Two cats prepare to fly

Moose, the grey one, is around 14 years old and Mocha, brown, maybe 6 years. They've never flown. You can see how stressed out they are as they practice waiting....   they will ride on 4 different planes in 48 hours next week.  It's crazy, I know, and the story sounds so mundane to us by now, but people are so curious about it and have asked that I write it down.

So, yes, we are taking two cats to Africa with us.  It's for the kids, they love their cats and it will be their security blanket as we venture into this huge new journey. As my friends said the other night, it's like the kids are launching off on a rocket ship - they can't really know what is coming. The cats will be their familiar link, their snuggle blanket, from home. As you can see, Moose will let the kids do anything with her, dress her, squeeze her, hold her upside down.  She really is a great cat.

So here's the schedule - 1 adult, 1 kid and 1 cat fly out of Alamosa on Monday night, then 1 more adult, 1 more kid, and 1 more cat fly out on Tuesday morning.  This because no more than one animal may fly on the small planes out of this valley.  And on the way to the airport Monday we go by the vet to get their health certificates which must be less than 48 hours old as of boarding Air France in New York.  Phew.  So we all rendezvous in Denver THEN 2 adults, 2 kids, and 2 cats board the cabin on Delta.  But in New York, cats must be transferred into their hard carrier crate and checked as cargo - on to Paris, where we claim cats, feed, water, poop, we hope, then check them again to Bamako.

I love to travel, but this is a little unnerving.  We'll try valerian root tincture on the cats, but I'm getting the real cat valium from the vet, we might need it. All this after hours on the phone with Air France/Delta and many hours of crate ordering, vet appointments, and budgeting for cat plane rides. You don't want to hear how much we're paying!

This is one crazy detail on our move. We are over most the other hurdles...  house rented, dog has new family (we miss him alot), cell phones changed, insurance, family visits, doctor visits, dentists, bodywork, computers, garage sale, packing, shipping our crate.  The list was massive. When I moved to Africa for Peace Corps in 1989 I took my backpack. period. This time, with 4 people and 2 cats, we shipped 1500 lbs of stuff. It's a new journey!!

One week from today, no matter how many things are checked or unchecked, we will get on that first plane!  All of your support has been incredible and we are so grateful for our family and friends!  A la prochaine!