“Didn’t they have to go into quarantine?”

“How much did that cost?!”

“Wow, that sounds like a lot of trouble to go to.”

These are just a few of the reactions I get when I explain that I brought my two cats with me when I moved from the United States to England. (The answers are “no”, “a lot”, and “well, yeah”, if you were wondering). It’s not as uncommon as you’d think, though. In my postgraduate cohort, I was one of two people who moved their pets with them from another country and one of at least three in the last two cohorts. When we met each other, we commiserated about the cost, the anxiety of putting our fur-babies on a plane, and — most of all — the heartbreak at the thought of leaving them behind.

I mean, how could I leave this little face?

When I discovered that I’d been accepted into a two-year masters course in the UK, it took me all of five minutes to decide to bring my cats with me once I accepted the offer. Leaving them behind or rehoming them just wasn’t an option. For one, it just didn’t fall under my tenants of being a responsible pet owner since both of my cats were healthy enough to make the journey and I was able to make it happen financially. And for another, I couldn’t imagine my life without my pets, stressful as it is sometimes. The reality of pet ownership is that yes, it’s almost always rewarding and fun, but it’s also often inconvenient and expensive. Over the last ten years, I’ve spent not-insignificant sums of money and time on things like veterinary bills, fixing and replacing things the cats damaged, dealing with behavioral issues, and finding someone to look after them if I planned to be away for longer than a day. And those are just the expected, normal costs of being a pet owner.

I talked it over extensively with my mom and my then-long distance boyfriend. Aside from the expense, there were a few logistical issues. Landlords in the UK are much less willing to accept pets than in the US. We discussed leaving one or both of the cats with my mom and then bringing them over as soon as I could. I was reticent to separate them, but the reality of the situation was that most landlords would be more likely to accept one cat over two and I knew it wouldn’t be a difficult adjustment for my older cat to stay with my mom. It simply wasn’t an option for my younger cat, not least because my mom’s cat had once stayed at my house for a few months and bullied her mercilessly. Worst case scenario, I’d leave them both with my mom until my boyfriend and I found a place where we could have them.

The other practical issue was that I’d be flying out in August and pets can’t be transported in the cargo hold if the temperature is over 85 degrees Fahrenheit. That rules out the majority of the year if you’re flying out of Arizona. Alternatively, I could fly them in the cabin. This entailed three separate flights: one to New York, then to Amsterdam, then to England. I might have been able to manage it with help, but I’d be flying on my own, with all of my earthly possessions crammed into a few suitcases and two cat carriers. I was nervous about putting my pets in the bottom of a plane, but I was more nervous about my ability to transfer flights twice with two cats by myself. In the end, I decided to fly directly from San Diego to Heathrow, which meant the temperature wouldn’t be an issue and the paperwork was more straightforward. My mom and I booked a hotel that allowed cats and planned for a six-hour road trip the day before I moved out of the country. You’ve probably guessed by now that I come from a family of optimists.

It was a leap of faith, but I started getting them ready to move. I spent a lot of time on the internet, figuring out what I needed to do. I decided not to pay for a pet transport company, which meant doing all of the prep work myself. I found a USDA-certified vet to get their vaccinations updated and get them international microchips. I scheduled all the necessary appointments and bought the special cat carriers I would need for the plane.

We cleared the first hurdle when my boyfriend and I found a place to live. It was in our budget, the landlords were happy to have me bring the cats, and it was fairly centrally located. We jumped on it. It would mean an hour commute to school for me, but it was worth it. My UK visa arrived the next month with little drama. The UK government requires that the animals are cleared to travel a maximum of ten days before the flight, so with everything in place, it was getting to near to the time to start getting the final paperwork. The cats were seen by the vet one last time, the paperwork was filled out and Fed-Exed, and I’d sold, donated, or packed all of my things.

Mika got a low maintenance new ‘do for the trip.

And then, two days before I was due to leave, I still hadn’t heard from the USDA office. I called only to find out that the USDA office in New Mexico where I’d sent my paperwork was closed for the week and everything was being forwarded to Sacramento. I called Sacramento and they hadn’t received my paperwork yet. There were a few possibilities. They could FedEx the original paperwork to San Diego once they received it and I’d collect it there. Or, if the paperwork wouldn’t arrive on time, we’d resort to one of the earlier contingency plans. I called the vet, they called the USDA office in Sacramento. A few hours — and more than a few tears later — I got a call. They had it. I would get it back in time for the flight. Everything was zip-tied into place, literally and figuratively.

While it was the right decision for me, my boyfriend, and the cats, pet travel can be expensive and stressful. So here are my top tips for pet owners moving abroad:

Do your research. Some airlines have less than sterling reputations when it comes to shipping animals and there are so many pet travel companies out there, it can be overwhelming to figure out what you should do. You’ll also need up-to-date information on the restrictions and regulations from your new country of residence. If there’s a problem with the paperwork or vaccinations, your pets could end up in quarantine, and you’ll have to pay for it. Start early. As soon as you know you’re moving abroad, start researching what you need to do and if you’ll be able to do it. I got my offer for my course in January and flew to the UK at the end of August. Yes, I needed all that time to prepare. Waiting until the last minute might mean leaving Fido — or the friend or family member who volunteers to take care of them — in a less than ideal situation. Come up with a plan, then several more plans, in case something goes wrong. Because some things probably will go wrong. And when they do, knowing you have a backup plan will help you keep calm, or at least cry a little less. When in doubt, call the USDA office. The first vet I worked with turned out not to have the expertise I needed. The USDA office not only gave me the correct information but also encouraged me to find a new vet. They will have the most updated information on international pet travel and they are perfectly willing to email it straight to you along with any forms you might need. Don’t be afraid to change vets, pet transport companies, or airlines if you aren’t happy with the service you’re receiving. It can be easy to feel as though you’re being high maintenance, but this is one of those situations where it’s really important to advocate for yourself and, by extension, your pets. If I had listened to the first vet even though I was pretty sure she was wrong, my cats wouldn’t have been allowed on the plane! In the end, being “high maintenance” meant that my cats arrived safely with me in the UK and no one ended up in a less-than-ideal living situation.

So my mom, my stepdad, a friend, the cats, and I packed up and went on a road trip. And it went more smoothly than I’d imagined. We stayed overnight and went to the beach the next morning. Once we’d eaten, I repacked my things, and we dropped off my friend to catch her train home. We took the cats to the British Airways pet cargo depot where they checked my paperwork and I paid for two kitty plane tickets (I was only a little disappointed when that turned out to be a printed page attached to their carriers and not a tiny boarding pass). After several hours of waiting around and ten hours in the air, the three of us arrived in the UK and my boyfriend at Heathrow. We picked up the cats from the Heathrow Animal Reception Center and left for our new home in Norwich, where we’ve been ever since.