Guest Post: Cairo Pet Owners by cairopets.com

Hello Cairo Pet Owners!

It's a sunny day in Zamalek and I'm working on my pets website, www.cairopets.com

I'm a journalist and (bad) playwright from New York living in Cairo.  I have one fabulous dog that I brought with me. She's lived in NYC, New Orleans, Dublin and now Cairo. Lulu is better traveled than many people I know? I also have two cats that my partner and I adopted from the mean streets of Maadi.

Dogs, Cats, Horses and More in Cairo

Having lived here over a year, I've struggled a bit to find good vets, pet shops, kennels and other services for my dog and cats. To fill the need, I've created a website that aims to put all the info on one handy site; cats, dogs, birds, horses and others.  There are forums for pet-owners to talk to each other, extensive listings for vets and pet shops, kennels, plus a place to review the services that you have used.  Everyone wants to find a good vet - it is great to see how others before you have fared with a certain practice.

Animal Welfare and Volunteering in Cairo

Animal welfare issues are high on my list of priorities too. Using my experience as a volunteer coordinator, I have created a volunteer program at S.P.A.R.E., a local animal shelter. There are opportunities to travel with a group out to the location and spend some time at the clinic, doing some chores and playing with the animals. S.P.A.R.E. is a fantastic organization and with a bit of help could become a great resource for helping animals.

As our program grows, I hope to include camels, donkeys and other animals in the project. I am aiming to raise awareness about the needs of all animals in Egypt.

There are lots of resources out there, it is just a matter of finding them! I also hope to roll out a few new services in the next six months: Ordering supplies online, homemade dog and cat food and a few other features.

Cat and Dog Services

The other pet problem in Cairo? People who offer services have a hard time telling people about what they offer. www.cairopets.com has an inexpensive classified ads section where dog walkers, dog sitters, cat sitters and others can let owners know that they are available for hire.

Creating www.cairopets.com was an act of love by a person who loves animals. I am hopeful that it will make it just a little bit easier to care for a pet in this great city. If you have a listing that we don't have, let us know and we'll put it up. Please email me with feedback or any questions. We'll be happy to find the answer for you!

info@cairopets.com

PETS: Bringing pets to Cairo.

One Fleeting Glimpse has just made an excellent detailed post on bringing her dog in from the US.

Please note that experiences differ from country to country and it seems that the originating airport is the crucial difference, not the Cairo end.

Bringing in from the US seems a relatively painless challenge:

OFG - Moving your dog to Egypt from US


Bringing in from the UK:

OBC - Bringing cats to Cairo from UK Heathrow


Bringing in from Ireland via Germany:

Expat Focus forum post


If you want an Egyptian 'fixer' at this end "just in case", then several people have used the following for getting pets from the air cargo place (I have NOT personally.)

Quick Cargo
5 Tehran St. Dokki
P.O. Box 415 Dokki
Tel: 35390262/3/4/5
Fax: 35390383

Comments about Quick Cargo from someone who was glad she used them (it might not seem the most glowing review but she wouldn't have her dog without them).

"Quick Cargo was chaotic and very very time consuming. For a start no one seemed to know exactly where to find Quick Cargo and it took a couple of hours asking people and driving round in the taxi before someone caught on to the idea of calling them on the number I kept waving.

There were 2 Quick Cargo-ites Fady and Nagy. Fady rode a motorbike and zoomed off with papers here and there and Nagy rode with us leaping out at different buildings. When they found out the dog was at Heathrow it had already been about 4 or 5 hours since we landed.

Next day we set off again at 4.30pm and got the dog at 8.45pm finally. There were some nasty rows between "helpers" and the Quick Cargo men, as the helpers thought they were over charging me. 280$ plus 1,500 EGL import charge. After a huge to do the import duty was suddenly reduced to 300EGL. I could NOT have managed to get the dog without Quick Cargo so to some extent they had me over a barrel, the import thing is so complicated and my nerves were like strings. I thought (Rover) would be dead, suffocated, starved etc etc but she is fine.

I am so grateful to you for suggesting Quick Cargo whatever the cost. I think I would still be looking for the dog now without their help."


VETS IN CAIRO

Blog post I made with names and addresses:

OBC - Vets in Cairo

I have personally used Dr Rania Kashif ("Vets in Practice" - 6th October City and Maadi)