pet cats in india.

Indiamad

I have to agree with Nick H and iyou's comments and all those for leaving him home. I moved my cat just interstate and it ended up getting sick from all the stress and this was just a few hours on the plane (but a very new environment). I seriously love my cat to death but would never even consider moving him to India, it's just too much for them. In India I've seen dead kittens/cats on the roadside and no-one bats an eyelid whereas I was close to tears. Find a caring family to adopt him who're perhaps willing to give him back on your return.

washtec

Thanks for all the advise guys....seems like it may be better to leave cat at home...wonder if I can get wife to stay home as well.....

indiawise

hmm...as someone earlier suggested '..you could always get a new wife..sorry I mean cat in India...!'

Nick-H

Here's a very good reason for not bringing your cat...

I just heard this from my girlfriend. Today she saw some people near her house (in Chennai) catch a cat using a net and take it away in a bag. These people belong to a certain tribe which, apparently, prizes cat meat

No idea how widespread this is but the cat catching, at least, is an eye-witness account.

shere

Yes its true. These people catch cats and eat them. You find these people all over India. They usually have trained dogs which sniff out cats. Have seen them a few times in our village, they think they can go anywhere and do anything. They came into our courtyard once and a cat had given birth to a litter of kittens, being fond of animals I asked the guy to leave but he ignored me so I told him if he did not leave I was going to get the old rifle out and take a few pot shots at him, soon took the hint and left. You also get chaps come looking for snakes and rats/mice. Again I am told they eat them after capture.

billi

Does anyone know of animal-transport companies who transport pets (specifically cats) from India to USA? I need to move 5 cats from Shillong, Meghalaya, India (roughly near Calcutta) to Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, USA in August/September.

Also, has anyone any idea about the costs for same?

many thanks,
B.

PriyaVins

Interesting! What people have to say about India.

Things are not that bad here. You can bring your cat or dog here as in any other country. Cats are not treated badly here - and so many homes like ours have both cats and dogs living in harmony here.

Don't despair! I have some of the latest procedures here. Just had my brother dog and cat imported into India without any hassles.

CAT IMPORT PROCEDURAL FORMALITIES IN INDIA

Travelling with pet cat is defined as:
Pet cats accompanying their owner during their import to or export from India. This equals non-commercial transport, where the cat accompanies the owner as EXCESS BAGGAGE.
Pet cats traveling on their own as CARGO without the owner accompanying them on the same flight.
.............................. .............................. .............................. ...........................
CATS TRAVELLING AS EXCESS BAGGAGE

A maximum of 2 cats can be imported to India, as excess baggage, accompanying the owner on the same flight. The cat must accompany the owner or a natural person responsible for the cat on behalf of the owner must accompany during the transport in order to fulfill the requirements for non-commercial transport.

Procedural Formalities:

No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Quarantine Officer at the Animal Quarantine Station in India.
A duplicate copy of the NOC has to be fixed on the crate of the pet cat during the air travel.
Original copy of the NOC has to be produced in India to get the pet cat released from the customs at the Airport in India.
On arrival in India, an appointment to be fixed with the Quarantine Officer for issue of a temporary Health Certificate on examination of the cat.
30 days thereafter a certificate of health to be obtained from a local veterinarian to be produced at the Animal Quarantine Station. Then, the cat will be issued a permanent certificate of health for his/her stay in India.
People intending on arriving with their cat as accompanied luggage will need to have an agent apply for this certificate before they enter the country. It is required to be obtained in person and cannot be applied for online. You can check out this information and the agent on http://www.petvacations.in/catimportindia.php

Hope the above info was useful. I am sending this post to everyone because Bosky and Kitty are really dear to our hearts and they reached India safely via Luftansa and our agent in Mumbai. Thank you both!

Nick-H

Except by the people that eat them, of course.

namaste_cat

Yikes, how awful! One reason my cats are mostly indoors with access to a safe outdoor enclosure and back yard. Where I live in the U.S. it's not safe to allow them to go outside

As an Indian cat lover, I just don't get why cats are treated like crap in India. It makes me very upset and angry that not only are they not appreciated for the most part, they're picked on and treated terribly!

PriyaVins, so glad your cats made it safely Alas, decent veterinary care is still fairly hard to find there. It's getting better in terms of litter and food options but still...India has a long long way to go.

Uncle_Martin

Its a good job that "do unto others as you would be done by" is not a moral precept relevant to cats ...

I recently visited Vietnam and one of the tour guides we had was obviously under instructions to 'lighten up' and tell a joke or two, so he tried one about the local cuisine which ran "Our diet is influenced by Chine, we eat everything ... and no ... it's not true we don't eat our pets ... we eat other peoples pets ..." This might have had some tour groups rolling in the aisles but ...

Around my current location in the UK there was a tradition of keeping a pig as a pet as a prelude to eating it. They held that the creature was treated well and with respect, love and reverence until the moment of defecation.

Around your place of origin Nick there is an old Q&A joke.

Q Why does the devil never visit Cornwall ?
A 'Cos he don't want to end up in a pastie!

... Now, come to think of it ...

Sama

I saw a starving cat at the Ramana Maharshi ashram in Tirruvannamalai of all places -- at the ashram where Maharshi himself had pets! It made me sick. I tried feeding it with what I had and I gave it some of my water.

__________________
MY INDIA, 2005-2008
"Once you have felt the Indian dust, you will never be free of it." (Rumer Godden, 1975)

jadelee

Poor animals. I don't understand the treatment like that towards cats and other pets.

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snonymous

Im an Indian and I love cats. More important, cats love me.

__________________
Some of My Tall Tales at http://www.travelpod.com/members/indianature
My Flickr photos at http://www.flickr.com/groups/snonymous/

alouise

I saw very few cats in India. Just recently I was asking an Indian friend in Australia why there didn't seem to be any cats around in India, and she replied...monkeys probably eat them!
Has anyone ever heard of this happening?

namaste_cat

Sama - major good karma for you So much for the Maharishi's do unto others philosophy.
Same here!

alouise - I've never heard that, hope to heavens it's not true. Someone say it isn't so. I do love monkeys, but...