Tuesday 9 January 2018

Moving Home in Dubai Part 5 - Pets

When we moved from the UK to South Africa, we had to re home our Chicken called Ruby and just incase you wondered where my blog title came from, now you know.


Our move within South Africa involved a cat, who had adopted us 6 weeks prior to the move, as we were staying within the estate and had advertised the cat far and wide for it's owners we took the cat with us and she stayed.


When we left South Africa 3 years ago we had a dog also and we moved out of our house 2 weeks before we left the country as our furniture was shipped. We kept the cat and dog in the property and returned during the day to the estate to be with them. The night before our departure we caged the cat just in case she decided that would be the day to disappear.


On arrival in Dubai, we were unable due to problems with our visas to move into our new home for around 10 weeks as we couldn't get our furniture released from the port, so for the first month, one of the kids camped out with the cat and dog in the new villa over night and I spent the day time there. After 6 weeks, the kids returned to the UK. By this time the cat had been let out and was coming and going through the kitchen window and I came to the house every day.

For this move across Dubai, we decided to put the cat at the vets for a week while we moved and we booked the dog into day care while the doors were left open as we were moving out and into the new property to stop him escaping and in general whilst the removal guys were comfortable around the dog, many nationalities and individuals are frightened and often won't enter a property until you've reassured them that the dog is not only locked in a room but does not have access to a key or can use a handle to get out a room.

Poor Bob didn't know if he was coming or going the first few nights, we located a space for his bed and food and water and that will not be moved, his routine of walks, feeding and bedtime stayed the same, but obviously he was unsettled and kept getting under our feet as we moved boxes.
We had to keep a close eye on his toilet habits as when he's new a new environment, such as on holiday or when he goes into boarding while we travel, he often won't poo for 2-3 days.

The plan was to keep the cat inside for the first few weeks, which is a shame as the weather is perfect to let her wander freely outside now. Once she got used to the house and we'd fenced the garden in we had planned to let her out. For now she just sits at the windows staring longingly at the outdoors.



Sadly the road we've chosen to live on is not as quiet as we'd hoped for and as they'll still building houses here, it's being used, often at speed at night, as a short cut across to access a dessert patch of land to the highway, while the new roads are being built.

There are already quite a few stray cats in this area and I've seen a couple of people walking their dogs. Sadly the local mall isn't pet friendly so there will be no taking Bob with me for coffees, but there are plenty of places and routes to walk him and I've enrolled him in a local 'stay and play' facility where I can get a coffee and meet other dog owners.


The cat has been displaying some strange behaviour, randomly attacking the dog, me and furniture, as well as hiding. She is obviously stressed.



So I've been giving her a lot more time and attention and playing with her more and she has settled quickly into her normal routine.






26 comments:

  1. It's tough on animals when we humans decide to move isn't it? For our last move we spent as much time planning the move of the cats and the fish as we did the rest I think. Both moves went off quite well and the only real problem was one cat escaping the lead when I took her into the garden for a familiarisation trip.

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    1. at least our latest move didn't cost a small fortune with flights, no where near as much planning needed to move across town, I'll be trying the harness next week

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  2. Particularly gorgeous looking cat, although I love your dog too! I’m just contemplating adopting a cat in France and taking her to the UK - nothing compared to your travels! #AnimalTales

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  3. Poor things, they can't talk and don't understand but it sounds like you have know your furry family members and have things under control.

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  4. I did not know your blog was actually named after a chicken. How fab! I love it!
    Aww! I hope all the love and attention you have given your cat helps her feel less stressed x

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  5. Your pets are gorgeous. Moving can be stressful on them at the best of times without things like visa issues complicating matters. It sounds like they are settling down now. The dog stay and play sounds brilliant, I wish we had 1 here! #pocolo

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    1. the stay and play is fantastic and good for both of us

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  6. So cute all of them - but I'm rather smitten with your cat :)

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  7. Wow, it was like a military operation to move them. I would have been so stressed, but all worth it. Glad they are there with you, not so good that the road is busy. Hope it is sorted soon #PoCoLo

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    1. it's the story of my life, nothing is straight forward, but all worth it in the end

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  8. Thank you for this very informative blog. You have made sense of this topic by writing unique, original content. It’s easy to read, engaging and smart. Blogs of this caliber are few and far between. Garage Door Repair Manhattan Beach

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  9. Goodness, you certainly have a lot on your plate! I'm glad they're settling in now, and at least this time the distance wasn't too great. We're planning to move soon and rather dreading having to placate and relocate the cats, quite the most stressful part of it!!

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    1. the cat has been the worse, such a diva while she finds her new spot

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  10. What beautiful pets you have! I hope they settle in ok, it must be very confusing for them not understanding what's going on.

    And congratulations because someone loved this post so much, they added it to the #BlogCrush linky! Feel free to collect your "I've been featured" blog badge

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    1. thank you, i have no idea how to 'collect' badges, but thanks to Chloe for linking me up, the cat and dog have pretty much settled now

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  11. Beautiful pets - glad they're settled. And fascinating to hear how you got your blog name. Thanks for sharing with #PoCoLo

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  12. We only moved as far as France with one dog and one cat and that took enough organising ... and panicking that the cat would do one of his "runners" on the day of the move. Luckily he didn't but a different one did when we moved in the UK a few yeas before. Thank goodness we were only moving locally so we left a note to say we would come back for him in the evening and there he was, on the neighbour's doorstep ... where he always went when we went on holiday as she fed him. He must have thought we were going on holiday this time! Thank you for sharing your internationally travelled pets on #AnimalTales

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    1. I'm sure the cat and dog have no memory of any of the moves or where they've been or are going to next. The dog just jumps in the car/crate without a care in the world, the cat however complains when i shut the door on her room every night

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