I am still not sure what to do with our gorgeous ,super sweet , purebred Himalayan cat ( the fluffy kind with siamese markings,blue eyes and round faces).She is truly the sweetest cat in the world ( people have always gasped at how passive she is as my dd carries her about or takes her for a stroll in her triple stroller or allows her self to be passed around in a Kindergarten etc class,because her compliant nature is so uncat like).She is one of the first things my child hugs in the morning and last thing she wants to hug before we go to bed.

So ofcourse my child would like to take her with us,but our trip is just too long for that and in too many countries.I am still working on my mom,but she is old so I hate to burden them as they don't really want to cat sit at this age.My sister loves her,but has a feral cat that she worries will kill our delicate flower.

So I am not sure what to do.Ideally I would like someone to love and adore her while we are gone and also be willing to give her back if and when we get back,but realize that might be too much to ask for.She is about 8 years old and cost a fortune when we bought her,but has been worth every penny.It will be so hard to be away from her,but I do not see any other choice.

Any ideas? I have a few months to come up with something brilliant.

We have a wonderful vet where we board our cats while we travel.

We had problems with a family pet when we went on our long trip too.

My husband's oldest daughter took our dog, but when we returned, she was devastated at the thought of losing what had become "her" dog. We ended up letting her keep the dog, but this was a question that was open for several months after we got home. Now we have a cat instead.

I think the best solution is to find a close friend or family member who will keep your cat for you and be emotionally able to give the cat back when you return-- ie to act as a kind of foster parent. But it sounds like you may continue to spend lots of time in Europe-- in fact, you said "if" you come back. So can you really even maintain an ownership for the cat?

Maybe you just need to find the cat a new home. Spread the word about this wonderful cat, put up posters where you work, maybe even put a "give away" ad in the paper (stating that you are moving overseas).

I agree this is one of the toughest decisions!

Kathy

WT, I agree with kaydee. A few years back, my youngest daughter made extra money by pet sitting. Her duties included making sure the pet had adequate food and water and changing the litter box. Do you know of any trustworthy college students who live nearby?

Exactly how long are you going to be gone and where are you traveling to?? A pet needs companionship. No offence, but someone coming in once a day just to feed, water and clean the box will not be healthy for this loving cat. She needs to have a family. Why can't you take her with you?? She seems to be the perfect cat to take, able to adjust to her surroundings with ease. She loves you and depends on you, and your child is also going to have a hard time adjusting. What would it take for her to travel with you?

Ginger

Not knowing how long you'll be away (or if you are moving house as well), it is difficult to say. As a rule I find that cats are as attached to "place" as person. That is not to say they are not affectionate , or don't deeply miss "their humans", but the changes are far less if they can remain in their territory.

Whenever I am away, I ask one of my young work colleagues, usually a young woman still living at home, if the would "cat sit". Ideally they then move into our house while we are away and not only feed and cuddle (cats permitting), but also keep the house secure. As both of my cats are Ex strays , I hate the idea of putting them in a cattery,

Hey cat lovers...

I've been in a couple of other conversations with WT and know a bit about her plans. You can read an early posting here and a more recent discussion here. She is talking about being away from the USA for an extended time.

Kathy

Normally I would agree with you about territory but this cat seems to be exceptional, in that she's not afraid of different places. Being passed around in a kindergarten class of all places indicates a high level of adaptability. If she were mine I would do all in my power to make sure she could come with us. At the risk of sounding preachy, do you want your child to remember this trip as the time when she lost her beloved pet??

Ginger

We always have a housesitter with our dogs.I love traveling but would not leave them in a kennel,ever.RR

Thanks all.Sorry,I should have made my trip plans a little more clear because that really does affect this problem.Its more a lifestyle change than a trip and we are doing a very long,slow,open ended,years long, round-the-world
journey.

We sold our home,but she is very docile ,adaptable cat who is not attached to a place.( She was bred to be a show cat).She is addicted to love and is more interested in that than food and that has always been her way.But we leave her alone with food and water if we go away for a week and she has spent extensive time with others ( months)and did well( like when my child was born and has some medical problems for a while).In fact ,my sister and her husband fell so in love with her that it was hard to give her back and then they got thier own cat ( which makes it hard now for them to take her even tho they would like to as their cat is wild and hates mine).

I am not sure if we will ever come back here to live as a trip like this is sure to change us and we will be open to settling down in another part of the world if that feels right when we are ready to do that.

I am inspired by people like the Terhorsts( http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/Shores/5315/) who retired at 35 and are still perpetual travelers enjoying that lifestyle of being "homeless" traveling the world for 20
years or so.I have been active on a list called families on the road where people have traveled by RV on this continent and others for years raising and schooling thier children as they go and loving that life,so they are also inspirations that make me wonder if I will ever end this "journey".

If we were just going to one country , I would consider taking her,but we will be in many,many countries and each one has major rules about animals which are as tricky as getting our own long stay visa ( super hard).We did take another cat on lots of RV trips including one to Mexico,but this is much more complicated.

A friend suggested a nursing home,so I will look into that and talk some more to my mom.I
really hesitate giving her away for
good,because we are so attached to her.But I also do not see the point of paying a cattery for years either even if I could find one that would do it.

I appreciate all your thoughts.I might have to come to terms with letting her go ( she is so beautiful and sweet that I think that would be quite easy ..to find her a good permanent home)but I am still hoping to find an ideal situation if I can.I know its wierd because I want someone open enough to love her and enjoy her and possibly own her forever ,but also be willing to give her back at some point if we return or settle down somewhere later.It might be too much to ask.

Without being too nosy,how can you afford this choice? Are you planning on working? RR

WT

Sadly, your location is not shown on the board. My niece has done TONS of animal rescues and there are quite often pets who HAVE to be left behind and they do get boarded in foster homes where they are loved dearly as these folks are dedicated to animals. When they get a good one that is easy to adopt, they go to a new owner after HEAVY applications to find out the new owners intentions.

We have two that have been the rescue route and they come all the way from Atlanta where she is based. They have a puppy right now, as example, that a woman is coming from Chicago to Atlanta to get this doggy.

Check with Best Friends as well, a non-profit shelter in Utah. They will take ANY animal and it will remain with them. One of their best stories is of one cat whose owners sold their house and bought an RV. Well the cat hated car travel and during their trip, they stopped at Best Friends. He is still there today and living a very, very happy life!!

You can email me privately if you would like more information on this.

Good luck!

Doug

www.bestfriends.org

Thought the link would help... Also they are NATIONAL.

Doug

WT... one more

Judith just informed me that there is a society for rescue of himalyan and persian cats.

www.persiancats.org

That may be another option for you where they are looking SPECIFICALLY to rescue your breed.

Doug

WT,
Have you contacted the breeder of your cat? My older sister raised Persian show cats in the previous century and she would have taken any of her babies back, regardless of how old the cat was.

Good luck on finding your baby a new home. I would volunteer, but my allergies would cause me to find myself a new home.

DMae

Thank you again!

Doug, those are great links!! I am in SF area ( not sure why it did not show) so the Persian place in northern Ca is perfect location wise.I don't know if I can just let her go to strangers( I really have not come to terms with really letting her go forever yet as we love her so)but if it turns out that I run out of choices,I am glad to know about those places.

DMae,Great idea about breeder,tho she has gone out of business,retired and moved away.

RR,
"Without being too nosy,how can you afford this choice? Are you planning on working"

Its not too nosy and a perfectly understandable question.As I mentioned we are following the Terhorsts style early retirement...they sold thier home in Ca ( and cars and most everything) and have lived simply while traveling the world for the last 20 years and have increased thier net value at the same time by managing their own investments from the road.So our plan is to increase our net worth while we travel the world and enjoy ourselves and only spend from part of the "interest pile".

We are not planning on working,tho we could do a little bit as we go via laptop if we ever felt a need,but it would defeat the whole purpose in our eyes if we did more than a tiny amount of work.We sold a beloved home and small vineyard in SF area in order to retire early and do this kind of travel and not miss one moment of our "one and only" childs life.So it was a hard decision,but one that felt really right for us and where we are in life and what we value.

We plan on living simply and frugally as that is quite natural for us and we enjoy finding luxury on a budget We have found a gorgeous 4 bedroom home with large terraces with ocean and mountain views in a rural Andalucian, exquisite, picture perfect 16th century white village of 2000 people for 5m in the winter ( so great winter long term off season monthly rates & lovely school for my child!) but mostly we will be touring by 4berth RV that we are buying ( with buyback guarantee).
Our village:
http://www.frigilianahouses.com/Frigiliana01.shtml

The Terhorts ( like us and so many) love Paris,good food and good wine and have sophisticated tastes,but have spent a lot of their retired time in Paris ( despite it not being the cheapest place on the planet).They balance it with time in cheaper areas like Thailand and we will follow that pattern as well.Splurge on some things that have value and find ways to cut costs in less important ways.

The middle class in Europe do lots of camping and they have their snow birds as well like in this country)and it is much different than in this country.We will even camp right in Paris!France also has incredible free camping in vineyards & many municipal parks.I know a family that has been living on the road since 2000 with thier 2 kids and loving every moment.
http://www.daisydraper.co.uk/index.htm

Just all kinds of ways of doing things and we are looking forward to our adventure which seems right for all of us at this time in history.Kind of seemed like now or never for many reasons.

Probably more than you wanted to hear( more than I meant to write) ,but I hope it answers your questions some about how ordinary people can retire early and travel indefinately while allowing investments/networth to grow.We have been retired for less than a year,but so far its been great!I might write a book about it someday Real estate appears to be on a down cycle in our area ( usually takes years) so if it does not work out ,I am betting that I can find another great home here if I want to return later at a great price.Or perhaps we will buy or purchase in another country or possibly never feel a need to own again.There probably has never been a better time on the planet to travel and be connected 24/7( my child will do violin and piano lessons and talk to grandma daily via skype!).Carp Diem!

WT - I have no advice, unfortunately, but I am going through a similar dilema. We are planning on slow travelling in Europe for a year or so. While we are taking our dog with us, I know our cat would not be quite as up to handling the long plane ride, nor the moving to different locations throughout the year. Most of our friends/family are either allergic or have too many cats already, and our Katie is very affectionate and needs individed attention. I am thinking of making a deal with a friend to pay for her airfare to visit us overseas in exchange for her temporarily adopting our cat, but if that falls through I'm not sure what I'll do. It breaks my heart to think of her going to a stranger, but at the very least I may "interview" to make sure it is a loving home.

I wish you luck with your cat. I really admire that you are following your dream of long-term traveling.

Thanks Houseblend,seems we have a few things in common! I am still hoping to find someone and I am happy this thread gave me more choices if I need them.A friend suggested maybe checking out a nursing home and see if they would be interested in her staying there for a while for the patients,so something else to try.My mom just might end up doing it ,she would in a second,but my stepfather is not as pleased with the possibility.I just can not seem to bring myself to letting her go forever.We will see and I wish you luck with your process too.

Thanks for your support of our travel,its definately quite an adventure.I am wondering if we are ever going to stop, I was looking at stories of people who did long term stays on houseboats on the canals all over Europe and bought 2nd hand yachts for world travel out of Panama ( at reasonable costs considering its your home) etc that makes me see endless possibilities here.We will see what the reality is once we go.

Oh heres a good link about a tour guide who spent 8m doing what we are going to do RVing around Europe with his family who loved it ( just incase it interests you):

http://www.transitionsabroad.com/publications/magazine/...ming_in_europe.shtml

Who knows maybe we will meet abroad sometime

We do have a lot in common!

RVing around Europe sounds like such a fun approach. Unfortunately we will still be doing some work via computer, so we require an internet connection and need somewhat stable places with access. If we're ever in the same place, though, it would be fun to meet up!

As far as the cat, the nursing home is a great idea! I would imagine a nursing home would be more than happy to temporarily adopt and I'd imagine you could find a contact there to check in on your baby. Here's to finding both our cats good temporary homes!

Lets definately stay connected and see if our paths do meet on the road.I really am going to get a blog (& maybe website)one of these days ,so you will be able to keep track of where we are and be able to connect with us.

We have skype too ( which I highly recommend..the whole world can talk for free!) so free calling to anyone in the world.Its been wonderful doing lots of our business over the phone (rental ,buying RV etc)and we are going to get a webcam for it for my dd's violin & piano lessons and talking to grandparents and friends.

We plan to be hooked up to laptops 24/7 our entire trip around the world,being in an RV doesn't preclude that at all.( T-mobile,Sattelite and wifi are all ways,but I am still learning the details & am not a techie type...so dh's dept., i just know that there are people doing it for reasonable costs).I have a friend who is from Denmark who has been Rving here with his family for over a year while working in Denmark.( They are actually in Mexico now headed to Panama by RV overland with a group & will be connected the whole time and we will meet up with them in Denmark in 08).That family from the UK that has been fulltiming in RV around EU since 2000 with 2 kids while working( young daisy's family ...the 9yo girl with blog)are on thier computers lots for fun and recreation.

Don't get me wrong I am not trying to sell you on RVing as its not for everyone.We have done lots of RVing in a very small camper in Mexico & Baja ,so know we enjoy the adventure,but everybody has their own taste.We figure we will do some rentals along the way.But I just wanted you to know that laptops,working and internet connection is very much a part of full time RVing.

Terri & Mike Church have been fulltiming for 15 years and carry thier laptops with them and write fabulous books as they go.( http://www.rollinghomes.com ) So don't think of that as a limitation of Rving.

We will be doing a heck of a lot from our laptops ( haven't even bought them yet,tho we will set this one up at my moms for her to keep connected and so we can retrieve stuff from it if needed)including some virtual schooling,blogging,writing,handling investments,banking,researching the trip etc etc.

Heck if I can talk my mom into keeping the cat ,we can even talk to her daily ( or weekly) from our webcam which would do all of our hearts good .I bet she would purr when she saw us!

Ok,its late , I am brain dead and not the best typer.So..to clarify,skype is not a phone,but calling using the computer ( you just get a little cheap microphone ).http://www.skype.com/helloagain.html
Probably everybody knows about it,but I just found it and think its the greatest thing sice sliced bread for our trip.

And we won't be ON our laptops 24/7 ...hey the idea is to soak in the life eh? Just will have that available.

You guessed it...I am not much of a proof reader in this medium..& it shows

LOL...well, I didn't think you would really be on your computer all day long.

I would love to know more about how you are getting internet in your RV. I'm not much of a techie person myself and tried to do some research but in the end didn't really find any mobile options. Hubby (the tech guru) has recently been researching Swiss Telecom and they seem to have something mobile in Switzerland, but I'm not sure about other countries. If we were able to get internet from anywhere in Europe, it would open so many more doors for us. Could you find out the company you're looking at to get us started?

So, with Skype, there are no long distance fees to call back to the U.S.? That would be great!

I'm looking to start a blog soon myself. Let me know when you get started with one!