Every week, we look for interesting stories of cats and their owners. This week we spoke to Janice, currently still living in Amsterdam. But in 3 months' time, she will move to New York in the United States with her family and 2 cats for at least 1 year.
House, tree, beast
Just outside the centre of Amsterdam, Janice lives with her family and 2 cats; Beer and Balou. One a 5-year-old British Shorthair and the other a 1-year-old crossbreed. The cats have also become big brother to Janice and her partner's daughter since November 2022.
Why Janice has two cats? ‘Bear first had a British Shorthair brother, but unfortunately he got sick and died. As we thought it would be sad for Beer to be alone, we made it known in our neighbourhood that we would like a second cat. Through a friend of my mother's we came across Balou, born of an unplanned pregnancy but oh, how cute he is!’ Janice tells of her Bear and Balou, who get along more than well!
The Big City
For work, Janice and her partner have been abroad for long periods of time before they had cats and a child. So when the opportunity arose this time, the couple did not hesitate ‘only now everyone is coming with us!’ says Janice, who absolutely cannot and will not miss her cats. In June, the family will move to The Big City for at least a year. They are already quite familiar with the place, so this time they chose to move into a family home in Brooklyn instead of a flat in the heart of New York.
In very many ways, the temporary home in New York matches our home in Amsterdam. And we have of course read up on how to go about it’ says Janice, who has been preparing for months to make sure everything runs smoothly.
We briefly considered leaving the cats at home, but Bear in particular is hugely shy
Ready for the trip
"To be able to bring a cat from the Netherlands to New
York, you have to comply with various pet import rules and regulations from the
United States," says Janice. And that is of course not for nothing,
because in addition to the well-being of your own pet, it should not pose a
threat to the United States. "The cats must be healthy and fully
vaccinated, they must not have any contagious diseases and this must be
verified by a veterinarian," she continues. Janice now has all the required
documents for this. The trip has also been planned and so has their own stuff
on location.
"We have good contact with the owner of the house, he
ensures, among other things, that the baby items are ready on arrival, but also
those of the cats," says Janice, who has now placed an order with our
American webshop Cat Tree King. "Beer and Balou
have a Maine Coon Lounge here in Amsterdam, so in New York they get a similar
one, but a size bigger, the Royalty it has become" says Janice.
From Amsterdam
TO NEW YORK CITY
Read the next article
The superior cat
24.02.2023
Every week we look for interesting stories of cats and their owners. This week we ended up in Surrey, UK with Hannah. She told us about her British Shorthair, Etna, who seems to have invented the word ‘cattitude’.
