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Hi All,
Well my move date is looming close - after several false starts it looks like we are actually going in the coming week.
One anxiety I have (of many!) is my cats. I have 4 and I'm looking for top tips on how to move them with the least stress possible (to us and them).
Any advice appreciated!
Adam
No - its no wind up.
Thanks for the comments so far. I am in touch with the vets already - I'm also familiar with Feliway as its a product I've used before - but to be honest without much success.
The practicalities concern me. E.g. I know to have my cats chipped (especially as we are moving close to our current house). I know to keep them in for a couple of weeks once we've moved. But at what point in the move is it best to take them? At the beginning - or the end - or somewhere in between. E.g. once all the heavy furniture has been shifted?
Put them in a cattery or take them to stay with some friends before the move. If they see boxes ...etc... they'll understand something is strange, will get nervous and hide somewhere.
Bring the cats in their new home when the move is more or less finished.
Feed them as usual, cuddle them as usual. Keep them in one room to start with and let them visit the the place.
Let them go out only when they've settle in the new house (after a week or two).
They need to feel secure (ie: being with you + be fed + have a tray for their daily business)
If it is any help to you, we cleared one small room in our old house a good few days before the move. On the day of the move, both cats were shut in there, with their travel boxes ready, whilst the rest of the house was cleared.
Once at the new house, my very good friend (who is another 'feline obsessive'), sat with my two in the (large) bathroom whilst we moved all the furniture and boxes in. She even had her flask of tea with her, and they had their litter tray and food. When all the chaos had died down, we let them have a wander. One of them, bless her, would not come downstairs for a couple of days, but the other one had a good old nose around and settled in quite quickly.
Obviously do not let them out until they have settled. When they are ready, try to go out with them so they know someone familiar is close at hand, and try to have a door open (weather dependant) so they can rush in if something spooks them.
Good luck!
Having had one determined Moggie leave our house to go to another home, keep walking back right across town ( he did it at least six times) .....we were forced to keep him.
My suggestion is to keep your cats indoors in their new home for at least six weeks......not easy I know, but persevere.
On the other hand you could try the old Folksy thing and butter their paws every day......it seemed to work when I was a kid........a very long time ago.
Please keep us all informed of progress.
Another cat person......
Hobbo
Hi,
We had similar concerns when we moved, we used Feliway as mentioned above. Now we we sceptical about all the hype about it, but we used the plug in diffuser for 2 weeks before we moved and our 2 were so chilled out. Normally the older one gets so stressed when if it looks like we are going on holiday, but she was so laid back with the Feliway plugged in. We ran it for 2 weeks when we got to the new place and the day it ran out was the day they livened up and started going out more.
Shop around as you can get it much cheaper on line than at the vets. We still use it when we are going on holiday to help chill them out.
We also put them in a local cattery (checked by us out first) for the day we moved, much less stressful and no worries about them going missing. We booked them for 2 nights but got them after one as they house was OK to receive them. We only moved about 50 yards, but it was much less worrying for all knowing they were parked somewhere safe.
Martin
Martin
Quote: My suggestion is to keep your cats indoors in their new home for at least six weeks
Plenty of good advise so far, I would seriously consider Hobbo's suggestion of 6 weeks, Mainly because cats are creatures of habit, 6 weeks might seem excessive, But its not a great deal of time in the great scheme of things, Anything that helps ensure your cats safety and well being has gotta be worth it, Yup! 6 weeks of pampering, The bestest favourite foods, Lots of interaction with you, They will think they are onto a good thing.....
After that a week or two suppervised outings and I reckon your " Home & Dry " ......
Whatever, Best of luck with the move, Lets hope the moggies like the new gaff too.....
When we moved we put our cats into a cattery not far from our new abode...........cats not stressed with all the packing, owners not stressed worrying about the cats going astray. It is the best way.........cats are so perceptive, they know what's going on.
I see from the above the cattery choice is the best option, one of our cats is an outside cat he settled into the cattery with no problems. We didn't collect them until 2 days after we had moved in.........most boxes unpacked, furniture in place, we also didn't let them outside on their own for a few days so they could mind map the new home.
Good luck with the move, it is a stressful time for all. but you will be happy knowing your cats are in a safe place........
Hope this helps in some small way.
Cheers
Julia
We used the same cattery trick whenever we had to move with two cats.
The other thought, which will only work if your cats are happy on the lead (and you don't mind some odd comments ), as others have suggested we always kept them in for a couple of weeks, then took them around the local area on the lead, feeding them when we got back. The idea being to acquaint them with the area and associate returning home with food.
We only ever had one stray and he came back after 2 weeks (my wife reckoned he followed the trail of blue stilton she left around the area, his favourite treat. She got some odd looks too! )
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