This is the story of IROH and ALISEE. This young owner did incredible activities to ensure they would be together again: IROH and I… OUR INCREDIBLE STORY!
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From: Alisee
Date: November 7, 8:25:06 GMT+11
To: Nicole MacDuff,
Subject: IROH and I… OUR INCREDIBLE STORY!
Cat Relocation from:
Montreal-Vancouver/Canada
Vancouver-Auckland/New-Zealand (Quarantine)
Auckland-Noumea/New Caledonia (Quarantine)
Good morning Nicole,
Sorry for the lack of news, my come back to New Caledonia has been quite the hectic journey. Between finding a job, settling, taking care of my newly born niece, preparing Iroh’s arrival. It has been quite crazy.
I just came back from Australia where I met my supervisor for my PhD studies in a laboratory on Malaria. I absolutely loved Melbourne. It is such a nice city.
My lovely cat IROH has settled fast. The two quarantines she had to do in New Zealand and in New Caledonia, told me she was so cute and so cuddly and they even struggled to examine her during vet visits because she was demanding to be caressed all the time. When I got her back she would not stop purring and demanding cuddles.
She has settled well in our new house. I take her for long walks on the leash. Also, she doesn’t even hiss at my dog and even goes close to my dog which is quite extraordinary. I really feel that the Manoir Kanisha has made her so much more social with people and animals and has managed to make her a very less anxious cat.
She eats a lot and drinks a lot. She has become quite the little hunter since we have lots of moths, geckos and even crickets coming in the house (the joy of living on a tropical island full of critters!).
Also I promised you to tell you the story of IROH and I so here it is:
In September 15th 2012, I went to the SPCA with the hope of fostering a very old cat so that I could give it better days. I didn’t want a kitten because I was terrified of getting attached. In the foster office, they introduced me to the cats they had. They did not have any old cats unfortunately so they guided me through the very sick animal section and showed me many animals. There was this little ball of orange fur, staring at me with her droopy dirty eyes. She kept meowing and scratching the door of her cage. She was a month old and had both rhino and conjunctivitis as well as being terribly malnourished.
The SPCA attendant told me that she would probably not survived two weeks. This information, as well as the kitten’s sad look, made me take her. They told me to give her a name so I named her about a very wise fictional character whose words had helped me fight depression: IROH.
I took her home in a cardboard box and she was trying badly to get out of it even though she was so weak and diseased. She had a fire in her and she had this willpower that made me smile. At the time, I was quite depressed and saddened by many events that had happened in my life but IROH managed to make me forget all about it. Every day she would get better and would do something so silly and cute it would leave me and my roommates laughing for hours. She was so playful, so cuddly, so smart. After a month when she was fully healed, I asked the SPCA if I could foster her a bit more. And they agreed.
I couldn’t bear to give her back, she was my ray of light during my very gloomy days. She would follow me everywhere, sleep with me, play with me. I built a connection with IROH, based on total trust. In December, all my friends went home to their countries and I stayed alone in Montreal because it was too expensive for me to go home.
This would have been very depressing if it was not for my cat always purring and playing and making me smile. This is when I decided to keep her. I knew the decision was selfish because I was going home in three years and I lived on the other side of the world. But I couldn’t give her up. It would have broken my heart.
For three years I took care of IROH and she took care of me. I had started saving up to provide for her and for the fact that, she would be traveling home from Montreal back to New Caledonia with me. My last year at university came and I started looking into taking her home. The paperwork was overwhelming. I drowned under applications, certifications, authorizations, import permits, quarantines… etc.
This is when I found Tim Harris at Manoir Kanisha. And I was saved!
I met up with this man full of amazing relocation stories and I felt immediately relieved. He could help me and I knew my cat was in the safest hands in the world. I am so lucky I chose to adopt a cat in the same city the best Pet Relocation Specialists lived.
I went to visit Manoir Kanisha and was blown away by their facilities. The magnificent house was only designed for the full well being of animals and everyone on the Manoir Kanisha team seemed filled with love for the animals they took such great care of. I had never encountered such facilities: the place was so clean and smelt amazing, the cages were big and spacious and full of light. Even the animals there seemed so comfortable and friendly.
I took IROH with me the first time I visited Manoir Kanisha. I was blown away by how calm she was. Tim Harris explained to me EVERYTHING, and ensured that I was aware of everything I needed to do. He was so helpful and so focused on my case that I felt reassured I would not part ways with my best friend. We started the very long and tenuous process of getting the application done for my cat to come home from Montreal to New Caledonia.
It took months, months of hardship, of difficult conversations with vets, of filling paper works, getting signatures and much more. Tim was with me every single step of the way, he was always there to help. At the time I was a poor student very stressed with my last year of university.
But Tim alleviated all the stress, he made my life, this process so much easier. And I cannot be thankful enough for everything that he did. He went beyond the scope of his job to help me.
I had to organize many fund raising activities to generate the large amount of money required to pay for IROH’s long journey from Montreal to Noumea/New Caledonia and her two quarantine periods. We finally raised enough money and started to prepare her trip.
When the time came for me to leave Canada, I had to leave IROH for a month at the Manoir Kanisha in their boarding facilities. I was sad to leave her until I met Nicole MacDuff, the owner of Manoir Kanisha. Just like Tim, she made me feel so safe and reassured. She explained to me how they worked and how my beloved cat would be staying in a very pampered and safe environment.
Once again I cannot describe how amazing the facilities are! I left IROH in their hands and after meeting Nicole and her team, I did not even worry once. I would receive news and pictures of IROH on a regular basis. You have to know that Manoir Kanisha is quite a big facility and they have a lot of animals but even so, Nicole herself would take the time to write me detailed emails about my cat and send me photos. And what amazing photos! I would see my IROH happy and well, playing with their team and enjoying her stay.
Before leaving Manoir Kanisha, Debbie, one of their groomers, gave my IROH a lovely”LION’S CUT” so her long trip would be more comfortable and less warm.
Then, IROH started her long journey to New Caledonia. When she arrived I was blown away for many reasons: First, even though she traveled the world, her travel was safe and without any issues thanks to Tim’s amazing expertise. He has also provided IROH with a cage big enough so she could lie down comfortably, have a litter box fixed to the crate’s floor, water and food since her flight lasted over 20 hours.
My best friend arrived not traumatized by the journey. I found her as purry and cuddly as ever. She was even more sociable then before and didn’t even care for my dog who came to sniff which for her was incredible.
I really think that the Manoir Kanisha team has contributed to making IROH even more socialized than before. Thanks to them and their great care she has adapted so well to our new environment.
I am so thankful for Nicole, Tim, Julia, Debbie and their whole team of devoted employees. They have allowed me to stay with my cat and to have her by my side for the rest of our days. They have understood how much I loved her and have helped me keep her with me in many ways.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Alisee and IROH
Note: Many weeks before his departure, IROH was trained to his travel crate. The day he boarded his flight at Montreal International airport, he was totally at ease in his travel crate. After a very long travel and quarantine périod, he arrived home in very good condition. Thank you for reading:
IROH and ALISEE… OUR INCREDIBLE STORY!
