Lulu and I recently flew back to the United States. Lulu is, annoyingly enough, slightly too big to travel in the plane with me so she has to fly cargo. Flying a pet by air cargo is stressful for both pet and owner. Mike Kidd at Pro Move International did an excellent job of listening to my concerns and managing the process of shipping my canine best friend.

How to use Mike’s services:

1. Call or email Mike for an estimate. Be prepared to give him the date and destination of your planned travel, the weight of your animal and the exact measurements of any travel cage you already have for your animal.

2. Mike will get back to you with an estimate and give you a list of paperwork that you will need; a copy of your passport page and a copy of your visa. You local veternarian records – rabies is the most important. A health certificate will also be required.

3. Depending on your flight time Mike will then arrange to pick up your pet from your home, take it to the airport and make sure that your pet is cleared for take off.

4. He will then scan and email you copies of your airbill so you can collect your pet from customs at your final destination.

Mike was extremely professional from start to finish and his rates were half of his competitors.

Insider Tip: When coming to the United States, the airline will want to verify that there is someone in the United States to pick up the animal. If you are not already there, you will need a friend or relative to do this for you.  Give the airline the phone number of a close friend or relative who will take responsibility for the animal.  Then make sure that your name is listed with your designated person’s name on the “receiver” section of airbill. Otherwise, US customs may not release your animal without the designated person present.

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Here at the Cairo Pets HQ, there are a few cats that hang around in the street.  One in particular, has been the mother of many litters of kittens, and was starting to look a tad worn down.  Most recently, she appeared to have had a surviving litter of 3.  Our very own, Sarah Blakemore, of Cairo Pets decided to take it upon herself to see what she could do for these felines.  The kittens received their first round of shots, and the mother was spayed.

Once the kittens had their shots, the Cairo Pets crew proceeded to give the kittens a well needed bath.   It has not yet been determined whether the kittens agreed that said bath was well needed.  After the bathing experience the kittens were named Zar Zar, Tiger and Fang.

Of the three kittens, Zarzar appeared to be the most likely candidate for being adopted.  Emeline, of Cairo Pets, was also looking for a kitten to befriend her 4 month old kitten, Lucky, who is incredibly playful.  Strangely, Zarzar and Lucky look almost exactly alike.  Unfortunately, Zarzar, having been well trained by his mother, was painfully afraid of just about everything.

This was soon to present a problem.  Like most kittens, when presented with some sort of playful device, the kitten is soon to pounce and play.  Strangely, Zarzar seemed to back away in fear with his ears down.  This was quite obviously a mystery for the other kitten, Lucky, constantly cocking her head sideways ready to playfully pounce on Zarar.  Zarzar, on the other hand, wasn’t quite used to this so he instantly went into defense mode making the most horrendous screaming sounds and ready to protect himself.

So, Emeline did the most reasonable thing, she went online.  How do you teach a kitten to play?!  Low and behold there was no info on how to teach a kitten to play, understandably.  Instead she found how to teach a kitten to play gently.  Well, that doesn’t help! So, with a frustrated kitten, Lucky, who was ready to play, she did the only thing she could think of; why not run around the house chasing, and being chased by Lucky?  Perhaps that would spark the interest of Zarzar?  Not so much…

Lucky and Zarzar

Little by little,  Zarzar started to mimic playing as Lucky.  As though they were taking turns, Lucky would play with an object, and then move away from it.  Then, as if Lucky was saying, ‘Now it’s your turn, young grasshopper,’ Zarzar would move in on the object, and give a good  kick, bite, and roll around. Thanks to Lucky, Zarzar is on his way to being healthy, and just as playful as Lucky!

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Thanks to all the Volunteers for making this last Saturday such a success at S.P.A.R.E.!  We had our biggest turnout yet, and the all-star team was quite diverse, hailing from South Africa, Egypt,and folks from South Carolina! A big shout out to our Cairo Pets members: Victoria, George, Ahmed, and Hatem for joining us!

We took a break from washing and feeding the dogs, to helping the facility by cleaning up an area that had become over-grown with bushes and trees.  This area appeared to be a perfect location for potential adopters to play with their new canine friend.  The volunteers worked for hours cutting back dead branches to pruning back trees, in order to help them grow back stronger.

Cairo Pets Volunteers getting started at SPARE

The team worked together to clean up this area, and in the end, there was a huge pile of branches, and trash bags full of rubbish.  After all the rubbish was moved to the street, the team had a chance to come back and see what a difference they made!  Hats off to all of you for your hard work!

The pile of trimmings

Of course, we couldn’t come all this way without giving a little TLC to the animals at the shelter.  So, we saved the last few hours of our day for playtime.  You can’t get much better than that! At the end we all left happy, dirty, and ready for a shower!  It was a great day with S.P.A.R.E.! As always, we appreciate  Kyrollos, Hanan and all the staff at the S.P.A.R.E. shelter for their help in making this day a success.

Cairo Pets Volunteers get resident Fawzee's approval

Next up! Cairo Pets and S.P.A.R.E. gets creative! Stay tuned for more volunteer adventures!

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This service is a referral from one of our readers and comes highly recommended.

ProMove International
13 Road 201
Degla, Maadi
Cairo, Egypt

Contact: Mike Kidd

Email: info@promoveintl.com or mkidd@promoveintl.com

Off. Tel. 02-2521-3191 / 92

Mike’s Mobile 012-312-7461

Copyright Cairo Pets, all rights reserved.

This pet store specializes in exotic pets; when Cairo Pets visited, there was a full size vulture for sale, along with many lizards, snakes and other animals. They also have puppies and kittens.

Location: 15b Taha Heseen Street, Zamalek

Phone: 0186052802, 0142466788, 0163189318

Email: malahjungle@hotmail.com

Other services: No English

Copyright Cairo Pets, all rights reserved.

Volunteer Day at S.P.A.R.E.

Cairo Pets at SPARE

Cairo Pets would like to thank Victoria, Carmen and George for their work at SPARE on Saturday. It takes a special person to give up their Saturday to come spend time with needy animals. Those cats and dogs are so in need of a little bit of companionship.

Cairo Pets would also like to thank Kyrollos, Hanan and all the staff at SPARE shelter for their help in making this day a success. Your patience and guidance are essential for a positive day.

Thank you to everyone involved – The animals had a great time and every little bit of love helps!

Next time we’ll be cleaning and pruning the garden area so people can have a nice place to spend time with animals they might want to adopt. Check back for the date!

George and Carmen cleaning at SPARE

Cairo Pets helping to clean the cathouse at SPARE

Victoria with Cairo Pets brushing dogs at SPARE

SPARE wet but clean puppy

Carmen and Sarah with Cairo Pets washing dishes at SPARE

Victoria of Cairo Pets giving some love to the SPARE animals

Carmen with Cairo Pets helps wash dogs at SPARE

Cairo Pets Cleaning at SPARE

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Midge the 5th, a regal hamster in a long line of distinguished rodents.

Meet Midge V, Contributing Editor from Surrey, UK.

Midge is excited to join the Cairo Pets team. This is her first editorial position and Midge looks forward to the unique challenges of portraying animals that would otherwise annoy her – cats in particular – in a positive, professional manner. In her spare time Midge enjoys eating, sleeping, pooping and rolling around in her hamster wheel. She would like it noted that she is, in fact, rabies free. Midge would like to thank Lizzie for all of her love and support and remember all of the noble hamsters whose work paved the way for her current success; Maisy, Mini Me & Mad Max, Millie.

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Lulu and the Costa Coffee Guys in Zamalek. Say Gibna!

As the weather gets hotter, my appetite for iced lattes gets bigger. The guys at the Costa Coffee in Zamalek make one of the best on the island. Lulu loves taking a walk there!

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Qualified British Dog Trainer now available in Maadi offering Training/Obedience/advice for Behavioural Problems/Nutritional Advice. Also offering Pet Sitting Service and Dog Walking.

Please email : petplanet_cairo@hotmail.com or call 019 702 4440

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Well, I was noshing on one of my favorite (easy) dishes which is rice and beans.  Normally, my bean of choice is black beans, but when I’m in Egypt that bean is Fava!  I mean, of course!

Anyway, Lucky was incredibly interested in my dish, and I thought, ‘Well, there’s no way she’ll want some beans after she just had some yummy beef liver…I mean, really!’  Man was I wrong.  I put one bean out in front of her, and the next thing I know she’s licking her chops and begging for more!

Obviously, I wanted to see if there was anything wrong with giving her beans, so I went online, and found this great site about feeding your animals homemade meals, and it said beans are ok. Whew!!

‘Alright Lucky, here’s a spoonful of Fava for ‘a you!’  I think she was so happy she jumped for joy!  Or, maybe she was jumping before attacking my feet…but whatever.

Of course, I don’t just feed her foul, but what a great way to introduce some fiber in her diet with all the proteins she’s getting?

Does your pet love to eat something you would never think they would love?  Tell me about it!

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