Two Americans emigrate to New Zealand from Colorado,
USA.
We talk about
our life in Nelson, New Zealand.
Many immigrants choose to take their pets with them abroad, and we were in that same boat. Our two cats, Porter and Olivia, were our children. They were coming with us no matter what!
In September 2005 soon after we were selected from the EOI pool, we contacted a pet transport service in Los Angeles that was helpful in interfacing directly with the Biosecurity and Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry departments of the New Zealand government responsible for monitoring the import of animals into the country. The process really about 6-9 months of time because you have to manage your pet’s rabies titre tests over a 6-month window prior to shipment and have a bunch of other checkups done in the meantime. In addition, you have to prepare to have your pet quarantined once s/he arrives in New Zealand for 30 days. This is arranged separately through a few approved facilities throughout the country.
The cats were on their schedule to get exams into the new year, 2006, and then we had a real debate with ourselves: our cats did not get along at all, they lived separate lives in our house each day, with one having full run of the house at night, the other having full run during the day. This is because our beloved Porter turned into a psycho cat after our last kitty Jordan died 3 years prior. He always attacked any cat (behind windows or screens) that came within 100 feet of our house, and this included interactions with new arrival Olivia.
Olivia was tolerant of Porter early on as we tried to introduce her into the house, but it soon became clear that Porter would not have her anywhere near him unless it was between his incisors. So, for three years we lived with our cats, one at a time, and the reality was setting in that this move to New Zealand was going to pose a problem.
We expected to have a much smaller house than we did in Colorado and keeping them separate each and every day would prove very difficult. It was an unspoken issue between the two of us for some time, but it finally came to a head when our residency was confirmed.
Then, as things can happen, in February 2006 Angela’s mom was ready to adopt a new cat after her kitty Spooky passed on from old age. If anyone would understand the particular cat Porter was, it was Angela’s mom who would spoil and love him in exactly the way he needed. Angela talked to her mom, mom talked to her husband, and in five minutes mom was excited to welcome Porter into her home. It just felt right at the time, although very, very sad. Porter would have a much better life living in Santa Fe, the only kitty ruling his domain where he could hunt, sleep, and eat to his heart’s desire. His mom and dad (us) would really miss him, but could see him in photos and hear him on the phone (he is a very vocal cat!)
After a month of training Porter to get used to a six-hour drive from Denver to Santa Fe—which proved quite useless as he didn’t handle the ride very well at all—May 2006 arrived and it was time to take Porter to his new home with grandma. Taking him over Memorial Day weekend ensured that we would be in the country for six weeks to help if there were any issues, and Porter would avoid the stress of the major part of our packing up house.
As hard as it was to drive away from him in Santa Fe, it was the best decision we made about our move to New Zealand, because he is so well cared for and has a much better life than we could give him here. A few people have asked us why we chose Porter to stay in the States rather than Olivia. Well, it truly was a match made in heaven between Porter and Angela’s mom: Porter has a few special needs, one of which is to be the only cat, he would not tolerate another to share his kingdom. He has a lot of love to give and is very needy for humans and his own space. Angela’s mom only wanted one kitty and wanted a kitty that had a personality just like Porter’s. Turns out Mom, Richard, and Porter are now a new family doing fabulously, with everyone loving the arrangement, especially Porter. And we get to see him getting fat and happy, living out his retirement years in sunny Santa Fe.
Olivia, on the other hand, had to endure the travails of coming to New Zealand. She completed all her final tests throughout May and early June 2006, visiting the vet for all sorts of cleanings of many orifices and more rabies titre tests. She was scheduled to fly from Los Angeles to Auckland on June 22, the week before our shipping container arrived and the house would be completely packed up. Most cats find it extremely stressful to have changes around the house, and since we were moving everything, we wanted to avoid adding that stress. I scheduled a flight to take her to Los Angeles from Denver on June 21 around 6pm. Olivia would land in Auckland, hop a flight to Christchurch, and then be transported about an hour away to the Canterbury Quarantine facility outside of the city. All in all, about 24 hours straight in her crate.
The weekend before Olivia was to start her trip, Denver was in the midst of a summer heat wave. The pet transport company alerted me to the fact that some airlines were embargoing pets from travel during the high heat of the day, usually 10am – 6 or 7pm. This presented a huge problem because I was scheduled to leave in the late afternoon. It would have been nice for the shipping company to share this information prior to our purchasing the LA ticket!! [They were a bit snooty about it, telling me it was possible after the fact: thanks, big help!]
Either way, I was in a pickle: Olivia had to be there one day before departure to undergo further veterinary tests. If she wasn’t going to be allowed to board the plane because the temperature in the cargo area was too high, big problem. I contacted our vet who had to supply additional paperwork to approve of Olivia travelling from 90-degree Denver into Los Angeles. I could have waited to the day of travel to see if there would be an embargo, but I didn’t want to stress about it because there was no room for making changes. So, I changed my ticket to leave early in the morning on the 21st, rather than 6pm. You aren’t embargoed in the early morning hours because the temperature is always low enough for a cat to sit in the cargo area.
Cat crate in hand, off to the airport we went. I also contacted the LA hotel and begged to check in early to my room, and they were very accommodating as well. I was going to be able to get into my room after landing around 10am. So, Olivia and I were off and the poor cat was scared to death. One final check had to be done at the airport by airport security who took us both into a separate secret room, opened Olivia’s crate to make sure I wasn’t transporting anything terroristy. Final check done, someone escorted her crate down to the plane and I wouldn’t see her again until I found her in LA.
Arrival in Los Angeles with a normal flight, and Olivia was not at the location that I was told she would be upon landing. I had to go to the ticketing area and after about 10 minutes of biting my nails, they brought her out in her heavily flagged crate. Still frightened about her airplane ride (it must have been so loud for her down there!), I cooed and ahhhed at her, we picked up our car, and spent the next 24 hours in the hotel. She wouldn’t speak to me or venture to her kitty litter at all, she just hid under the bed. I knew it would likely be an adventure trying to capture her for her vet appointment the next day.
As Olivia is an indoor-only cat, my carryon luggage contained all her needs: food and water dishes, food, small litter pan, bag of litter, brush, toys, and various pieces of clothing that smelled like Don and me. She didn’t come near me for anything, even wet food, but she did eat and wee just a bit. I also caught her exploring a bit in the middle of the night.
Next day we went out for her final vet exam in the morning. Routine. Except for the fact that the vet was astonished at how full her bladder was. I told the vet she hadn't peed in like forever, but while she was concerned, she knew eventually Olivia would have to go, and she'd find a place to do it in her crate.
We got back to the hotel room and, even though I was approved for late check-out, we had to evacuate our hotel room about 3 hours prior to meeting up at the biosecurity office where she would be taken, examined again, and her crate sealed for the trip later that night on Air New Zealand.
So we found a small park, I let her out of her crate and placed her on my lap and just pet her. She stayed there peacefully until we had to go, poor thing! Seems she had a bit of rest in my lap just then, glad for the affection. Then I dropped her off with the transport company folks, and she was off on her adventure, arriving in the country well ahead of mom and dad.
I learned that she made her flight, landed safely at both airports, and buried herself under all her bedding at the quarantine facility, where she remained until we picked her up mid-July. I expected her to be shell shocked and scared of her new surroundings. But on pick-up day we drove the 5 hours from Nelson to Christchurch, then turned around and came right back another 5 hours, and brought her to our new rental. Within hours she was exploring a bit and meowing hellos to us; clearly she missed us and was glad to see us.
She has adjusted spectacularly, as has Porter. He spends his time hunting mice and sitting in his favourite spots all around his very own adobe house in Santa Fe. Preparing to ship our cats, and eventually just Olivia, was the most hectic, involved process that we had to go through, but it’s the best thing to have your close ones around!
back to Part 11: Choosing where to live | Immigration home | on to Part 13: Packing up and shipping our stuff
