Inside or Outside, PR & TVR...Help!?!

[Ajs22]

First I am sorry if this has been asked before    I am trying to figure this all out, and I am feeling a little overwhelmed sometimes 

I am moving back to Canada this year and I am going to sponsor my Japanese wife for PR.  She would like to come as a visitor to Canada (likely) before her PR is approved, so that she can brush up on her English and also so we don't have to be apart for so long.  She is not planning on coming at the same time as me, rather she will come a month or so later.  I have read about 'dual intent' and now I am getting worried...because here is the catch:

I have cats. Two of them.  I am planning on bringing one when I go to Canada, and she will bring the other when she comes a little later (as it seems I cannot take both on the plane at once).  Since she may not have her PR approved at that time, I am worried that the IO will deny her because he will see the cat as intent to stay.  The cats have been my pets since before she and I met, and she will just be bringing it over for me.  If she fully explains this at when she comes in to the country will this pose a problem?

In this case would it be better for us to wait until she is in Canada to apply for PR?  Or would applying outside (as planned) still be the best way to go, but just make sure she fully explains to the IO that she is bringing that cat on my behalf?

[canadianwoman]

Even if you wait to apply for PR until she is already in Canada, the border official is going to see a foreign wife of a Canadian travelling with a pet as someone who is maybe not planning to just visit.
When are you coming back to Canada? Try applying right away for her PR visa - if you are a Canadian citizen, you can apply to sponsor your spouse while you are outside of Canada. If your relationship has no 'red flags' and you prepare a very good application package with lots of proof your marriage is genuine, then maybe her PR visa will be issued fairly quickly, and she can come to Canada with the cat and with her PR visa.

I do not think whether you have applied for the PR or not when she tries to enter with the cat will make any difference.
If she comes before she gets the PR visa, make sure she has a lot of proof of ties to Japan and plans to go back: a return ticket, a job in Japan with a letter from her boss giving her 2 weeks leave, an apartment lease, etc. Proof of enrollment in an educational institution, with fees paid for classes that start after she gets back, is also good. And some kind of proof the cat is yours, if possible.

[Ajs22]

Thanks canadianwoman!  We are working hard to get her application in as soon as possible, but I dont know how quickly it will all happen.  We will follow your advise about having proof she will go back to Japan, and prepare as many documents as we can.