Moved homes.. take cat?

rainbows7

Hi,

Just after some advice please.

We have moved homes from an estate to the countryside. There was a cat in our estate that we fed that was apparently belong to the previous tenants. We neutured him and he became friendly.

Now that we moved, we feel he stilll belongs in the estate as he only knows that best. Whereas now that we are in the countryside I feel he will be lost and scared.

My neighbour who I had hoped would take him in, declined, so we decided at the last minute to take him with us. He was absolutely terrified in the car and since we arrived he has hidden himself in an old shed that's full of crap and all we can hear is him bellowing. I left food but he hasn't eaten it. We feel so upset for our cat and feel that we should never have brought him.

We are considering trying to catch him and maybe bring him back to the estate, or does anyone have any better ideas on what we should do?

There is a big dog next door which isn't going to help the situation as cat is terrifed of dogs.

????/

Odelay

How long is he in his new home?
Also is it very stormy there tonight? that might affect him.

Try to spend time outside and let him see you, it should reassure him.

pokertalk

give him time and he will be catching mice in no time can you catch him and keep him indoors for a few days? as its prob a culture shock to him at least he knows you and will come around just give him time but defo try and keep him in doors

vibe666

we were in a similar situation in a house we were in for a year, where a local stray came to stay in our garden (we have our own two cats and a dog, all living outside, but in a shed and kennel respectively).

she was in an awful state, so we cared for her, gave her regular flea treatments etc. and she's the picture of health now, but she's always stuck around, even sleeping in the dog kennel with our alaskan malamute (yup, weird family we have!:D), so when it came time to move house, we decided as she had adopted us (and our dog), we would bring her along and see if she stayed. we were only moving about a mile and a half, so we figured that the worst case would be that she'd go back to where she knew, but although she disappeared for a couple of days after we let her out of the shed for the first time (after keeping her and the other two cats locked in with litter trays and food & drink for a few days so they got used to it and didn't just run off), she did eventually come back and continued to sleep with the dog.

due to circumstances beyond our control, we'v just had to move again after less than 2 months, only a few miles down the road again, but further into the country and with the same set-up again with the shed and dog run after a few days we let them all out and everyone is delighted with their new home.

moving house is stressful for cats and dogs, so just try and minimise the disruption as much as you can, move them when it's quiet if possible, let them get used to their new environment and keep as much familiarity as you can for them so they know where they belong.

sorry, that was more of a mini life story than advice, but you get the idea.

brrabus

Sounds like an ideal move for a cat, he will get used to his new surrounding and absolutely love them. Give him time, I moved countries with my cats, took them a while but they soon got used to it.

boomerang

Bring him in, and keep him indoors for a few weeks, then start allowing him out gradually, before mealtimes, when he's feeling peckish. That way he won't wander far.

brrabus

And put some butter on his paws before he goes out a wandering, he will soon find his smell back.

vibe666

brrabus wrote: »

And put some butter on his paws before he goes out a wandering, he will soon find his smell back.

that's actually a myth.

the best thing you can do is make sure it's microchipped and that you've called the chipping company and updated your contact details with your new address and and has a collar with your contact details on as well.

keep them in exclusively for a week with a litter tray and then go out during the day with them and make sure they see you hanging around the house and keep as many familiar things at the new place outside as you can, so they know that this is their new home and make sure you leave them plenty of their favourite food and treats outside in familiar surroundings to make them feel as much at home as possible.

just keep them interested and engage them as much as possible, making a fuss of them whenever you see them around and keep curtains open and blinds up so they can still see you when you're in the house.

rainbows7

We are only in new house 2 days. Cat hidden under loads of storage stuff belong to family in shed. Unable to see him or get to him unless I move everything which I may have to. I go into the shed and talk to him and meow's back,so he does recognise my voice. But it breaks my heart that he's so scared. I left food and nice comfy bed which he hasn't touched.

Husband refuses to let him in house.

I feel I should take him back to the estate as I can't see things improving much for him here. But none of you seem to suggest same? I just hate seeing him so distressed.

This is tempory accommodation for us, emigrating maybe on the cards.

Brother lives very near who offered to take cat (only to keep rats away) but isn't helping the situation because he refuses to allow cat in his shed where their dog sleeps!

Dilemmas Christmas week.......not good...:(

Nody

Leave him Hazel; it took one of our two cats two weeks to go beyond the first room we put them in when we took them in. The other cat was roaming the whole apartment with in 15 minutes (howling at the door to be let out for the first 15). It all comes down to personality but leave him food, a soft spot and he'll settle in.

Sofiztikated

The cat is just stressed. New surroundings, new smells.

Give it time, it will adjust.

If you take it back to the estate, it'll be homeless. Which would you rather do, give it time to adjust, and have a pet, or dump it back for it to become wild?

Pumpkinseeds

It'll take time for puss to settle in. Whatever you do don't take him back to the estate and leave him. You took pity on him when he needed it but if you leave him on the estate he may not be that fortunate again. The reality is domestic cats abandoned in estates or anywhere else, don't survive. They don't have the hunting skills to survive. If they find a colony of feral cats they're unlikely to be accepted as cats are territorial.

Most people have wheelie bins for domestic rubbish so scavaging for food would be almost impossible. If you feel sure that you cannot keep him I'd suggest contacting animal rescues in your county. There is a facebook page for Feral Cats Ireland. It's used by a lot of rescues throughout the country. The rescues will help any cat that they can, feral or domesticated.

I hope the stress levels ease off soon. Remember cats pick up on human stress too so if you're stressing out he'll be freaking out as well. Try to stay calm and give puss time. It's a bad time to make any final decisions, especially when you're under pressure. If you can, hold off until after Christmas.

Realtine

I believe it will adjust, spend time every day and more than once a day going down to where it is and talking to it, letting it know you are there, it's obviously familiar with you - honestly in a short while it will be running around enjoying it's new environment.

Keep leaving fresh food out for it, replacing it after some time if not eaten. Perhaps food something with a strong smell like tinned fish, tuna or salmon to entice it to eat, once it's eating the food I think it will be a short time before you see it wandering around. Cat's are territorial and even though they 'wander' they rarely stray too far from their own 'turf' - this cat doesn't recognize this new area but once it starts to explore it will be fine - might be a good idea to have it chipped tho just in case.

(anyway fair play for taking responsibility - please stick with it - you are obviously it's only carer)

kylith

While they say that it's easier for a cat to get used to new humans than a new territory, bear in mind that whoever moves into your old house might not want a cat hanging around. Keep him confined at your new place for a couple of weeks and he'll be grand there.