went on a plane back to Florida with Purrla in a carry-on kitty carrier.
That was an awful experience. She did not like the carrier, tried to get out constantly, and was miserable the whole trip. And so our saga began.
This kitty definitely was not a traveler. Just a trip in the car was traumatic, and when going to the vet she cried and she was definitely not going into a carrier. Needless to say when we considered taking her with us to Singapore it was a decision fraught with problems.
So I began doing research last summer and found the PetRelocation folks online. I know that they thought I was crazy, I had so many questions and worries. We already knew that she did not like to travel, and it turns out that coming to Singapore to live is a very complicated process. There is a ton of paperwork on the US and Singapore side along with a quarantine period that is a variable depending on when the pet had their last rabies injection.
Well, to complicate matters we did sell the house and were in temporary housing in the US for a period, and eventually got our travel date for January 9, 2013. Purrla was with us through all this, and showed that she was a trooper. We got the carrier early and followed the crate-training suggestions made by the PetRelocation staff. She learned to love her little hiding place. We would keep it open and near us when we were watching TV or reading and she would often go have a lie down on her favorite blanket.
As our travel date approached, Lenneke of PetRelocation worked with our local veterinarian to make sure that all the paperwork was complete and that Purrla was safe and ready for her big journey.
On January 12, 2013, Purrla flew from Florida to Frankfurt, Germany. She had a rest break there for several hours and on January 14 landed in Singapore. She went to The Ricted Quarantine Facility here in Singapore where she stayed for 10 days in her own little "hotel" room. We were able to visit her and she looked great and was eating well.
On January 24 she was delivered by Linus to our new apartment here in Singapore. She is healthy, adapting well to her new surroundings, and is very grateful to be home.
I want to thank the staff of PetRelocation, especially Lenneke and Lee for all of their help and encouragement and for assisting Purrla to her new home in Singapore.
Thank you,
Robbie
Pet Travel Details:
Name: Robbie
Pet's Name: Purrla
From: Clearwater, FL
To: Singapore