Moving with cats

[doublemom2]

We'll, we've finally sold our house and are hopefully moving to our new house in a week and a half. We're going to try to make it as easy a move as possible for our kitties, so I'm open to any ideas, suggestions, etc. FuzzButt is nine years old and has never been anywhere but this one house, and Monkey and Jet are both three years old and have always lived here as well. I'm most worried about Fuzzy, she does NOT adapt to changes well.

We're planning on keeping all three cats in our master bedroom with all the furniture still there, including bed linens and clothes that have been worn and not washed yet (for the scent), while we move out the rest of the house. We'll get the kids' bedrooms set up in the new house with furniture, clothes, etc. as close as possible to what we have now, and move the cats into those rooms while we get the rest of the move done. They won't be happy, but I'm hoping to surround them with as much familiar furniture and scents as possible.

We have a couple of my kids' friends lined up to hang out with the cats while we're driving back and forth. The cats know them very well and are totally at ease with them.

Anything we're missing? Anything else we can do to make the transition easier for them? Thanks

Andi

[Ginger]

Can you take them back and forth with you? I just wonder if leaving them in the new house alone might freak them out, plus you have the issue of the males and females spraying.

Not sure about cats, but when we moved into our house (20 years ago ) we had a boxer and we took her back and forth with us while we moved.
This way she got to see the new house, smell everything, then go back to the old house, and she watched us move our stuff into the new house. By the time we finished moving everything she settled in very well.

Good luck with the move, man I hate to move

Ginger

[Chris_W]

When we moved it was hard on our oldest cat. Unfortunately we moved everything here except his favorite bed, moved all the younger cats here, then when it was all done I finally moved him. He was very upset and never did settle in here. After about 3 months of living outdoors he finally came indoors and slept with me one last time, then disappeared and I never saw him again

If I had to do it over I would have moved him first so that he could stake this out as "his" territory all over again. Then after he was settled I would have moved the rest of the cats.

Good luck!

Chris

[Tundra_Queen]

Andi, keep them in one room for a few days then let them slowly get use to the other rooms. Slow and easy. And good idea about the clothes and linens with your scent on them!

Also, get some Feliway spray, I think that's how u spell it. You spray it around the area, not on the cat. Like in the cat carrier wall and it relaxes the cat. It's suppose to be like their facial pheromones...making them relaxed.

Try this article too. I got it from the Think Like a Cat website with posts from Pam Bennet Johnson who is a well known cat behaviorlist and author.

http://pets.yahoo.com/blog/catbehavior/ ... -new-home/

Debbie

[doublemom2]

We're planning on doing most of the moving in just a day or two. All cats are terrified of being in the car, so I don't want to take them back and forth, just one car ride will be plenty traumatic for all of them LOL!. I think I may ask our vet for some Kitty-Valium for Fuzzy, just enough for a couple of days. The two boys will be cautious but they're also very curious and interested in things like new furniture, etc. Fuzzy is the one I'm worried about.

And I forgot to mention, we do have Feliway that we used for Fuzzy when we adopted the two boys, I'll have to get a refill but we'll be sure to have the diffuser plugged in at the new house, maybe even get that set up a few days ahead of time so it can get all through the house

Andi

[Spider]

My parent's (show) Himmy gets carsick when going in the car. (Fun with a show coat on). They spray the crate with feliway and it helps. If you leave the crates out with the doors open the cats may not be so tramatized by them. They may even sleep in them.

I'm planning on taking Katie to work, just to get her out of the way. She will stay overnight and be picked up the next day. Your cats may get more stressed with all the activity around them. We are moving the dog over to the new apartment (my housemates dog, living seperately finally) so she won't be stressed out. (dog has seperation anxiety and other min pin issues).

I've never had any issues moving with my pets, they adjust to about anything, so long as their fed they dont care where they are, lol. I would be nervous about "free range" outdoor pets.

Good luck in your move!

[eastwood2007]

When my daughter just moved, they took their cat over to the new place in a carrier so she could hang out with them a few hours.

Two days later when they actually moved, they kept her in the carrier out in the living room where she could see everything going on. Then my daughter took her in her car. Not a single problem. The cat loves the new stairs which she had never had before.

The difference is that this cat has been in the car alot...so that may make a different scenario. She is also very outgoing.

[Tundra_Queen]

Andi, how did the move go?

Debbie

[doublemom2]

Move... what move???? Grrrr.... we're still waiting. Seems the people buying our house had issues with their bank. They are approved for the loan, but their bank was being incredibly slow in processing the paperwork, submitting it to escrow, and has zero customer service. So... after two weeks of fighting their bank, they walked out and started shopping for a new bank from scratch. Which is all well and good, except that nobody decided it was important for US to know that information. So, we've been sitting here half-packed for the last several weeks wondering what the heck was going on. Last we heard, it was all going to close this coming week and we can move next weekend. I'm at the point where I'll only believe it when my signature is on the dotted line and I'm holding keys in my hand

But, the cats are sure having fun playing in all the boxes LOL!!! I guess there's something good out of this whole mess

Andi

[Tundra_Queen]

Oh Andi, I'm so sorry to hear that!! You must be sooooo frustrated!! I hope that things go smoothly and u can move soon!

Debbie

[LucyGoose]

How frustrating.... .......keep us posted Andi!!

[doublemom2]

Well, all cats are doing well. We brought all furniture/boxes, etc. over on Saturday except the master bedroom stuff, then at the very end we piled all three cats in the car and brought them to the new house. Monkey thinks he's died and gone to Disneyland, he is so excited and happy! He has explored every square inch of the new house and LOVES how much space there is to run around. Jet was pretty cautious for the first two days, he stayed in Tori's room with her furniture and familiar smells, then slowly came out, and after the second day he's pretty much flopped on the kitchen floor begging for treats like normal. He loves the running room also.

FuzzButt is still hanging out in the master bedroom where she's most familiar with the furniture and smells of our bed, clothes, pillows, etc. We have her set up with food/water/litterbox/FuzzButt beds in there, and she's slowly venturing out to the rest of the house, but she always darts back to our bedroom where she feels safe. We catch her laying on the window sills (which are really large and perfect for the cats!) checking out the dog next door and her new surroundings. I think it's going to be a while before she feels totally comfortable here, since she was at our other house virtually her whole life for 9 years, but she's doing great and as expected.

Thanks for everyone's advice and suggestions, we're really happy with the new place and glad that all the critter seem to be adjusting well. Even the lizards are back out basking and eating well, so the move really didn't phase them much at all.

Andi

[Tundra_Queen]

Andi, I'm so glad the move went well. Feliway is also suppose to be good for spraying new surroundings too, to make the cats feel at ease. I hope fuzz butt can settle in as well as the boys are doing. *S*

Debbie

[eastwood2007]

Andi, I posted on your birthday post, but I do hope you update us about your new place when you get settled in.

Congrats!

[mooie]

That's really wonderful to know! Glad everything worked out for you and your furkids. I've been watching this post to see how it ended up since I'm moving next weekend and have been trying to prepare things to make my girls more comfortable. I purchased 2 diffusers of feliway and will put them in the new house this week to get the scent? in there ahead of time. Hopefully their transition will be as smooth as yours was. Congrats on the new home!

mooie