Hello, I’m Dr. Karyn! Learn my introduction to be taught extra about me and meet my 5 hilarious cats: Clutch, Cyril, Alex, Zelda, and Zazzles.
After I got here to the UK in 2012, it was presupposed to be for a yr or two. I’d decide up locum work and journey, and ultimately return to Australia as soon as the journey bug stopped biting. Effectively, as I write to you right here from Cornwall, UK, you’ll be able to in all probability inform that life had different concepts. The difficulty with journey is that the extra of the world you see, the extra you need to discover, so I saved extending my departure. Alongside the best way I picked up a stray cat (Clutch), a husband (Reece), and started accumulating cats and canines. By 2016, my dad and mom began to suspect that I wasn’t going to be coming house anytime quickly, and, as they had been seeking to transfer right into a ‘retirement resort’, they thought it was excessive time I took again my tabby cat, Sullivan (aka Sully).
Now, Sully was 14 years outdated at this level, so I wasn’t satisfied that it was the most effective plan, however as I had unintentionally deserted her for the previous 4 years, I felt that I couldn’t say no. And so started the logistical nightmare of transporting a pet abroad. Thankfully, she was leaving Australia, not getting into, because the land down beneath doesn’t make it straightforward – simply ask Johnny Depp!
A Demanding Journey (for me)
I used to be clearly fairly apprehensive about Sully’s transfer abroad; not solely would she be spending 24 hours on a aircraft (with a consolation cease midway), she could be shifting right into a home with 3 canines and three different cats, having solely ever lived with one different cat. It was going to be fairly the upheaval.
Effectively, I needn’t have apprehensive!
From the second we returned house from gathering her from the airport, she sauntered out of her service in direction of a bowl of meals and by no means appeared again.
Okay, it took her a number of weeks to get used to sharing a home with canines, a species she had by no means encountered earlier than, however with meals as a shared curiosity, Sully quickly realized that she and the Labradors had one thing in widespread!
New World, New Wildlife, New Climate
Regardless of being a predominantly indoor cat, I’d often take her to discover within the backyard. One morning I used to be shocked to listen to her “I’ve caught one thing” sound, beforehand reserved for when she carried round her favourite toy, Fishy. There she was, wanting each proud and shocked, with a lifeless vole in her mouth. I wasn’t massively thrilled that she had simply killed a beautiful little creature, however I additionally wasn’t solely satisfied that the stunning little creature was not already lifeless when Sully ‘caught’ it. Nevertheless, I used to be delighted to see that my aged, world-weary cat was clearly discovering her approach in her new house.
Having grown up within the tropical local weather of Brisbane, Queensland, adjusting to the a lot cooler British climate was one other hurdle that Sully sailed over. In early 2018, we had been hit by “The Beast from The East”, with unprecedented ranges of snow masking our world in a thick white blanket; one thing of a novelty for me in addition to Sully. However out she went, tiptoeing by way of the winter wonderland our backyard had been reworked into, as if it was another day.
Sully’s triumphant journey confirmed me that we must always by no means underestimate our feline buddies, even when they’re getting on in years.
A Memorable Life
In July 2018, my dad and mom had been over for a go to – not wanting practically as spritely as Sully did after her aircraft journey I would add – and so they had been delighted to see how comfortable and wholesome Sully appeared, and the way nicely she had settled into her new life. I knew they’d felt anxious about sending her right here, and it was pretty that they might see how nicely she was doing.
Two weeks after my guardian’s go to, Sully handed away in her sleep.
She hadn’t been unwell, and had proven no signal of being sick or in ache. She had lived an exquisite life, together with two years in a wierd new house, and though I used to be devastated, I couldn’t assist however really feel relieved that she had been comfortable proper to the top. She had been in a position to spend her last years with me, and that she’d been in a position to say goodbye to Mum and Dad earlier than she went.
As life journeys go, hers was fairly rattling good.
