We are "feline" sad and you can help us!

Five years ago, in February 2015, having moved to New Zealand the year before we adopted a beautiful Mama cat called LadyJane and her little daughter Tigerlily. LadyJane had got pregnant at 10 months old and they had been put into a bag and thrown in the river near Waikanae and left to drown. Some wonderful human saved them and they ended up in a local cat rescue centre. We fell in love immediately and decided to give this little black cat family a home and lots of love. Four months later we went to drop off a donation of cat food to the rescue centre and met Shadow, another black cat who just decided he loved Esme. So, we went on to take him home with us to join the girls making a family of three. He has been by Esme's side ever since and Shadow is literally her shadow! He sleeps beside her every night and follows her everywhere. She throws him around like a big fluffy ragdoll and he loves it.

Due to the constant changes over the years in NZ immigration eligibility criteria our hopes of residency have decreased with every year we are here. It has come to the point where we need all need some security and stability and so after many years of travelling and being on temporary visas our one way flights home to Scotland are booked for 16th July 2020.

The visa fees, lawyers, medicals and police checks over the years have been expensive and the cost to relocate home has required the last of my savings to be exhausted.

This leaves us with a sad dilemma.The cost to relocate a cat from Christchurch to Edinburgh is around $3000 - more than I can afford. This is already a difficult transition after 6 years travelling and living overseas and it certainly was not part of the life plan!

For Esme who is 11, after years with no family contact and having only a few friends here in New Zealand her cat Shadow has been an emotional anchor. He is her best friend, her other half.

And so I turn to fundraising and appealing to our network and hope people might consider helping us.

If you are able to support us to bring Shadow home we would be so grateful.

For Esme, not having Shadow will break her heart - she struggles to spend even a few days without him.

Please help me to give my daughter the security and stability she needs during this difficult transition as we return home not necessarity through choice but necessity due to the changes in New Zealand immigration eligibility criteria and a points based system that favours the affluent not necessarily the worthy.