# Moving items and Pets!!



## Bristol76 (May 22, 2016)

I have 5 indoor pedigree house cats which i will be bringing with me and was wondering who has bought animals from the uk with them? Was it very stressful for the animal?

Also regarding furniture etc, is it better to buy once in spain or bring own from UK?lane:


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## Maureen47 (Mar 27, 2014)

We brought our 2 dogs over on the overnight ferry , they were in a Dog Friendly cabin with us. I have to say they did find the ferry crossing stressful and it did cause a short stress unduced illness for one of my dogs shortly after arrival. The drive was fine for them as they travel well in the car. My sis in law moved a few yrs back and had to cats to bring over, she arranged a flight for them and they coped well with that. 

In terms of furniture, we brought quite a lot of stuff from the UK but I guess thats down to personal choice. You can get anything here but sometimes the the quality for the price in my opinion is not so good. There is always Ikea ! Electrical goods seem more expensive than UK as does outdoor furniture, other items around the same and some cheaper. I guess there is also something reassuring about having some familiar items around you when you first move to a new environment.

Worth mentioning too that Spanish furniture shops off house packages where you can get the basic items for a number of rooms at a set price , maybe a good option if you dont want to bring anything big.

Good Luck with your move ;-)


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## joinspain (May 24, 2016)

Are you buying or renting? 
Many properties come fully furnished. 
But I would agree with previous comment about quality for price. When we buy a property it will either be ikea or to go to a carpenter for "proper" furniture.
Though the price difference between a small load and a large may not be that different, so shop around on quotes, it may be worth bringing it all over with you. We got a very good deal and didn't fill the very large container. 
No experience on pets, but there were plenty of animals on the overnight ferry.


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## Simon22 (May 22, 2015)

We brought our cat and possessions in motorhome, it's like a van the cat (and us) lived in for three days. It worked a treat and allowed us to stop where and when we wanted.


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## Chica22 (Feb 26, 2010)

Bristol76 said:


> I have 5 indoor pedigree house cats which i will be bringing with me and was wondering who has bought animals from the uk with them? Was it very stressful for the animal?
> 
> Also regarding furniture etc, is it better to buy once in spain or bring own from UK?lane:


I brought 3 cats with me from the UK. They flew on the same plane as us (in the hold). I am sure it was stressful for them (it was always stressful for them to be put in the catbox for the 5 minute journey by car to the vets!!). 

The journey was seamless, and I just had to switch off from the fact that they were in a cage in the hold for 3 hours. As soon as I got them here I put all of them in a room with a cat litter tray and their blankets and food etc.

Within 24 hours of landing in Spain, they were back to normal, eager to go outside. After 10 years, two died of natural causes, but we still have one remaining, who I am sure prefers her life in Spain than in the UK

For me it was preferable to transport them by air (although this is expensive) and get the journey completed as soon as possible, rather than drive to Spain. Although for others driving down is the best option. It is only a short time in their lives and they will recover quickly from the journey.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Chica22 said:


> I brought 3 cats with me from the UK. They flew on the same plane as us (in the hold).  I am sure it was stressful for them (it was always stressful for them to be put in the catbox for the 5 minute journey by car to the vets!!).
> 
> The journey was seamless, and I just had to switch off from the fact that they were in a cage in the hold for 3 hours. As soon as I got them here I put all of them in a room with a cat litter tray and their blankets and food etc.
> 
> ...


We flew our then 11 year old cat over - she settled right in within hours of arriving at her new home & lived another 7 & a bit years


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## Chica22 (Feb 26, 2010)

One of the cats we flew over was 17 years old, and enjoyed her final years in the sun.

The cat we still have now refuses to go out if it is raining or windy, even though she spent the first 5 years of her life in the UK. I am convinced cats, like humans, get acclimatized to the weather.


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## davids0865 (Apr 12, 2016)

Sorry for a little thread drift, but, are rentals in Spain generally "cat friendly"?


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

davids0865 said:


> Sorry for a little thread drift, but, are rentals in Spain generally "cat friendly"?


We've rented for 13 years nearly, moved a few times - & always had cats. 

A couple of landlords have said no pets, but then we've talked to them & had no problems & the clause has been taken out of the contract.

I was once told that it's a human right to have pets, so a 'no pets' clause in a rental contract holds no water anyway. I've never checked it out - but it wouldn't surprise me if it were true.


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## Bristol76 (May 22, 2016)

joinspain said:


> Are you buying or renting?
> Many properties come fully furnished.
> But I would agree with previous comment about quality for price. When we buy a property it will either be ikea or to go to a carpenter for "proper" furniture.
> Though the price difference between a small load and a large may not be that different, so shop around on quotes, it may be worth bringing it all over with you. We got a very good deal and didn't fill the very large container.
> No experience on pets, but there were plenty of animals on the overnight ferry.


We are renting and I've seen loads with furniture so didn't know if i should bring loads of my own x


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## Bristol76 (May 22, 2016)

davids0865 said:


> Sorry for a little thread drift, but, are rentals in Spain generally "cat friendly"?


Im hoping so x


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## leemaboy (Jan 2, 2015)

Hi Bristol!

We are also about to move to Javea from Exeter and we have 5 cats and 3 children.

We have already rented a house near Calpe where we go often to use it as a base for exploring. We only have some clothes at our rental for now - just essential stuff to lighten our air journeys! It came fully furnished as many rentals do. We didn't encounter any landlords that wouldn't allow cats. Mostly they are concerned about dogs. 

Once the summer season is over and more rentals appear on the market we will be moving our clothes to a rental in Javea.

At that point, we'll have all of our treasured stuff moved over there. We're not bringing large stuff like sofas, tables, bookcases etc. we'll buy those new or use what's in the new rental.

Leaving the bulky stuff means we don't need huge volume of truck! I've worked out that everything we're going to bring will fit into a large luton van, which is about 15 cubic meters.

I've got a quote from a company who are based outside of Gloucester who also have a depot somewhere on the costa blanca and he quoted me £120 per cubic meter to move our stuff. £1,200 is a great price, I think. Apparently he's not the cheapest either!

For the cats, I currently have a half-baked plan of assembling some kind of cage behind the front seats of our people-carrier (Grand Voyager)and removing all of the rear seats. The cats can then be put in the back of the voyager and i will be able to get in and out of the front seats without risk of them escaping. I plan to put them in the back with a few litter trays, loads of food and water and bedding and drive the voyager to Javea.

I've not decided if I'll go on the ferry Plymouth to Santander or on the Eurostar/ferry to somewhere in France first and then drive down to Javea but it will be one of those routes. I just want to minimise the stress for the cattens  I feel that driving them myself will be the nicest way for them.

Our 2 school-age kids will be going to XIC because in our opinion they are too old to join the state system and it would be unfair on them. Plus, XIC seems to offer lots of integration opportunities for us parents too.

Sometime in 2017 we will look at purchasing a house in Javea if everything is going well.


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## joinspain (May 24, 2016)

We lucked out in our removals... My partner had his full workshop/studio with some large heavy items that had to come, so we needed a full load, we managed to get a guy who was from our town in Spain who happened to be moving some folks back to England, our journey out there coincided so he did us a good deal on a double Arctic truck, we only paid £1000 and we didn't even come close to filling it. 
If you get a Luton make sure you are not over the weight limit as most won't check and they apparently look out for them in Spain as they fine a lot for being over loaded.


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## joinspain (May 24, 2016)

Oh & I wouldn't worry too much about school, we found all the schools we looked at we would have been happy with. We went with the one with the best feel, it was the smallest, mainly locals with less equipment than the others, but they were the friendliest and we liked the teachers a lot, they are so friendly, great with the kids and have really helped them settle.


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