You need to be a kitten.
A British family of 5 was delighted to learn that their missing cat had been found after six years – but now they face the costly and lengthy strategy of bringing the tabby cat to a latest home 10,500 miles away.
Lisa Gregory, her husband James, 57, and their three children, Mia, Jed and Ostyn, went into hysterics when Tallulah, then 18 months old, disappeared in 2017.
Sooner or later the cat didn’t return to their home in north-west London – Lisa suspects that she was fed by someone who kept a friendly cat who liked to prowl.
“We did all the things we could, put up flyers, knocked on neighbors’ doors, checked with the vet,” Lisa, 45, Jam Press said.
“We mourned our loss and assumed she was missing or dead – we just didn’t know. It was sad for the kids. She was a ravishing family pet,” she added.
The subsequent yr, the family packed up for Sydney, Australia and purchased a dog.
Lisa said she was shocked to recently receive an email from the RSPCA, which bills itself because the UK’s largest animal welfare charity. Tallulah was identified as having strayed near the family’s previous residence in Kentish Town.
“Tallulah is microchipped and [the RSPCA] tried to reach me on a registered phone number, but now I even have a special number,” Lisa explained.
“They even put notes through the door, but apparently we do not live there anymore. I still couldn’t imagine it and asked them to send me a photograph – and after all it’s Tallulah.”
Now the Gregory family is facing disaster due to… bureaucracy when importing a pet to Australia.
Former couple Johnny Depp and Amber Heard were famous for illegally smuggling their Yorkshire terriers, Pistol and Boo, into Australia in 2015 when Depp was filming Pirates of the Caribbean: Revenge Revenge.
Lisa noted that Tallulah would have to undergo blood tests, an extended wait for results, and quarantine.
“She is now seven and a half years old and the entire strategy of bringing a cat to Australia can take up to 12 months,” sighed Lisa.
“That is a whole lot of money, approx.” [$2,300]and by the point we get her, she’ll be eight and a half years old.”
She said another choice was for Tallulah to live together with her sister Diana, who had bred a cat and given it to her family.
“We plan to FaceTime and reconnect in this fashion and judge what’s best for her,” Lisa revealed.
“The RSPCA has been very helpful. She is a ravishing cat and has warmed the hearts of the staff there.”
In December, Connecticut state authorities reported finding a black cat named Minka, who had been missing since July 2022 when the couple moved from Georgia to Vermont.
This perfect meeting was called the miracle of Christmas.