Okinawa Hai!

CONTRIBUTED BY SHELL BURGER When we found out last January we were moving to Okinawa in June, we were very excited; then came the daunting task of preparing. Luckily, when we got word we quickly googled moving pets to Okinawa. WOW. There was a LOT we had to do to bring our dogs with us. [...]

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CONTRIBUTED BY COURTNEY PLOTZ Editor’s note: Courtney PCS’d from San Diego to Okinawa with a dog, traveling on the military flight commonly referred to as the “Patriot Express.” She has some helpful hints for those who will be attempting to do the same this season. We started our process about nine months before we left [...]

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CONTRIBUTED BY LEAH WILLIAMS Editor’s note: Leah recently PCSed to Okinawa with her 13-pound dog, who was small enough to fly in-cabin on a commercial flight to Seattle and then on the Patriot Express to Okinawa. We hope her experience with gathering documentation and preparing for the flights will help those of you on your [...]

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CONTRIBUTED BY JORDYN PUGH The rumors are true, my friends! After many long years of waiting and wishing and hoping, the military finally has provided an off leash dog park! I almost could not believe my eyes when reading the news on a status update from Karing Kennels, and was very excited to try it [...]

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CONTRIBUTED BY ASHLEY CONNOLLY Cat Cafe 1 Cat Cafe  First of all, I love cats. I have even been referred to as a crazy cat lady. So when I heard there was a café where cats just hung out with you I was amazed and had to go. If you love cats, too, then this [...]

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Noahs Sign CONTRIBUTED BY ALEXANDRA KEY For all the pet lovers on Okinawa, I need to fill you in. Vets out in town aren’t scary. Sure, the Kadena veterinary clinic is fine but the waits can be long, the waiting room cramped, and the yard a little, for a lack of a better word, “poopy”. [...]

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CONTRIBUTED BY LIZ SMITH During the madness of trying to catch the latest report on television about the earthquake, and trying to get updated information about the possibility of a tsunami hitting the island, our beloved dog, Buckeye, decided to have a “quake” of his own. He was diagnosed with epilepsy a few years ago, [...]

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CONTRIBUTED BY BETH OLMO We’ll be stopping in Hawaii for a week when we PCS back to the States this fall, which promises to be a lot of fun for us but maybe not too much fun for our dog, Sky. Initially, we were told she would have to go into quarantine, probably the whole [...]

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Having just gone through this process myself, I was delighted to receive this submission from Barbara.  She nailed the details and the experience! We have a number of posts about bringing animals to Oki, but this will give you the in's & out's of getting them back home.  I'll add in a few notes throughout… [...]

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CONTRIBUTED BY DASHA GARIEPY Here in sub-tropical Okinawa, there’s no telling what one may find unexpectedly in one’s kitchen: a gecko, a beetle (aka roach), a spider, a litter of puppies, a…. A LITTER OF PUPPIES?! That’s right! A litter of puppies. Aren’t they cute? The vet just confirmed yesterday that our foster dog was [...]

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