tips on moving house with pets

swim2

Hi

Myself and my partner are moving house in the next while. We are moving to a more rural location (not city centre at the moment, on outskirts with a back garden etc)
We have a 2 year old golden retriever who has been to the new house a few times & made friends with the neighbours 3 dogs. We will relocate her run for when we are in work 3 days a week. I am not too worried about her moving, I know to keep her in the first few weeks etc and only go out with us etc
We also have a 7 year old cat, who we adopted(2 1/2 years ago) after her owners moved out to get their house renovated then moved abroad when the downturn came. This lady is not as much a house cat, she loves her comforts of a warm fire but also loves preying on mice, small birds etc(we got her a bell for her collar so they can hide when they hear her coming!!!) she loves human company too
We are moving about 20 miles away.
My question is does anyone have any tips for helping the cat(& dog) to move.
We dont want to leave her behind and the two do get on great so may make the move easier-of course the cat is the boss!! We asked the family of our old neighbours would they mind her & they said they would come up to the house every once in a while to put food out for her...
I have read up about keeping them in for the first while when you move, but this cat likes being outdoor and having the freedom to roam around...any tips on this would be appreciated.
Thank you

planetX

Moving is much more stressful for cats than dogs - but no reason to leave her behind!!! You will need to keep her inside for a while though, some people say 4 weeks, others 2. I usually last for barely 1. The idea is that the cat will relearn its territory. Equip yourself with a cat litter, and try to not bring the cat until all the rest of the moving is done. A collar with your phone number on is a good idea for when you do start letting her outside.

swim2

Yea exactly, we really dont want to move her behind.
She has never used a cat litter tray so that will be new, but as you say she will soon get used to her territory.
thank you

echosound

planetX wrote: »

Moving is much more stressful for cats than dogs - but no reason to leave her behind!!! You will need to keep her inside for a while though, some people say 4 weeks, others 2. I usually last for barely 1. The idea is that the cat will relearn its territory. Equip yourself with a cat litter, and try to not bring the cat until all the rest of the moving is done. A collar with your phone number on is a good idea for when you do start letting her outside.

Agreed with all the above. Don't leave your cat behind!
We've moved a good few times with a cat (and dogs) in tow, to and from both urban and rural areas, and we've kept the cat in for at least a week before allowing him outside (just grit your teeth and let her yowl to go out, she'll give up after a few minutes and cats are generally great at sussing out the kitty litter tray).

I've found that our cat usually gets a little freaked out on the first day he's in the new house, and needs a quiet safe place he can hide in, often down the back of a bed or behind the couch, so bring something familiar for her, a blanket or her bed or something and leave it there so she can feel safe in her little fort. Let her sniff around all the rooms in her own time, so she gets the lay of the land, so to speak.

When you do start letting her out, go outside with her, and just stand there for a bit of "backup" for her, as she'll be feeling out of her comfort zone. Leave a door of the house open too so that if she gets a fright she has an escape route back into the safety of the house and her "safe" area, otherwise you could find your cat bolting away in the wrong direction and getting lost in the panic.

I'd also try to always have a window open while the cat is outdoors for at least the first fortnight, so she knows she has a way back in if she gets scared. Or if she's going to be an outdoor cat, access to a safe place she recognises as "hers" - a bed in a shed, or whatnot.

Oh and I'd definitely invest in some sort of scratching post if your cat is used to being outdoors, as she probably currently has a favourite treetrunk or something she sharpens the claws on, which she won't have when you move. You could wake up to find the corners of your couch shredded if you don't get something for her to scratch!

best of luck with the move.

swim2

Thank you so much for the great tips.
Hopefully the move will go well, will be well prepared to make the move best for the two of them. I am sure both of them will love the countryside:D

Tranceypoo

When we moved last year, we just kept the cat in for the first month or so, I must admit I was nervous about letting her out at all, in our old house she was outside about 50% of the time so I wasn't sure how impressed she would be, she also had never used a litter tray before. She was absolutely fine, she used the litter tray from day 1 and we have never had an accident over a year later, she started going out after a month or so but I think she so enjoyed being in that she doesn't go out half as much these days, she just loves snoozing on the kitchen chair, when she does goes out, she rarely strays very far from the house, you can see her up the field she has a little spot in the hedges where she hides (presumably to sneak up on the mice!), so I would say don't stress too much about it but do keep her in for the first month or so just to get her used it. Good luck with it!