Why the cats can't come

 

In Switzerland, if someone decides that they would like to rent a property they have to fill in a form with lots of questions, get employer references etc. I guess that is pretty much like the UK. However,as I understand it, this is not the actual application - passing at this point simply means that one goes forward to be considered.

When the accomodation was marked as 'pets allowed' I think that mean one cat, not three. Last week we were in the situation where the accomodation at the top of our list simply decided 'no pets' - it could be that there was someone else who didn't have pets, I am not sure. One of the other places said we could have two cats, somewhere else that we could have one.

This was a real dilemma- we weren't guaranteed any of the places, whether or not it was 0, 1 or 2 cats. We obviously couldn't split the Siamese girls up, they have been together since the were about 3 and 6 weeks old. If they both couldn't come, then none could come. Then Friday, just as I was still struggling with this ( and still no accomodation) a decision was taken for us. The rabies vaccine for the 2 girls had failed. Now, the blood test can only be taken 21 days after vaccination. It can take 4 - 6 weeks to get the result. Christmas is coming up, that slows things even further. That meant that even if we could take them, we faced the prospect that the re-vaccination still wouldn't take ...that would mean that we could be 2 or 3 days from going and 2 cats to rehome. Of course a good home cannot be found on that time scale. Added to this,Isis had been particularly traumatised by the blood test. She was unhappy all day afterwards and I didn't think it fair to put her through that again when the chances of her coming were slim. So - difficult, but the decision had been made for us.

Blue - I was given a little hope on Monday - her vaccine has worked. Maybe, just maybe, we would get one of the other places. But no.

So, we are expecting Blue to go to someone who has one of her litter sisters, which is nice (will they have forgotten each other?). We have some people coming about the girls later this week - they have been warned to expect a very heavy grilling. That's before we even see their home. Believe me, if we don't think they are suitable, they aren't getting the cats...

So, heavy hearts. Don't get me wrong, this is a fabulous opportunity for us. The cats will get a fabulous home, but it is still a wrench