# Bringing our pet cat



## MariaS61 (Aug 5, 2017)

Hi all

We're in a bit of a quandary about whether to leave our cat Jasper with friends when we move or bring him to Cyprus. He has a heart murmur but has been otherwise healthy (if a bit fat)! Another consideration is that we do plan to do a bit of travel when we get to Cyprus and are wondering how easy it would be to get people to look after him. Any thoughts would be greatly welcomed as we adore him and want to do the best for him.


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## kimonas (Jul 19, 2008)

Recent archaeological discoveries have put Cyprus on the map as the earliest evidence for the domestication of the cat is found here, which predates those of Egypt by several thousand years. Plenty of time to acclimatise (and breed). There is in fact a bit of a cat problem here in terms of over population. I don't think Jasper would be happy here, it gets unbearably hot in the summer and with so many unneutered animals around, expat cats (unless strictly house bound) tend to get bullied or harassed. Then there are the snakes, scorpions and other unfamiliar playthings that could be deadly to the unwary pet. Not to mention the infamous cultural attitude to animals generally here which does not really favour a happy ever after picture for those contemplating bringing their animals here. There are, albeit in a thankful and rare minority, a number of unsavory characters that would deliberately poison or use stray animals as target practice. 

That's not to say that every cat expat story has been negative. We brought our cats here from the UK. They had a great time (were quite young and blended in very well) before we knew it, we attracted dozens of local cats and were surrounded and were not quite sure which were our original cats from the UK. We still saw our pets occasionally, but with the weather being as it is, they were hardly ever in. In retrospect, we wish we had saved the expense. Our experience of friends who had lost their expat pets to snakes, and the shotgun would lead us to advise thinking carefully about shipping Jasper. And knowing the psychology of cats, he will thank you for not disturbing him, and I know it's hard to hear, but as long as he is warm and fed, he won't miss you at all (but you will of course, miss him)


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## MariaS61 (Aug 5, 2017)

Thanks for this - it’s confirmed what I was worrying about! Amazingly our buyers fell in love with Jasper and want to keep hiim. This is the best for him (I feel terrible though) he’ll be in his own home and will continue to receive love and be able to see his little friend next door. He’s a very friendly cat so I reckon we love him more than he loves us and won’t really miss us too much!


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

It sounds as though he will be perfectly Ok as cats bond more to their territory than they do to their people. 
Also with a heart murmur the heat here would not be good for him.
You could always go to one of the cat rescue places once you settle here and adopt a stray.


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