...and she's lying here next to me happily. =^..^=
Here is the deal: You have to have a permit from Dubai with you when you enter the UAE with your animal.
We got Dubai Kennels & Cattery (
http://dkc.ae/) to arrange the permit for us.
You need two documents in order to get the permit. If I remember correctly, they are firstly, a rabies certificate more than 2 weeks old (but maybe within 30 days??) including the sticker from the vaccination which shows the manufacturer of the vaccine and the batch number, and secondly, a health certificate from the vet that is under 30 days old.
You should be able to fax these documents to DKC and when they have arranged the permit, they'll fax it to you so you can carry it in through customs with your pet and avoid a quarantine situation.
DKC was really good to us, because we arranged everything at the last minute, and I paid Marhaba (the meet-and-greet service) at DXB to meet him coming in with the kitty and hand him the permit before he passed through customs.
The prices for these services were all reasonable, and of course it was worth it not to leave the kitty behind.
Lots of luck to you and your family if you make the big move!!