Wednesday 30 June 2010

Oman: The cats depart

What are they for?I closed the door on the house for the very last time today. We will spend the next couple of nights in the Chedi before flying to London on Friday.

After several weeks of administrative traumas and a not insubstantial amount of money, the cats begin the journey to their new home today. There was deep suspicion as we took them to the airport in their sky kennels where they went through the final round of paperwork to get them onto the Qatar flight to Singapore. We will see them again at the beginning of August when they come out of quarantine. It is quite likely that Koofi will have eaten the bedding in his cage before he reaches Doha. ‘It should just come out the other end,' said the vet.

We could finally relax. Where better but in our favourite restaurant in Oman at the Chedi. Mrs M dined very heartily on a Thai duck curry, while I savoured a bowl of mussels with a Chilean red. Quite splendid.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

good luck I have just found your blog and was sad to see that you are leaving. We are from Dubai and have done 2 camping trips so far to al siffa and are looking forward to exploring Oman further. Where are you headed for now?

Mr. Steve said...

Thank you Anon for reminding me to add entries for the last couple of days.

Hope you enjoy Oman - we're heading to Singapore in August. Watch this space!

Domestiquette said...

You were able to fly your cats out at this time of year? We are attempting to move over in a few weeks with a large dog, and I'm worried they won't let him on because of the heat. Does your earlier blog have anything about bringing pets in? I'll go looking, but in case I miss anything...

Mr. Steve said...

Domestitiquette,

Our three cats are from Oman’s dustbin community and adopted us over a period of five years in Muscat. Akhi was living in a tree in our previous house and was tempted out by the smell of spicy curry, her favourite dish. Koofi was discovered as a tiny kitten in the wheel arch of our Prado, and Abi was abandoned by her mother when she was only a few hours old.

As far as we are aware, there are no restrictions on when you can fly animals in and out of the country (but try to avoid Ramadan). The airline and veterinary services will ensure that conditions are appropriate and that the animal is fit to travel. Our cats were used to the heat.....good job too as they are now in quarantine in Singapore.