My husband and I, and our fabulous feline Mr. Cheddar were so excited to be planning our move to the Parksville Qualicum Beach area, for this summer or early fall.
Unfortunately, the reality of trying to secure cat-friendly accommodations has been surprising and discouraging too. Seems that a lot of people in your area are under the misguided opinion that all cats are destructive and basically trouble. Several vacation rentals and apartments have been dog-friendly, but not welcoming cats.
Mr. Cheddar is a well-behaved, older house-cat.
I thought you might want to write a story in your newspaper about this lack of cat-friendly accommodation in Parksville and also in Qualicum Beach. This is something I have never had problems with before, when travelling with a feline friend and it has been most discouraging.
We want to move there so much, actually our first choice for places to relocate to. But the way things are going, we might have to give up and try elsewhere. Had hoped to rent a place or a short-term accommodation before buying but the doors keep slamming on those plans.
Now we are planning for late August/early September. But without a break in this cat policy from someone and for somewhere suitable, we will be out of luck. Also, we sold both of our cars when we moved to Nelson, eight years ago so we need to be within walking distance of amenities or on a bus route. Again, has made this even more challenging.
Obviously, a lot of people are wanting to move to your area but does that have to mean leaving feline pals behind? That doesn’t seem right to me. And certainly not to Mr. Cheddar — he’s giving this basically cat-free zone the paws down, at least for now.
Geraldine HartmanNelson, B.C.
