To keep you up to date on how the cats are doing and how well we are doing on donations I will post regular updates in this section.

The cats will be houses at Tophat N Tail in Solihull, UK for the duration of their Quarantine.  Whilst in Quarantine they will receive full vaccinations against all the usual cat diseases, worming and Rabies shots.

I would also like to take this time to thank you all in advance for supporting Felix, Pudding, George and Googles in their quest for a happy life.

An extra special thanks to my Boss for putting up with me and my kittens!!!

Update 30 Sept 07 - The site has now been live for 2 days and donations currently stand at £500/$1000

This is a much better start than I was expecting and hopefully it won't take too long to hit target.  I would like to say a big thank you to everyone that has donated so far, your donation is very much appreciated :)

Update 12 Oct 07- Donations currently stand at £925/$1850

Part of the cash so far raised has gone towards the purchase and shipping of the carriers.

Keep em coming!!!

Update 04 Dec 07 -  The 4 cats finally made it safely back to the UK on 15th November!  Preparation for the journey was relatively simple, some of the funds raised were used to purchase the travel boxes and vets papers and the rest was used on the flight to Amman and the onward flight to the UK.  That said the journey was still fairly traumatic and it didn't go exactly to plan!  Firstly there was a 12 hour delay at BIAP waiting for a flight to Amman, when we finally arrived in Amman it was too late to get to the cargo office and book them on a flight the next day so after a night of rest I had to go and book the onward flight for the day after that.  Booking the flight to the UK wasn't too bad in itself but I had to be persistent to get the flight I wanted them on.  On the morning of 15th Nov I took the cats over to the cargo section of the airport and spent 2 hours trying to get all the signatures and stamps that were required in order for them to board, at this point Royal Jordanian wanted even more money from me but thankfully they let me off with that after a few tears of frustration!  Finally the cats were boarded on the flight and landed back in the UK 6 hours later.  Thinking all was well at this point I came back to Baghdad only to find out that the transport that was collecting them from Heathrow had broken down so they would need to spend a night in the animal reception centre before moving to the quarantine facility.

The cats have now been in quarantine for 2 weeks and although it is taking time they a slowly settling.  None of them have taken to it particularly well but with time they will settle down again.  They have all developed some serious attitude but each time they are visited by my parents they seem a little better.  There are some new photo's of them on the pics page.  It also now looks like Felix and Pudding may be pregnant!  I am still hoping they are just fat because they are fed well but the vet has not managed to examine them properly yet so until that happens we will not know!  if they are pregnant the kittens will stay with their mothers for 8 weeks after which time I will be looking for loving homes for them and their mothers will stay in quarantine until they get out on May 14th 08.

Donations have slowed down recently and the fund is almost gone now so please continue to show your support and encourage donations for this cause.  They still have 6 months to do in quarantine and every penny counts towards the cost of this!!!

Again I would like to say another big thank you to all of those that have donated so far, the money was very gratefully received and every penny has been spent on the cats and getting them home.

Also, if anyone out there has an animal they want to take home from Baghdad then please do not hesitate to contact me for information.  As I said, it is not easy but it is possible!  I am also now looking at taking home the 2 dogs we have acquired, Gabriel & Zeus, this was not intentional but these 2 guys appeared and I loved them instantly so they too will get to go back to a loving home in the UK.

Update 22 Apr 08 - It's been a while since I updated due to being extremely busy at work and obviously bringing home the 2 dogs I found in late last year.  The dogs, Gabe and Zeus made it back to the UK on 15th Jan 08.  They are both at the same facility as the cats and are living in a kennel together so they are not lonely.  Sadly on the day the dogs arrived George passed away, he had shown signs of illness just a few hours prior to passing away and he died on arrival at the vets.  Various tests were carried out on his body and other than being able to rule out rabies a cause of death could not be established although it was likely down to stress or a possible heart condition that we did not know about.  The other 3 cats are doing absolutely fine and will be released from quarantine in 3 weeks at which time they will be brought to my home in the UK to live a long happy life.  After the 3 cats and 2 dogs I swore I wouldn't do this again but within days of arriving back in Iraq after taking home Gabe and Zeus a little kitten with only a stump for a tail found me!!  I tried to ignore him but this dirty scruffy little kitten made me feel very sorry for him so it wasn't too long before he had moved himself into my trailer!  I called him Tigger.  I had no plans of bringing Tigger back to the UK but as usual I have no will power and on 16th Apr 08 he flew back to the UK!!!!  He is now safely in the same facility as all the others and has settled well :) 

In Feb of this year I was contacted by a gentleman that also worked in Baghdad that had adopted a cat, Missy and wanted to take her home.  Dennis had previously owned 3 cats in Iraq but unfortunately, whilst he was on leave the 2 of the cats were disposed of by Vector Control in Iraq.  When he got back he managed to find Missy and got hold of me so I could assist him in getting her home to the UK.  The procedure was just the same as when I took the first 4 cats home so I arranged for Missy to get the relevant paperwork, flights, hotel etc and Missy flew home early March 08.  Missy is in a different facility to the rest of them but as you will see from the picture she is happy and settled.  I would like to personally thank Dennis at this time as he made a very hefty donation to the fund and this was a great help in paying some of the mounting quarantine fees.

Donations currently stand at £435/$870

Please keep the donations coming!!

Although the cats come out of quarantine in 3 weeks there are still vets costs to be paid, all 3 cats will need to be neutered/spayed.  The dogs and Tigger will also have various vet bills to be paid over the coming months well so please donate, every $ or £ helps towards this cause. 

I would also like to offer special thanks the Ann at Laru Travel in Amman.  She did all the flight bookings and arranged transport to the cargo terminal and a translator.  Without Ann's help the task of getting the animals home would have been so much harder.  Please see links page for details of Laru Travel