I was totally ignorant when it came to pet passports and my vet gave me useless information too.

My husband and I were emigrating to Mallorca and things went so bad we returned after 2 days there.

What my vet neglected to tell me was that even with a dog/cat passport, the rabies vaccination has  to be in their bloodstream for at least six months.  Both my dog and cat are now in quarantine in Bedford until the 19th July 2004.

Does anyone know of any dog loving people with no children who live in France (preferably cos then I can visit him more often)?

My cat will be fine as he is so laid back he will settle anywhere, but my poor Syd suffers from separation anxiety and the only time we have ever been separated for more than a few hours was when I went on honeymoon last September.  He was in kennels for nearly 3 weeks and came back 2 kgs lighter (he's only Corgi size with longs legs and weighed 14 1/2 kgs before he went in) and with no voice.  The kennels said all he did was pace up and down and refused to eat until they finally fed him on chicken and rice which, is what I had told them to feed him on anyway - he has a sensitive stomach and this has been his regular diet for years.  I'm terrified now that he will just pine away.  OK I can visit him and make sure he eats 5 out of 7 days a week, but I know every time I leave him he will just get totally frantic.  It's only been a week now and although the kennel owners are lovely people, they have other dogs in their charge and cannot spend more than 1/2 an hour with him in his prison cell - which measures 14' x 8'.

I've already been put on anti-depressants because I cannot cope with knowing what I've done to him, so please, please if you know anyone on the continent who would be willing to care for him until July 19th, please email me straight away.  I'm paying a huge amount to keep him in quarantine so I'd gladly pay that money to anyone who would be willing to care for him within their own home.

Obviously I would want proof that he would be with a human most of the day, I'm not just going to hand him over to someone who'll take the money and just lock him away in a shed or similar.

And like I said, he can't be around children as he's had a bad experience with them (which is why he ended up in Battersea Dog's home) because he will snap at them to warn them to stay away from him.  What he really needs is a retired couple who don't have grandchildren visiting too often and preferably no dog of their own either, he gets very jealous if attention is given to another dog.  Cat's he's fine with, we got our 12 week old kitten when Syd was 7 years old and they absolutely adored one another (after an initial week of eyeing each other up), as soon as Ptolemy showed what he could do with his claws, they soon became a regular 'Tom & Jerry'.  They played chase all the time (or at least when Ptolly was awake).

Anyway, enough of that cause I'm just upsetting myself again, so once again please, if you can, or know anyone who can help me, please get in touch straight away.  I usually check my emails at least once an hour, so I'll reply to any message ASAP.

Yours in hope,

Tricia Seward

Tricia, you don't appear to have left your email addy!!

Good Luck in your search. :)