Rehome or compromise?

[OldFarticus]

Looking for some advice from cat ladies please

DH and I have a house in the UK and one in Abu Dhabi. I live in the AD one because I am currently working in the ME region. DH lives mainly in UK. We are starting to think about returning to Blighty on a permanent basis.

Whilst in AD I have acquired 2 male Persian cats. Both are abandoned pets under threat of being handed over to the Municipality, which is something of a euphemism. (A whole other thread, but the cruelty here towards both pets and street cats is pretty high. It's far from uncommon for even pedigrees that people have paid hundreds for to just be hoofed out of the house...) I have made a half-arsed attempt to rehome them both but the sad truth is that cats are a dime a dozen here and there are more cute kittens appearing every 5 minutes.

DH is dead against having 2 cats in the UK house. To be fair, he is asthmatic and has OCD so is horrified by the idea that the DC (dear cats) will traipse inside and outside with dirty paws. At the moment neither of them are outdoor cats - that is simply not possible here because of heat and predators.

I think my options are:

• make more effort to rehome here (which is likely to fail, but at least I will have tried)
• bring back to the UK and then rehome
• establish some kind of (heated!) cat house in our back garden in the UK and let them live mainly outdoors. (We do have about an acre of land including some woodland so they would have space to run around)

My questions are really how likely is it that I will be able to rehome adult Persians in the UK? Also, has anyone done something similar to option 3? Do you think it would be cruel? This is my preferred option because I adore the little buggers, but I am scared it will be to tough on them to return to such a cold climate having never been outside.

Would appreciate any thoughts or advice - thank you.

If the cruelty to animals over where you are is as bad as you say I'd have to bring them back with me and rehome over here. I'd be worried sick otherwise on who I'd left them with and if they were ok.

Do you have any family over in the UK who could take them in?

Would your DP be open to a temporary stay with you to see how he gets on with them or at least till they can get re-homed? How bad is his asthma? I only ask because I have a DC with asthma and where she does get flair ups she generally manages fine with them.

bring them home

how person orientated are they? a heated home might be good for them but not if they are used to a lot of human interaction?

how attached are to to your DH? do you think he would be rehomed easily? (lighthearted comment of course you would choose your husband over your cats )

I agree, bring them home. Could you convince your DH to have a trial with them at home?

Thanks for the replies!

Winter they would be rehomed through a couple of the rescue groups I volunteer with who vet the pootential owners. (I used to foster myself and have refused people before - so I am reasonably confident they would go to a good home, but there are never any guarantees of course...) The problem is that the groups are inundated and people tend to favour kittens.

My DM already has 2 rescue cats, one of whom remains defiantly sociapathic despite years of TLC and hates other cats. I don't have any other family nearby.

I may try to persuade DH to accept them temporarily and hope he learns to love them. His asthma is pretty bad when they are around but I hope that he would develop some resistance with more exposure (based on no scientific knowledge whatsoever!) Abbs it is tempting to rehome the husband, but he's not much trouble really apart from the not liking cats thing!

I think that one of them would cope well being outside. He is very aloof and active and I sense that he would prefer to be an outdoor cat. He is also ridiculously well-insulated with tons of fluffy fur so I suspect he would cope. The other is trickier - he howls if expected to sleep anywhere other than my pillow. How quickly these "street" cats adjust to life's luxuries....

Thanks pink - it's worth a try. Even if DH didn't accept them I would feel happier knowing (as far as you can ever know!) they both had a chance to go outside and have a more "normal" cat life!

Is there much demand for Persians or for adult cats generally if it comes to rehoming in the UK? What is the best route for doing that - local paper? Both are obviously neutered - lots of unscrupulous breeders here. One of them is a "moon face" so has some minor health problems that the vet thinks are caused by inbreeding. The nasal passages get all constricted apparently and - amongst other things - he snores like a sailor

There's probably breed rescue in the UK- just google persian rescue.

It's not uncommon for people to bring cats home from the ME, I wanted a siamese and a local siamese rescue had one that someone brought back, but didn't get on with their other cats.

Thanks Micah I will give that a try.

If your DH doesn't like the thought of them bringing dirt indoors, how about keeping them as indoor cats in the UK? I would be reluctant to let a pedigree roam free due to risks of theft anyway.

I also have OCD so can empathise with his fears, but actually cats don't really traipse mud and dirt around the house. They are fastidious about keeping clean and don't leave muddy paw prints everywhere like dogs do. When my cats were free roaming outdoors, the first thing they'd do on arriving home is sit down and give themselves a good clean.

I think it would be cruel to banish them to an outdoor home when they are used to leaving indoors with people, sorry. If that was the only option of keeping them, I would bring them home to the UK and then ask a rescue to find them a new place to live.

Rushden Persian rescue may be able to take them, worth a call? I've heard the lady who runs it is very dedicated.

Thanks MsMims. I think that keeping them indoors full time would exacerbate DH'S asthma. Also, I feel it is kinder to let them outside, pedigree or no (and our UK house has a minimal risk of theft really - it's mainly fields at the back). I would never choose a pedigree cat, but it just happened that they needed help after being kicked out in the street. One of them was dumped in a colony and when I went to check it out, he basically jumped in my bag It seems cruel to keep them in - especially the younger one who "chomps" at the birds on the balcony every morning through the glass.

I actually think outdoor cats are better for OCD because there is no litter or poo and as you say, they are fastidiously clean.

I suppose I am just trying to find a solution that allows me to keep the cats and the husband! I will give the Persian rescue place a call if I can't magically heal my husband's allergies and OCD.

I think I would have to bring them back and then magically find a solution , couldn't leave them behind in Abu Dhabi knowing how animals can be treated there.