u/BasicSpaceDragon

Well I did it! The CDS delivered Tangerino to me, and I would have been an idiot to pass him up. Now he's in England with me, and what a journey we had!

A quick recap: I was visiting Florida; it was the birthday of my orange cat who passed away last year. Tangerino followed me home - and stayed. He was a community TNR cat with an ear tip and no microchip. I was able to locate his feeder via some facebook sleuthing, and they gave me the thumbs up to adopt him.

I had him chipped and vaccinated, and re-arranged my return flight plans. I had to get him used to wearing a harness, sitting in a carrier and being rolled around on top of a suitcase. Two days before we were scheduled to leave, Tangerino got in a fight with another cat who scratched him and left him with puncture wounds on his ear. I kept him inside after that.

We traveled by car, plane, boat and train to get home. The journey took two days. It was exhausting. But we did it, and it was worth every effort and expense. Tangerino is home with me now, and I couldn't be happier.

Our orange traveler is still sleeping it off, more or less glued to the heating pad as he adjusts to the cold climate. He's had a massive lifestyle change, so I'm giving him all the time he needs to settle in. But there will be no more street fights, no more sleeping in the dirt, no more eating cheap cat food from plastic plates on the sidewalk. No more suffering through heat waves, fleas and mosquitoes. He's going to live a long life and be so, so loved.

So I came to visit Florida and on my first day here this floppy orange goober followed me home. There are dozens of ear-tipped street cats here, most of them not-so-friendly. But this one took a shine to me and basically moved in to the guest house where I'm staying, rolling around in paper bags, doing zoomies and sleeping on my bed at night like he's always been my cat.

It is worth mentioning that he followed me home on what would have been the birthday of my previous orange cat Wiggle (who definitely had one brain cell). Wiggle died from lymphoma shortly before I moved. I had been sorely missing him, and was having an impossible time finding a cat to adopt in England. So Tangerino (as I'm calling him) seemed heaven sent, and not just because he and Wiggle have the same nose freckle.

I was supposed to fly back last week, but I changed my plans so I can bring Tangerino with me. Now I have to get the funds together for the two-day journey from Miami to England.

I've already had him microchipped, vaccinated and treated for fleas. Now I need to get health certificates from the USDA, and come up with transportation costs. The last forum I posted him in didn't allow fundraising, so I'm getting a little desperate. If anyone has been following our story and wants to help us out, here is the fundraiser. Huge thanks, and hugs to all your Brain Cells!

For those following the story of Tangerino who followed me home on my Miami vacation and basically made himself my new cat... I've decided to bring him back to the UK with me! Yes, I cancelled my return flight and I'm rescheduling the whole thing so I can bring him home. He is an absolute gem and there's no way I could leave him behind at this point. Big thanks to everyone who encouraged me to keep him!

I was able to get in touch with his colony feeder via the local TNR group. The feeder is "100% fine" with me adopting Tangerino - apparently he is not so trusting with her, so they're happy he found his person and they want to follow his journey to the UK. Big relief knowing this.

I'm in the process of harness training him for the flight. As you can see here he really hates it ;) Actually, after training my semi-feral tripod for the same journey, Tangerino is a piece of cake. He's remarkably co-operative - purrs while wearing the harness, chills out in the carrier, and seems to be having fun with it all.

He has been spending more and more time indoors, and I've seen him use the litter box so I have confidence in him adapting to indoor life. He loves his toys and scratcher, loves sleeping on the furniture, and does zoomies every morning. In many ways he reminds me of my orange tabby who died a year ago. Thanks to Tangerino I no longer have a broken heart, and I feel super lucky that this is happening.

UPDATE: Thanks to the support here, I've decided to do what it takes to bring him home with me. I agree with the many people who said I'll regret it if I don't take him. Sincerely, thanks to everyone here, you all provided needed clarity.

*****

I'm staying in Miami for a few weeks, visiting from the UK where I recently moved to from Florida. On my first morning here I encountered dozens of street cats with tipped ears. Some were in not-so-good condition, most were not friendly. But this one orange tabby not only let me pet him, he followed me home and stayed by my side for six days, as though he'd always been my cat.

Not that it matters, but this happened on what would have been the birthday of my previous orange cat, who died last year from lymphoma. As a bonus, they both have the same nose freckle. I had been sorely missing my orange cat who died, and having an impossible time finding a suitable cat to adopt in the UK, so this has been amazing for me. This orange ear-tipped cat - who I'm calling Tangerino - seems to like me, too, because he hasn't left my side for six days.

I took him to the vet; he had no chip. I had one put in, and got him all his vaccines and tests and flea treatment because I'm thinking about bringing him back to the UK with me.

But I'm still not sure it's a good idea. I brought my other (living) cat over when I moved - it's an arduous, expensive journey which I'm not sure I can afford to do a second time. My other concern is transitioning this 100% outdoor cat from the tropics into a very small cottage in cold northern England.

He seems content here, but living outside is not the best life for a cat. I'll be here for another week and I need to decide what to do.