Flying with a Cat {Part II}

Many of you might remember my post when we got here about bringing Mackey over here.   There was a LOT of paperwork and vet work that had to be done to make sure he arrived safely.  And just to remind you, he did not go into quarantine.  That is only for animals who do not meet the health certifications or their owners did not follow the country's guidelines for bringing animals into the country.

 You probably wonder if I get anything accomplished during the day. Look at that face!

Preparations
There wasn't so much of a paperwork trail and even vet visits when coming back into the states for Mackey.  We had to go through a third party vendor, as the Petsafe program we used through United does to opperate from the UK to the US. Weird.  We found a company that we hope will work out just fine, although we had to buy ANOTHER cage for him to ride home in.  We bought one from United at the airport when we were moving him here...assuming we'd be good for the way back as well.  Well it wasn't big enough. Now we have a cage that could fit 3 of Mackey in there. Maybe he'll meet some friends and they can hang out at "his place" on the plane. 

I should have put his old cage together, so you could see a comparison. 

We had to make an appointment for him to see the vet no more than 10 days before travel.  We made his appointment for the Monday before we flew out.  All I needed from the vet was a letter stating he was "fit to travel".  Mackey also needed to be updated on a rabies vaccination, but we took care of that last July. I walked him down to the animal clinic, which was quite the workout.  The veterinarian checked him over, and Mackey of course was a complete love bug.  Everyone loved him.  The vet wrote a letter that he was "fit to fly" and that he was up to date on his vaccinations.  I was relieved that this part went well, and the only thing we had to worry about was the flight and customs aspect of it.  

Mackey was waiting for his turn!

Exploring the room and being nosey, as always

The Day of Flying
I was a nervous wreck the day we had to take Mackey to the airport...FOUR hours before our flight.  That means we met the pet transportation people at 4 AM!  They collected his paperwork, we transferred him into his hard cage, and they drove away.  I fought back tears as I was so nervous for him.  The service we used was fantastic, as they even sent Jeff a text when Mackey was checked in and ready for flight.  We had not even made it back to the hotel before they sent the text, so that was reassuring.  He was a top priority.

After our long flight to New York, we had to grab our luggage and head out to the car service we hired to take us from cargo area to cargo area for the next ~2 hours.  I felt like I was on a game show at one point, as we were on a time crunch to get to our next flight in 2+ hours.  After we got into the area, we went to the British Airways cargo area to pick up paperwork.  From there, we went to another cargo area to wait in line for some sort of stamping of our paperwork in customs.  I left with the driver to go to an ATM to pay a final payment to get Mackey back.  By the time I got back to Jeff, he was finishing up the paperwork and we headed back to the original cargo area to get Mackey.  I make this seem so easy...it was to some extent---just time consuming.  

They brought Mackey out, and HE WAS ALIVE! That is all I could think about...  We took him out into the parking lot, and switched him from his giant hard carrier to his soft carrier for the next flight.  He was a little overwhelmed, as I can still vividly remember his little legs going limp and swaying from side to side.  Poor thing. Jeff and I continued to pet him in the car to calm him down.  We had to take him back through security, where (yep, you guessed it...) Jeff had to get him out of his carrier and walk him through the security gates. Too funny, and the employees loved it.  He did well, and we were off to sit at our gate.  Our flight was delayed just a bit, which was great because it gave Mackey some chill time.  He was all sprawled out in this carrier and extremely comfortable, which made me feel good.  He rode underneath the seat in front of me.

My wonderful parents met us in Indianapolis to collect him, as we were staying in a hotel downtown for the next couple of weeks and wanted Mackey to get settled as soon as possible.  It was a quick hello with my parents, and they jetted off (no pun intended) to head home and get him settled.

My mom and dad send me pictures periodically of how cute or silly Mackey is being. My dad found him like this in his office. Crazy cat!

On to the next adventure...

West End Play

Before I start this...I am writing this post now, over a month after going to our West End play, so my memory might be a little foggy. A lot has happened in the last few weeks... I took pictures, but forgot the cord in England.  So I had to wait until Jeff headed back to send me a few of them.  So, sorry for the delay! (More updates on life over the last month to come).

Here we go...

We planned our trip home around seeing a West End (the Broadway of London) play. Jeff and I headed down to London on Wednesday night, and the play was Thursday afternoon.  Mackey came along with us, for those of you that were wondering (not the to play...haha).  We headed into the city centre, as we were staying out by the airport a few hours before the play began, as we were seeing a matinee.

We ate at one of our favorite cafe type restaurants before heading to the show.  We ate at a nearby park, and enjoyed the beautiful day.  It was so nice to eat something healthy, people watch, and enjoy some quality time soaking up our last moments in the city centre of London. 

 Our bag filled with goodies

The show began at 2:30 in the afternoon.  We grabbed a couple drinks in the theatre and found our seats.  We saw Elephant Man, which if you do not know much about this true story, please click here.  One of the reasons we picked this show and not a happy-go-lucky sing along type show was that Bradley Cooper had the leading role as the elephant man.  And let me tell you...he was amazing!! First of all, it was so cool to be only feet away from him.  And his acting was incredible.  He had the walk, and the talk as if he really was the elephant man. My favorite part was in the beginning where they went body part by body part talking about the deformations, speech, and other issues.  I would highly recommend going to see this if you ever have the chance.  Bradley Cooper was only going to be in London performing for 3 months, so our timing was perfect.  But he came from Broadway doing this same show.

 Theatre Royal Haymarket

Right before the show started.  We were so close!

What a perfect way to end our time in London.  We headed on the Underground one last time, which was sad for the both of us.  What a great transportation system they have in London. 

Overall, it was a great way to end of English adventure together.  It was so fun to have our English to-do list and looking back I think we did pretty good!  A few more posts over the next month before closing the blog down for good.  Be on the look out for posts about Mackey's flight back soon.

On to the next adventure...