Leaving A Pet Behind....Where Can I Go For Re-Homing???

[yekholyahbatyhwh]

Okay, so I have 4 cats (yes, I know). I had them since they were 10 day old kittens and they just turned a year old 2 weeks ago. Some neighborhood kids removed them from their litter and were playing (roughly) with them so, I took them.

 

I have to go back to my country by the end of this year (2020). Of course, I won't be able to carry all of them. I have grown intensely attached to them that leaving them, in itself, hurts -- but to leave them high and dry without making certain they'd be cared for how they've been for the last year? That would tear me up...AND them.

 

I already posted on FB in pet/cat adoption groups to get the word out but I would like advice and/or information on who I could get in contact with or what. I live in Phuket.

 

Also, just in case I do end up taking 1 or 2 with me, what is the process like? I am from the U.S.

 

Thanks.

[Sundown]

Hi, if you want to bring them with you, you will need to have them microchipped and vaccinated. Also, every country has their own rules so a pet clinic can help you. I suggest PAWS Phuket as I have good experience with them ( Vichit area). 

If you need to leave the cat maybe soi dog can help since they re-home a lot of pets also overseas. But also Facebook group as you did.

[DaRoadrunner]

You can take them into the US. It is a long time since I transported a moggy (transmoggerified) to the US so you need to check current regs. The airline or a vet may know, or the airport vet / quarantine office, or your embassy. All I needed then was a vaccination certificate.

 

Airlines will only allow 2 x animals to be hand carried on a flight and the pet carrier must not exceed dimensions as stated by the airline (every airline is different). So either you make two trips or send two of the critters in cargo. I refused to use cargo as most come out freezing, if they survive at all. It can be minus 60 degrees at 30,000 ft. That is assuming they are placed in the correct part of the cargo bay where there is oxygen.

 

Finding homes for them here is difficult. I would not give animals to Thais due to their lack of care and responsibility. If there is an advertisement board at your supermarket you might try there.

[GinBoy2]

Having had our cat shipped back to the US a few years ago, it's not that easy, or cheap.

 

That being said, I couldn't have left her in Thailand, at best I might have found someone who would feed her. 

 

I actually ended up using an agent to arrange transport. The issue isn't entry into the US, it's the exit from Thailand. The cat will have to spend a couple of days in BKK at the cattery prior to transport.

 

Now it's traumatic for the animal, and it took our cat a couple of weeks to calm down, but at the end of the day they have brains the size of peanuts and they forget.

 

A long time back i posted our experience with the whole procedure. I'll try to find it and re post

 

To correct a previous post, you can't take any animal in cabin on international flights anymore, so they have to travel in the cargo bin

[blackcab]

Moved to the pet forum.

[torturedsole]

1 hour ago, DaRoadrunner said:

(transmoggerified)

Haha.

[torturedsole]

1 hour ago, GinBoy2 said:

but at the end of the day they have brains the size of peanuts and they forget.

Haha as well.  

[GinBoy2]

4 hours ago, GinBoy2 said:

Having had our cat shipped back to the US a few years ago, it's not that easy, or cheap.

 

That being said, I couldn't have left her in Thailand, at best I might have found someone who would feed her. 

 

I actually ended up using an agent to arrange transport. The issue isn't entry into the US, it's the exit from Thailand. The cat will have to spend a couple of days in BKK at the cattery prior to transport.

 

Now it's traumatic for the animal, and it took our cat a couple of weeks to calm down, but at the end of the day they have brains the size of peanuts and they forget.

 

A long time back i posted our experience with the whole procedure. I'll try to find it and re post

 

To correct a previous post, you can't take any animal in cabin on international flights anymore, so they have to travel in the cargo bin

here's my old post regarding shipping our cat back to the US

 

https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/1049774-exporting-a-cat/

 

[yekholyahbatyhwh]

Thank you all for that. I don't want to leave them here, either. I've seen how Thai people can "care" for them. But it's FOUR, you know?? How would I be able to travel with 4 cats? That's where I'm stuck. I don't mind bringing them with me AT ALL but the process of exporting pets is crazy. It would be ideal to have them at home in my country anyway, because if I do travel, I have family that will take care of them. As opposed to here, I don't know anyone to care for them well, unless I use a cat hotel. 

 

@GinBoy2 Thank you. I'll check that post out.

[Stuswife2830]

Hi there. So we moved to Thailand for a year in 2012 from the US. In that year we adopted a soi dog who is basically the best thing ever. When we moved back to the states in 2013, we took her with us. Our vet here in Chiang Mai assisted me with the paperwork and it was very inexpensive to do it on my own. I paid for her vet visits and her cargo ticket. Cargo was heated and pressurized. I had to take her to the vet 30 days before our departure and 3 days before our departure. She was vaccinated and microchipped, and not placed under quarantine in the US.

We moved back here in 2016 from California and I did the same process where my vet from the US helped me with the paperwork and I brought her into Thailand. I didn't have a problem brining her to the US or to Thailand, and the cost was truly minimal since I did it all myself. I would definetly take them with you. 

????

[Pattaya46]

14 hours ago, DaRoadrunner said:

I refused to use cargo as most come out freezing, if they survive at all. It can be minus 60 degrees at 30,000 ft. That is assuming they are placed in the correct part of the cargo bay where there is oxygen.

Temperature in the plane, even in cargo, has nothing to do with outside temperature !

Cargo are pressurised and heated. If I remember well, rules say that cargo temperature can't fall below 5°C, but cargo area with animals is kept at about 20°C ????

 

Edit: Air Canada : 7°C and 18°C

https://enroute.aircanada.com/en/article/what-temperature-is-it-in-the-baggage-hold

[DaRoadrunner]

24 minutes ago, Pattaya46 said:

Cargo are pressurised and heated.

Assuming they are placed in the correct part of the cargo hold by airport ground staff. Plus, assuming heat and air are turned on. As was confirmed by our Vet, many are found to be very cold on arrival.

[malibukid]

the kitties can ride up front with you as long as you have a container.  mine loves the smoked salmon and insist on ANA.  be aware that they will have to be quarantined upon arrival for 2 weeks. i could never leave them for more than a month.

[GinBoy2]

43 minutes ago, Pattaya46 said:

Temperature in the plane, even in cargo, has nothing to do with outside temperature !

Cargo are pressurised and heated. If I remember well, rules say that cargo temperature can't fall below 5°C, but cargo area with animals is kept at about 20°C ????

 

Edit: Air Canada : 7°C and 18°C

https://enroute.aircanada.com/en/article/what-temperature-is-it-in-the-baggage-hold

I work for an airline, and the rules for shipping live animals are very strict.

 

We can only ship them in certain bins and there are rules about what cargo can be shipped along with them.

 

Some regional jet bins aren't heated and have signs plastered on the outside NO LIVE ANIMALS.

 

The Captain also has to sign off that he is aware he has live animals, when we give him/her the CLR (Cargo Load Report) it always lists the live animal and where it is.

 

Now I've shipped a lot of animals, we have a dog breeder in town who ships them all over the US. 

 

Now I won't say I don't hate it putting a tiny puppy into a very scary noisy bin, some of them are terrified, but haven't lost one yet.

 

We also ship quite a few 'military cats' when families get deployed from the local AFB. The cats generally seem a lot more sanguine about the whole affair than the dogs

[natway09]

All planes cargo areas are pressurized (so can breath) & they are heated minimally, some more than others.  Can can get very cold. Assuming in your case would be 2 flights, one of which 8/10 hours

pretty daunting for a moggy, including needing good ground staff for flight transfer. 

Need to give plenty of blankets

[GinBoy2]

Oh one last point.

 

At least domestically, neither United or Delta are shipping animals at the moment.

What cats and dogs have to do with Covid, no clue way above my pay grade!

 

Now for the OP I think he's looking at repatriating the end of the year, so more than likely everything will have returned to some sort of normality

[DaRoadrunner]

26 minutes ago, malibukid said:

be aware that they will have to be quarantined upon arrival for 2 weeks.

What country did you fly to? The OP is discussing the USA and Thailand, both of which I have brought animals into without quarantine.

 

Thailand expects you to report to the airport vet on arrival. No quarantine required unless the animal is found to be ill. But I just hand carried mine straight through the green nothing to declare channel.

 

11 minutes ago, GinBoy2 said:

I work for an airline, and the rules for shipping live animals are very strict.

Varies from one airline to another.

 

Note:- Check all the above with the airlines as it is years since I did it.

[JWRC]

Can the cats travel 2 in a crate, this would alleviate some of the stress.?

[Mick501]

Just on the subject of cargo, I brought my cat from Australia in cargo as no option to hand carry.  Planes have a dedicated hold that is regulated temp to the same as the cabin, and dimly lit.   Any travel is traumatic for most cats, but they get over it in a week or two.  Long term they are far better off with you, even if they have to deal with the anxiety of travel.  You'll never forgive yourself if you leave them behind.

[GinBoy2]

37 minutes ago, Mick501 said:

Just on the subject of cargo, I brought my cat from Australia in cargo as no option to hand carry.  Planes have a dedicated hold that is regulated temp to the same as the cabin, and dimly lit.   Any travel is traumatic for most cats, but they get over it in a week or two.  Long term they are far better off with you, even if they have to deal with the anxiety of travel.  You'll never forgive yourself if you leave them behind.

Ditto all of that.

 

Having shipped a cat, then in my new airline career, shipped animals I totally get how traumatic it is for them,

 

But that being said.

 

Thai's have a very different relationship with their 'pets', not to say animal abuse doesn't happen in the West, but for most of us our pets are almost like our children. Most of us are reduced to tears when something bad happens to them

 

Thai's have a much more ambivalent view towards their animals. If they get fed up with them, they just get dumped off at the local temple where hopefully the monks will feed them.

 

I know I couldn't have left my cat in Thailand, it would have broken my heart

[connda]

https://adoptmeowchiangmai.com/

[samtab]

Leaving a pet behind for any reason, you do not deserve respect. People like you should be jailed or more.

 

[GinBoy2]

11 hours ago, JWRC said:

Can the cats travel 2 in a crate, this would alleviate some of the stress.?

Now I can only speak for US & European airlines, but the answer to that question is No.

[GinBoy2]

8 hours ago, samtab said:

Leaving a pet behind for any reason, you do not deserve respect. People like you should be jailed or more.

 

Well thats a bit harsh!

 

As I read the OP, @yekholyahbatyhwhwas agonizing over what to do with his cats, trying to rehome them or explore the options to ship them back to the US. I don't think he was even remotely suggesting the Thai method of just dumping them on the side of the road or taking them to the local temple

 

As I said in a previous post, shipping them back is doable but it can cost you the same as a human's air fare. x4, that gets pricey

[Tuvoc]

Full credit to the original poster for caring about his pets and trying to find them a new home.

[GinBoy2]

2 hours ago, Tuvoc said:

Full credit to the original poster for caring about his pets and trying to find them a new home.

I would agree. 

 

Here's a pic of my Thai tabby, now an American tabby with her American brother in the background.

 

Sometimes it's just the simple stuff in life that makes you the happiest, and watching the cats sleeping or playing together does it for me

[DaRoadrunner]

15 hours ago, GinBoy2 said:

As I said in a previous post, shipping them back is doable but it can cost you the same as a human's air fare. x4, that gets pricey

Airline pricing varies a lot on critters. Shop around and it can be quite reasonable. I took a moggy by Korean Air to the States and it was not expensive. Only problem .... Koreans eat cats! I just told em I brought a packed lunch!