No CAT-Astrophe
Well, I have been back in the States for almost a week now. I think that I have recovered from my jet lag, but unfortunately I don’t think that the cats have… either that or they have decided that the most effective way to get even with me for this latest trip is to wake me up every two hours between the hours of midnight and eight AM.
Yes, as you have probably guessed, the kitties and I managed to make it to Iowa safe and sound. And incredibly the whole experience went quite smoothly…
On Thursday I called to confirm the Logistics of F.A.T. and get directions to the area where we needed to go to pick them up. When I called, I gave my name and told the agent that I would be picking up the cats the next day and she responded, “Oh yeah. You’re the (crazy) cat lady.” (The “crazy” part was not vocalized, but I could tell from the tone of her voice that was what she was thinking.) Apparently everyone in Lufthansa’s Chicago office knew some crazy cat woman was going to be on their doorstep on Friday.
And I was too…
My dad and I left for Chicago Friday morning at ugly-thirty (aka 4:00 AM!) and made such remarkably great time to Chicago that we arrived at O’Hare’s cargo area almost three hours early. (My dad is one of those people who always has to be at least 15 minutes early for an appointment or he thinks he is late, so I wasn’t surprised that we were early… and for the first time in my life I didn’t mind being so early.)
Since we arrived so early at the office, I tried to expedite the process by offering to fill out the paperwork before the cats arrived. Unfortunately it couldn’t be done, so Dad and I went and had a long lunch while we waited for the cats’ plane to arrive in Chicago.
When I was in the office before lunch, I was told that after the plane landed it would be about an hour before I could actually see my kitties. However, a very nice man (I am not sure if he was the pilot or the animal handler) cleared the cats through customs for me right away and luckily I was able to see them less than an hour after they arrived.
I was allowed to go to the warehouse to check on them while I was waiting for the paperwork and as soon as they heard my voice they were at the doors of their kennels. It was pretty obvious that they were glad to see me and anxious to get out.
Not long afterwards I signed the paperwork and they were loaded into the car for the second part of their journey. We then headed back to Small Town Iowa and since we didn’t get stuck in Chicago traffic, everyone was more or less settled in by midnight.
And the best part of the story? Even though they were in their kennels for probably close to 24 hours, no one had any accidents en route… even though everyone did use the litter box within ten minutes of being released!
12 September 2006 at 20:48
Yeah! I am glad to hear that you and the kitties all arrived safely. Hopefully you will be back on a normal schedule soon and the kitties won’t be waking you up all night:)
12 September 2006 at 22:21
Hurray! I’ve been wondering if you were all OK and how the kitties travelled. It sounds as if they were very good
Your tale reminds me of picking up our cats when we got here. We arrived at the customs depot at 5.30am and the guy looked at us and just said ‘cats!’ before we could say anything!! And they were SO pleased to see us!
13 September 2006 at 03:34
I’m so glad to hear that you and the kitties all arrived safely!
13 September 2006 at 07:43
Glad you are all safe.
13 September 2006 at 08:02
I am so glad that you are all safe and sound, and that the kittykats are back with their momma
*Hugs*
13 September 2006 at 10:57
Yahoo!!!! glad everyone is home safe and sound.
toni
13 September 2006 at 11:44
Okay, I am officially amazed that the cats went that long in their crates without any accidents! I’m so glad that they are home with you, safe and sound. I’m sure they’ll settle into a routine again soon.
13 September 2006 at 12:59
Renee, I’m SO happy to hear that you all are safely settled!!
How cute, I could just imagine them coming to the doors of their carriers when they heard your voice. Momma? Is that you, Momma?
One time, Abner had problems urinating, and crystals in male cats can quickly be lethal. So we had him at the vet during the day while we were at work so they could monitor him. (they were able to get rid of the obstruction successfully) When we went to pick him up, one of the vet techs walked to his cage, said ‘Hello, Mr. Abner’ and he hissed, but as soon as he heard my voice and saw me, he started purring.
15 September 2006 at 02:25
I’m glad to hear that you and the kitties are safe and sound in Iowa!
15 September 2006 at 15:40
You drove right by me and didn’t even wave?! LOL, glad to hear you got your kitties. What part of Iowa are you in?
16 September 2006 at 12:29
Renee
I’m so glad to hear that you all arrived safe and sound and in one piece. It’s interesting to know that cat’s suffer from jet lag too!
Jade travels very well. He was in his box on the train coming down here for 5 and a half hours and I didn’t get a peep out of him, I don’t think many people realised that I had a cat in a travel box under my seat. But taking him into the train’s toilet halfway through the journey did get me some strange looks and he wouldn’t go in his litter box then either!
17 September 2006 at 05:28
Glad to know all went well for you and the cats, Renée! (I hadn’t been on blogs yet when I emailed you this morning)
18 September 2006 at 06:26
I used to regularly take Dan (my previous kitty) all over the world with me. He travelled more than pretty much anyone I went to high school with. LOL. And we had a 6 1/2 hour drive from the airport, so I can really sympathize with your worries pre-trip and your relief post-trip. Happy days wished to you all in Iowa!
18 September 2006 at 06:53
so glad your kitties arrived safely!