I’ll be moving house soon and taking my two cats. They’ve always lived at my current address (they’re about 9 years old) and will probably be terribly spooked by the change (one is particularly nervous and prone to wander); there’s a big dog in the house next to our new property, which will be something new. I’d be gutted if we lost them!

We’re on holiday the week before we move them and they’ll be in a cattery for that week and, presumably, somewhat disorientated when the move into the new house.

We’ll be having them microchipped just in case. Presumably it’s a case of keeping them in for a couple of weeks and letting them out for their first explore when they’re hungry but are there any other tips for a trauma free relocation?

A cat lead is always good so you can walk them round the garden after a few days so they can start to adjust. Just let them out and wander around, I have moved with a few cats and one hid for a few days only coming out at night and the other wasn’t at all phased.

Just make sure there is somewhere they can hide 🙂

Keep them inside for two weeks in which time they get to know the smell of the new house, then after that they should be ok to be let outside again.

As above make sure they have somewhere to hide in/under & something familiar to curl up on (old jumper, cat bed… )

As Orangista…moved many times with cats, they’ll adjust quickly.

asabove m8 , there blanket , bed they will adjust ok,

We kept ours in for about a month (although this was partly coz one of them wasn’t trained to come to call yet) & took them outside just to have a mooch around.
Another time, we let the older one out in a couple of days & he loved it. Perhaps a bit lucky that time!

out for their first explore when they’re hungry

Yep, I would also do it early in the morning, firstly because if you end up having to look for them you won’t be doing it in the dark. And secondly, because cats feel considerably braver in the dark than in daylight, so are much more likely to wonder further.

I would also not let them out together as they are more likely to egg each other on doing little sprints to overtake each other, and therefore go further than they would have done on their own.

Just 10 or 12 feet from the back door for a couple of minutes is enough for the first time imo, enough to sniff around, get to know the area round the back door, and figure the way back into the house. Build it up a bit at a time.

You’re very unlikely to lose them imo, cats aren’t stupid and they will only go as far as they feel they can whilst still remembering the way home. The biggest problem is when they get really spooked up and they take off forcing them to go deep into territories which they don’t know. For that reason I would be worried about next door dog, if he suddenly goes ballistic they could take off. Try doing it at a time when the dog isn’t around.

keep them in for 4 weeks, and then let them out , but keep tabs on them. ours went too far the first few times, but now they are fine.

they might not like being kept in for so long though … one mine tried to escape on week 3 …

their first day out …

My brother moved from Nottingham to Athens with his cat so quite the culture shock. It was fine after a month or so and realising staying away from the solar panels was a good idea.

Cheers, that sounds pretty reassuring. We’ll keep them in for a few weeks and maybe get leads. They’ve both got little cat houses they curl up in and we’ll be taking those too so fingers crossed that it all works out.

LOL & fisha’s cat trying to escape ! Little buggers ain’t they ? 😀

Just done a similar thing with ours. Ours are seasoned travellers now, London, Brussles and now Bilbao. When you are inside leave the door open so they can have a quick peek of the great outdoors and race back in to see you when they brick it.

Our cat hid in one room for a week and had no interest in going out what so ever when we moved. He climbed into a magazine basket for two days. Then spent days under the bed covers.

The litter tray/food had to be moved gradually further away to get him out of the room. Previous to the move he hadn’t used his litter tray for over a year.

The previous owner of the house had two cats and their scent must have been spooking him. It took 3 weeks for him to want to go out at all.

Just done this 2 weeks inside then let em out. They’ll be fine.

2 weeks for our old cat. She was fine,but she was much brighter than the two half-wits that arrived after her demise.

as above. leads are a good idea

My dad used to to put butter on the cats paws, something about them grooming themselves in there new home. I am sure it is an old wives tale but it did work none of our cats ran away after moving.

Mmmm nothing beats a buttered pussy

fisha, your cats need to go on a diet dude!!

A shovel would save a lot of worry.

Yes, I’ve heard of butter on the paws. A friend of mine swears it works. I wonder if it’s because they can sniff their way back home?

As soon as they get used to where there food is they are ok to be let out!

When my GF moved she didn’t keep the cats in at all. She left the patio door open when she was at home and let them come and go as they pleased. They never venture far and rustling food brings them back very quickly. I guess it depends on your cats habits as to how you need to aclimatise them.

We keep our cat in for around a month, with a week to go I replace the cat litter with soil from the garden, when you get rid of the used soil it contains your cats scent so it also marks the cats territory in the garden. We also let him out in the morning of the weekend and just leave the backdoor open to come and go as he pleases.

You’ll need something to carry them with….