Help Me Reunite With My Cats, Marvin & Gina

Hi! My name is Michel. I'm a 23-year-old grad student who moved from Lebanon to Boston last year. When I first planned the move, I intended to bring my two cats, Marvin and Gina, with me, but due to instability in the region and unresponsive airlines, I wasn’t able to finalize their travel documents in time.

Since then, Marvin and Gina have been living with my mother in Lebanon. She’s been doing her best to care for them, but Gina, who struggles with anxiety and attachment issues, hasn’t been eating well and has started avoiding the litter box since I left. It’s been heartbreaking to be so far from them, especially knowing that one of them is clearly distressed.

I’ve spent the past year trying to find a way to bring them to Boston, but every potential travel option has either fallen through or been too expensive - especially with the ongoing instability. Now, there is finally a safe and reliable option through a pet cargo service from Beirut to Boston. However, the cost is steep: around $3,000 per cat, including flights, carriers, and all the required paperwork.

Both Marvin and Gina are rescues. Marvin was found between dumpsters at six weeks old, and Gina was the only survivor of a litter battling a viral infection. They are both healthy, fully vaccinated, and spayed/neutered. They mean the world to me.

I’ve hesitated to ask for help because I know how many urgent causes there are in the world right now, especially back home. But I’ve been hoping things would get easier and they haven’t. On top of that, my mother is now relocating to Jordan to be with her own mother, which means she can no longer care for Marvin and Gina. Time is running out, and with the ongoing instability in the United States, I have no plans to return home for a visit in order to bring them back with me.

Any contribution, no matter how small, would help me get one step closer to bringing them home. Thank you for reading, and thank you for your kindness.