Damn. That's really unfortunate. I often wonder how we'll go when we have kids. There'll be two cats (elderly), a dog (puppy, or middle age by the time we have a kid), and two kids (rat-bags). It'll be interesting. I'm going to make a way for it to work if necessary.
When I was moving house once, I transported both of my cats over at the same time. When I reached the new house, one of them, Gwen, got out of the car before we could get a hold of her. She panicked and ran away in directions I couldn't chase her. I was sad to see her go, but I knew that she'd be alright. I only felt sad because I'd never see her again. I knew she could look after herself and another loving family would take her in.
Four days later, we were watching TV. My other cat, Litha, was meowing at the door to be let out. I ignored for five minutes him until the show was finished. Finally I looked over at the meowing bugger. He wasn't meowing. He was laying there lazily. Wait a sec, that's Gwen's meow! Sure enough, Gwen was hiding under the car. She must have smelled Litha's scent, and despite her hatred of Litha, knew that it meant I was there too. Gwen was still healthy and well. In fact, she looked a little better than usual.
We still have them both now, Gwen getting old and arthritic, Litha just being his usual self, and now there's Alicia our Japanese Spitz puppy. I consider this (mild) practice for when we have kids.
