Jen, no offence taken - it's a fair question!

My husband's main concern is that we are not permanently settled in the Middle East, and costs to ship an animal back to South Africa are extremely high. He KNOWS that once an animal is in the family, I will never agree to leave it behind.

You are right - I would have a house full of cats, but I would be setting myself up for absolute heartbreak when the time comes to leave here.

He is supportive in my efforts to help the local animals as much as possible (he does not complain about the time I spend at the shelter, the hours spend outside trying to catch strays and injured cats, the HUGE food and bottled water bills (which he pays), and the trips outside at 3AM to break up fights amongst the group of strays and ferals I feed, but he does draw the line at having another full-time cat in the house. (He has also rescued cats himself and once had to smuggle one through the border from Saudi as he could not find a shelter in Saudi, and having caught a small kitten at the roadside, was not prepared to just let it go again). He has a good heart, he is just (unfortunately) a lot mre logical than I am).

I understand his reasons - he is being perfectly level-headed and logical. but I still cannot get Thomas out of my mind! So I am hoping that one last try, with the help of the power of PT Prayers, will over-ride his logic for JUST long enough to get Thomas into the house