My siblings

Friday, May 02, 2008

This is Bunny and Veeb's favorite Aunt Mouse. My dad got her one weekend when my mother wasn't home to say no, he called me up to tell me about it, described how skinny and wiry she is, so I told him he should name her Mouse.

Ten years later Mouse has gained a couple of gray hairs and more than a couple of pounds. She's got cow udder for a gut. From other angles it looks like a peach. Or a baboon's behind. Or a giant hooha.

Despite the advanced age and weight, Mouse is still the greatest nemesis to mice, gophers, and the two frogs that live in the little koi pond out front. She's being sent to her cousins in DC when my mom moves to China next month - they have a huge yard filled with other playmates so I hope she'll be happy there and not try to walk all the way back home. Although she could use the exercise.

We're definitely a little more worried about this one.

This is Mocha. She's a poodle and she's eleven years old. I call her the World's Saddest Puppy because she spends about 80% of her little dog life waiting for my mother to come home. When she goes out for errands I try to distract Mocha from the window with a rousing game of cards or a belly rub or a dog treat. But she was never a playful dog - tennis balls bounced acrossed the yard unchased - a belly rub from me is about as welcome as a bath, and a dog treat doesn't last 5 seconds long enough for her to forget that there's a window with a view that she has to get back to. I even try talking to her, interjecting her name every three words so she'd look at me. But her focus is 100% on mom.

So now the question is, do they bring the dog with them to China and risk her not making the long and scary travel plus the long and scary month-long quarantine? Or do they leave her with friends and risk her dying of a broken heart?

If I could take you Mocha I would.

Three years is a long time to wait by the window.

I'm doing some research online, but if anyone has some first-hand experience traveling with pets overseas, I'd love to hear it!

Comments [13]
Filed Under: Cats

Friday, May 02, 2008 5:00:26 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

oh, break my heart. I know nothing about traveling internationally with pets, but I would say try. Three years is so much longer than a month, even if you can't tell time.

anmiryam | abudnerAT NOSPAMcomcast dot net

Friday, May 02, 2008 5:29:29 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

oh good grief, how sad! i think your mom should try to take her to china. dogs can be come very attached (as you know), and i think that too much change is stressful for them. we adopted a second dog a year ago, and now they cannot be separated or they get mopey. we have a friend who travels to and from europe regularly with her dog without any problems. mocha looks like she might be small enough to fit under the seat, which means a safer and more relaxing trip. my dog is 50lbs and has to fly in the cargo area (temperature and pressure-controlled), but it is very stressful to fly that way all alone. also, if your dog has to fly in cargo, you MUST get a direct flight (as far as i know), and that might be more difficult flying all the way to china. if she is small enough and if you can get sedatives from the vet, definitely have her fly in a dog carrier under the seat. as anmiryam said, one month is better than three years. good luck! please keep us posted on the situation.

mai | maitai113AT NOSPAMgmail dot com

Friday, May 02, 2008 5:37:22 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

my parents moved our beloved, now deceased, beagle from NZ to AUS through pet carrier, it was pretty smooth. but since it's between NZ and AUS, there's no quarantine time. i would definitely take the dog, though. if your folks place in china has a place for it. good luck!!

blossom | blossomAT NOSPAMwhisperingpine dot org

Friday, May 02, 2008 7:12:40 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

My parents' dog is named Mocha!

I have a friend who took her cat to Japan with no problems with the quarantine and her cat was very attached to her. She was able to visit the kitty in quarantine and the conditions weren't horrid. But China might not be so pet-friendly.

If I ever move overseas, I plan to charter a jet so the kitties can be with me in the cabin. But I might be a bit on the crazy side.

Sundara | customerserviceAT NOSPAMsundarayarn dot com

Friday, May 02, 2008 8:54:40 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

First, leave the dog with the friends for a week and see how it goes.

Jan Hughes | felisquatroAT NOSPAMcomcast dot net

Saturday, May 03, 2008 12:34:23 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

Mouse's giant chubby belly is at once adorable and hilarious. How can you possibly resist rubbing it all the time? Although the constant rubbing might be the root of the lack of hair. Hmm.

I vote for taking Mocha to China. For a dog who spends much of her life waiting, being visited in quarantine won't be much different than waiting for your mom otherwise. However, months upon months of waiting without seeing her beloved Mom? It would be too much, I think. But I don't have any experience one way or the other, so what I offer is just conjecture.

Janine | periscopeknitsAT NOSPAMgmail dot com

Saturday, May 03, 2008 2:15:55 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

What great pictures!

When my husband and I moved from San Diego to the UK, we brought our cat with us. UK regulations allowed her to be quarantined at home (as the quarantine was for rabies), so she stayed with my parents. We worked with a pet travel agent (yes, they do exist) because UK regulations required it, but were glad we did. Our travel agent knew which airlines treat pets the best (Continental in our case) and also what to expect. Our girl spent over 24 hours from when I dropped her off at Sea-Tac to when we picked her up at London Gatwick (she had a lay-over), and she wasn't the happiest kitty, but she recovered in a day and we are so glad to have her here with us. :)

Sonja | knitterbelleAT NOSPAMblogspot dot com

Saturday, May 03, 2008 10:14:58 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

Take the dog to China. Take the dog. Take the dog. Take the dog. I had to send my boy to my parents eight states away for five years, and he pined the entire time. He eventually would play and hang out, but every time I came home for a weekend, he would be glued to my side - and then when I left, he wouldn't eat for three days. It was awful, it broke my heart AND his, and if I could do it over again, I would have found some other solution. They do remember, and they do pine. A month-long quarantine is so much better than three years without your mom.

ames | knitterlychickAT NOSPAMyahoo dot com

Sunday, May 04, 2008 11:05:41 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

I actually teared reading about Mocha. No question about it, take Mocha to China!

Dawn Flynn | wflynn1AT NOSPAMtriad dot rr dot com

Sunday, May 04, 2008 11:29:17 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

My dad moved his dog from Seoul to Hong Kong, and though there was a month of quarantine, they were allowed to visit her every day. They definitely should take her, though, if she's that attached. Poor baby.

Alexandra | afallowsAT NOSPAMgmail dot com

Tuesday, May 06, 2008 3:17:07 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

When we moved 15 years ago from Moscow, Russia, to Boston, we took our American cocker-spaniel Katya with us. Despite her small size (under 15 lbs.), she did have to travel in a cargo area (we were able to visit her during our flight). She was very stressed out at the end of the trip, but she recovered quickly in New York (where we landed). Sometimes people give their dogs relaxing meds to make a flight easier. You'll need to check with the airline your parents are flying on - they would be able to be more specific about restrictions, regulations etc. I would definitely vote for taking a poor baby Mocha to China :-)

Elena | elena dot lebedevAT NOSPAMverizon dot net

Wednesday, May 14, 2008 1:47:52 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

The only piece of advice that I can add is that if Mocha goes to China and if she gets medication for the trip--give it a test run first. I don't know about dogs, but cats occasionally can react oddly to sedatives, becoming more anxious, rather than less. Melissa learned the hard way not to give them to one of her cats pre-travel, because they just made things worse.

sarah-hope | shAT NOSPAMwhatifknits dot com

Saturday, May 24, 2008 11:02:21 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

Probably too late now, but I brought my cats to the UK from California. There wasn't a quarantine (I mean there is and it's 6-months, but it's homebased so they they just stayed w/ my mom). You cannot sedate pets for flying 'cause it's far too dangerous. However, what we did, and it requires planning in advance, is to get some herbal thing you add to the water that calms them down. I think my mom did this for 3-4 weeks before the cats got put on the plane and it worked really well. The travel isn't as horrible as it seems, but there may be restrictions on when you can fly pets to/from places because of weather (i.e. too hot or too cold).

I just had to leave my cat at a kennel for 6 weeks while I returned to the US and it sucked, but she was okay - of course very glad to see me when I came to get her. Generally you are allowed to visit pets in quarantine.

Shannon | shannonAT NOSPAMlibrarygirl dot co dot uk