Emma1977

Thanks Blossom no I don't think I'll be able to leave them, we'd be so miserable without them. Wow your cat room is pretty impressive! :smile: and hadn't thought about supervising them in the garden on weekends-definitely something to think about...

Anyone?.....:huh:

We’re currently going through the skills assessment/visa application process and, all being well, hope to be making our way to the Brisbane area in Feb next year. We have two beloved cats and are still veryundecided as to whether to take them with us or not. In the UK they are indoor/outdoor cats, they come and go as they please during the day and we keep them in at night (to protect wildlifeand also for their own safety), we would keep them to this routine and keep them in at night in OZ also. In the UKwe live in a suburban street in London and whilst our cats don’t roam very Far at all, they do inevitably pass through neighbours’ gardens on a regular basis.This is not a problem here at all as many of our neighbours have cats and also UK attitudes-that it’s to be expected that cats will pass through your garden from time to time. However we’re concerned that this won’t be the case if webring them with us for 2 reasons, firstly local council laws regarding cats and secondly different attitudes to cats in Australia. From doing our research we’re aware that certain councils inthe Brisbane area (Moreton Bay, Redlands etc) have 24 hours cat curfews stipulating that your cat remains confined to your property at all times. I guess this rules these areas out as we’ll be renting and therefore unable toinstall cat proof fencing and we would rather rehome them in the UK than keep them indoors or in a cat enclosure as they’re young cats and really love being outdoors. However from looking on the Brisbane City Council website it looks like whilst they recommend you keep your cats in at night, there is no actual ‘law’stipulating that they remain on your property during the day-can anyone confirm whether this is the case? I have also read that even in areas where there is no actual ‘law’ on keeping your cat confined to your property, neighbours are within their rights to trap your cat if it strays into their garden, and thatthis is commonplace and considered an ok thing to do (I guess due to Villa Differing attitudes to cats in Australia)-does anyone have any experience of this? Another option for us would perhaps be renting somewhere on acreage where our cats would not roam outside of our garden, however we’reaware that this could bring it’s own problems such as increased chances of them encountering poisonous snakes and spiders. Has anyone done this with cats? It would be great to hear other peoples’ experiences of moving with indoor/outdoor cats to Australia/the Brisbane area, whether you encountered any problems with neighbours or the local council, whereyou live, how your cats have fared with snakes and spiders etc. Our family and friends think we’re mad for considering allowing our cats to dictate where we live but they are our babies and arereally strongly bonded to us and the thought of having to give them up is killing us! But at the same time we don’twant to take them with us for selfish reasons and end up compromising their quality of life and put them at risk of being harmed (from other animals,insects ad people). All opinions and experiences re this would be greatly appreciated! Many thanks, Emma & Ross