December 2005

v Nena moves to Chicago!

Contributed by Micki Garcia

Whenever someone asks me what kind of dog I have, I always reply, "A purebred coconut retriever." It usually takes people a second or two to realize that I am joking.

In fact, Nena is an Anguillian mutt--a beautiful, short-legged, stumpy-bodied, and very, very affectionate bush dog. She was found in a box by the side of the road with her six female littermates. My husband saw her picture at one of the local restaurants and pleaded with me to bring her home with us.

At that time, we had been living in Anguilla for about a year. We had no children and thought Nena would be a great addition to our family. She was a cute, cuddly little furball, full of energy.

And she was a handful. Always yapping, snapping, growling and trying to play. We spent many sleepless nights, listening to her whine for attention. During the day, she would not sit still long enough to even be petted! Instead, she wanted to chew on everything--shoes, handbags, bed linens and even our hands.

I thought I would never be able to tame this animal, who I was sure was one of the hounds of hell. But suddenly, seemingly overnight, Nena outgrew her puppy hood to become the most pleasant and wonderful dog. She has the Anguillian mutt temperament--docile, friendly and very affectionate. She is great with other dogs and with children. We have never had a moment's hesitation bringing her with us anywhere.

Since then, we have had a daughter, Zoe, who is now almost 4. When Zoe was a baby, Nena and I used to take her walking on Sandy Hill beach in the mornings. On Sundays, we would gather at small beaches with other friends and their dogs and let them all run free.

Life in Anguilla was wonderful for all of us, especially, I suspect, for Nena. I left our front door wide open all day and she was free to run out with our neighbor's dog. The two of them were fast friends, chasing lizards in the morning and napping on our porch or living room in the afternoon.

After four years in Anguilla, my husband and I decided it was time for us to return to life in the states. As we began to prepare to leave, many people asked us whether we were going to bring Nena with us. "Of course, she is a member of our family," was always my answer.

However, I knew that moving from Anguilla to Chicago was going to be a tremendous change for all of us, especially Nena. I'll admit it was a difficult transition. During the first snowfall, Nena refused to go out for four days. She still hides under the bed during every storm and during walks will sometimes hear a noise or smell something that will send her straight back home, tail between her legs.

But for the most part, keeping our family intact has been fairly simple. The only requirement for bringing a dog into the states (and many countries) is proof of rabies and other vaccinations. We obtained the necessary paperwork easily from Nena's vet. We also had to call the airline to make a reservation for Nena and make sure we followed the airline's guidelines for traveling with pets. An important rule for traveling pets in the Caribbean is that most airlines will not permit them to travel during the summer months (between mid May and September).

Looking back at the experience a year later, we are so glad that we made the decision to bring our pooch home with us. She enriches all our lives in countless ways. We are so lucky that Nena adopted us!

Nena

The attraction of a "tree" inside the house is just way too much for some of our cats to resist. How many times have we seen the family cat "ride" our beautifully decorated tree right down to the floor??? Here are a few pictures of Christmas Tree Cats!

v From Stowaway to Fat Cat Class

Some of you may have already heard this "happy ending" story - about a cat in Wisconsin that had the adventure of a lifetime - actually many, many lifetimes!

The wayward tabby from Wisconsin that disappeared two months ago and wound up traveling across the Atlantic to France on a ship boarded a Continental Airlines flight Thursday -- in business class.

Travel conditions leaving Europe promised to be a bit more comfortable for Emily, who arrived as a stowaway in a cargo container after straying from home in Wisconsin.

"I don't think she'll drink champagne but I think she will be happy to rest," said Continental spokesman Philippe Fleury, at Charles de Gaulle airport to see Emily off. The airline offered to fly the cat home after her tale spread around the world and she cleared a one-month quarantine.

"This was such a marvelous story, that we wanted to add something to it," Fleury told AP Television News. A full-fare ticket for Emily's seat would normally cost about $6,000 and the airline provided a company escort for the cat.

Emily vanished from her home in Appleton, Wisconsin, late September. She apparently wandered into a paper company's distribution center near her home and crawled into a container of paper bales.

The container went by truck to Chicago and by ship to Belgium before the cat was found October 24 at Raflatac, a laminating company in Nancy, France.

Emily, who turned 1 year old that very day, was thin and thirsty but still alive.

Workers at Raflatac used her tags to phone her veterinarian in Wisconsin, and the vet called her owners.

Emily flew from Paris to Newark, New Jersey and then boarded a connecting flight to Chicago where she was met by her family appearing none the worse and driven home to Wisconsin.