1 December 2003

The Cats Come Home... Again

Once we were back in France to get our cats we promptly came down with the flu…not just any flu, but a harsh feverish type that gave us loads of miserable symptoms.  All I could think of was that I had to be ok to get through immigration and back into England.

It was marvelous to see Monique and Bernard.  We visited the garden at our old house and the herbs were still looking fabulous.  The whole thing made me sad.  On the other hand we had a great fun playing “Jue des Tarot” and laughing our heads off in French and in English.

Julia has a new puppy that must have been Einstein in another life because she is definitely smart as a whip.  It was fun to chase her around, and be chased by her.  Flu, or no flu we had great fun.

The day before we were to return on the ferry to England we made the long drive up to Chenil Du Casaquin on the outskirts of Compiegne to bring the cats back to the vets in Senlis.  Jay made his way down lots of flights of stairs to the kennels where quite a few dogs were barking.  I didn’t go because I didn’t want to see where the cats had been in prison.  The dog barking must have terrified them since both of them had been attacked in their youth by vicious little dogs, leaving Lucy and Christopher hissing and screaming at the mere sight of any dog.

The cats were really happy to see us, and inspite of a slight mite infestation in their ears they seemed healthy.  We drove them to the vets and waited out in the cold for our turn.  The vet spoke a little English and somehow between my pitiful French and his ok English we managed to treat the ear mites and get the shot they needed for English immigration.  All of us, including the vet were nervous.  He must have read the French instructions for the English travel requirement 10 times before he wrote by hand every answer to every question on the long form for both cats.

After dealing with the French for two years I knew to be quiet and not try to make conversation or push the vet to hurry.  I spent the time taking the two big cat carriers, with the cats in them back to the car.  Christopher must have gained two pounds so he was not easy to carry in cage, especially along the muddy wet sidewalk.

Once we were back and Julia’s house and safely shut into the big bedroom we let Lucy and Christopher out into freedom.  Christopher promptly jumped on Lucy and attacked her like she was a stranger.  Lucy just hunkered down to protect herself.

So Christopher temporarily was placed back into prison.  On the other hand Lucy was delirious with happiness at being petted and loved by her humans.  That night she slept with us and snuggled up as if she could hardly believe her good fortune.  Christopher ended up in the bathroom in his cage because he wouldn’t stop protesting.

The next day we were off for the ferry early so as to be sure to be there just after the 24 hour time limit for the tape worm shots went into effect…just to be on the safe side of course.  At immigration the ticket taker handed us the electronic scanner that reads the chip number in each cat’s neck and was happy to report that everything matched up.

The ferry ride was rough and made Cat very sick at her stomach.  The cats didn’t seem to mind.

At English immigration our first hint of a problem was the announcement by the young woman at the passage window.  She said that Cat and I could not enter England because Jay’s work visa did not cover us.  That was news we never would have thought of in a million years.  After lots of discussion and trying as hard as we could to remain calm she stamped the two passports with two month’s time to remain in England and told us we had better get it straightened out within that time or there “would be lots of trouble”.

At that news she waved us on.  I tried to protest that she hadn’t processed the cat’s immigration but Jay pushed my hand back down and gave the little Puegeut the gas.  I was flabbergasted.  Here we had spent over $1,000 keeping the cats in France so they could enter England legally and now we just breezed through without any examination.

It wasn’t until we got back to Hadleigh and Lucy and Christopher climbed the stairs to our bedroom that I felt relieved.  Christopher was still trying to hiss at Lucy but he had calmed down considerably…so had I.  Within an hour they had taken over the stairs as if it was a giant cat rest…looking through the gaps between the steps so they could study us in the living room or in the kitchen.

We’re finally all together again and that is good.  Now if Cat and I can manage to get immigration to grant us legal status we’ll be home free.