Pet Travel Story: Three Well-Loved Kitties Move to Oman!
Incredible Experiences: Three Cats Travel to Oman
My story began with a job offer to teach ESL in the Middle East, in a country I had barely heard of - Oman. However, I was not going to be able to go unless I could ensure that somehow my three beloved kitties, rescued from the cooking pots of Kinshasa, D.R. Congo and now living with me in Canada, would be able to safely make the move (and not with me, but alone, a month later)!!
I briefly communicated with another company that had all kinds of restrictions, such as my cats would have to be handed over in the USA, which was out of the question considering where I live and how hard it would be for me to get them there.
After not hearing from them after a whole week, I decided to see who the vet in Muscat, the capital of Oman, dealt with when other expats had their pets brought over, and to my delight and with endless gratitude, Yolanda at Al Qurum Veterinary Clinic recommended PetRelocation, and I was off and running!! I was originally put in touch with Matt Kincaid, and as soon as we spoke on the phone, I knew my cats and my nerves would be in safe hands! He was AMAZING!! No question was considered a stupid question, and his patience with my endless queries was truly divinely inspired.
Yolanda, Matt, and then Lenneke and I were in constant communication about the size of the cages I could order for them (I wanted one size bigger so they would be able to stretch out over what turned into a four-day journey for them!), the specifics of costs, and ensuring full door-to-door service!!! I felt my babies were safe with them, and so I went ahead and accepted the job and now it has been one week since my kids arrived!!
My month here alone was a bit frantic, getting a new home, making sure it was secure, finding cat litter, their favorite flavor of Fancy Feast (impossible, sadly), and getting them to the small town 120 miles outside of Muscat. Due to flights between Amsterdam and Muscat, my kitties enjoyed an evening at the Pet Hotel at Schipol airport as well as a night in Toronto to settle them before the first leg of their journey, and a night in Muscat as their clearance stretched late into the evening and I would not be able to get them until the next morning.
I was SO HAPPY to see them, and they arrived safe and in very good spirits considering, and they were not even mad at me when we finally got home!! It took a day or two for them to find their "spots", and they still don't like the wet cat food selections here (though the 20 or so stray cats I feed each evening don't seem to mind it at all!!!), but as you can see from the photos, Bindi has her place next to the window, Freddie loves his giant arm chair, and Suzy is only happy when she is parked on top of my paper work next to my laptop!!!!
I could never have settled into my new life and career here in this spectacularly beautiful country without PetRelocation and their constant reassurance that their agents knew what they were doing. What was the most amazing part of this whole experience, however, was that on the day before they were to leave Canada, I realized I had their original vaccination certificates with me here in Oman!! Talk about frantic!!! Pet Relocation bent over BACKWARDS to find a way to get them on their way with the certified copies of the certificates which my vet quickly prepared for their departure! We held our breath that this would be enough, but PetRelocation came through, and somehow with the help of some pixie dust the cats arrived with the originals waiting for them so they could clear customs here in Oman. I don't think I took a breath for those four whole days!!
Throughout it all, both Lenneke and Yolanda over on this end held my hand figuratively speaking, assuring me everything was being done to get the kitties home to their mama!! It all worked out in the end, and if I ever move again, I will call PetRelocation before I make any plans. I should let them know that there may be a fourth cat on any further journey, as just today, one of my more threatened strays followed me home and... well, you know how it goes. And now we are five!
THANK YOU PETRELOCATION FOR MAKING MY DREAMS COME TRUE TO LIVE AND WORK OVER HERE IN THE MIDDLE EAST WITH MY BABIES RIGHT BESIDE ME!! Anyone who is considering moving, no matter where on earth you may find you are going, please don't think you have to leave your pets behind, or worse.
If miracles are possible, then PetRelocation and their amazing, caring, compassionate, endlessly patient staff are first in line making them happen. Al Hamdulillah we say over here, thank God... for PetRelocation!! Thank you Kevin, your team is AMAZING!!!
-MonaLiesa
Pet Travel Details:
Name: MonaLiesa
Pets' Names: Bindi, Freddie and Suzy
From: Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
To: Muscat, Oman