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Original poster

House move and cat

14 replies

Monkeynuts57 · 18/05/2023 21:08

We’re going to be moving house in the summer and worried about our cat
can we let them out or do we need to keep them inside and for long? The new house is around 6 miles away (if that’s relevant) and is in a quiet street just off main road, cat is around three year old rescue cat we’ve had her for two years
she seems to enjoy being outside so unsure if we could keep her in long term! Any advice would be appreciated

OP posts:

AuroraForever · 18/05/2023 21:12

We’ve moved a lot and always keep ours in doors for 6 weeks. Then the first few times of letting them out we’ll watch them for a few minutes and call them in straight away gradually increasing their outdoor time each time.

nomorespaghetti · 18/05/2023 21:15

We moved last year. Our lad is a very outdoorsy cat. He was in the cattery for 3 days during the move itself, then we kept him in for 2 weeks. The mistake we made when introducing him to the new house was not keeping him confined to one room for a few days to calm him down a bit. Just let him out into the house and he was a bit nervy! We had to put lots of litter trays around while he was kept in, but he did adjust really quickly and was fine when we let him out.

Theoldwrinkley · 18/05/2023 21:15

Keep cat in for about 4 weeks. Old wives tale (I'm an old wife) says to put butter on their paws when move house. We have (tried) to do this at each move and not 'lost' a cat. We did get shredded though!

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Cats

GeorgeSpeaks · 18/05/2023 21:19

Keep them in one room for a couple of days, then let them have the whole house for a few weeks. Then let them out hungry and as someone else said, call them back after 5 mins and give them their favourite food!😻

Original poster

Monkeynuts57 · 19/05/2023 06:47

Oh the one room tip that is a great idea I’d not even considered that! Thanks everyone

OP posts:

Dotcheck · 19/05/2023 06:52

Please don’t put butter on your cat.

Bonkers

Unexpecteddrivinginstructor · 19/05/2023 06:54

If she will tolerate being on a harness you can familiarise her with the garden that way. Also consider trying to let her out at first only when you are around and ready to help her defend her new territory against the cats already nearby. Seeing a human tends to scare off many cats, you don't need to actually intervene, just being there will make your cat bolder and other cats intimidated.

Sunflowersinthewind · 19/05/2023 06:56

I moved a couple of weeks ago. I confined my cat to one room whilst stuff was being moved in and then let him have free reign of house. He didn't stray far from under the bed for a couple of days. He has only started going out now but I am doing a supervised couple of hours a day.

hexsnidgett · 19/05/2023 07:00

We put ours in the cattery a bit longer, so things were mostly unpacked then kept her in for about 3 weeks.
She loves the cattery though

BrizzleMaverick · 19/05/2023 07:09

We moved last year only a 10 minute walk from our old house and got my cat a gps collar for a couple of months.

He was kept in the house for two weeks then we let him out with the collar on.

You can see where he is and I could see that he had made his way back to the old house three or four times. I had predicted this and left my number with the new owners and neighbours so they could call me if he showed up, which they did.

I also went an picked him up from the street a couple of times the gps collar showed him there and I would call him and he'd come running to me.

We took the collar off after about three months when he worked out he wasn't getting fed at the old house so would make his way back to the new house. When he would arrive back he got lots of cuddles and treats.
He is settled in our new house now but is still making friends in the new area as he has been in a few fights which have been vet trips but apart from that he loves being closer to the nature reserve to chase the wildlife.

SallyWD · 19/05/2023 07:14

I'd keep the cat in at least 4 weeks. Apparently it takes 3 to 4 weeks for them to put their scent arount the new house so it smells like home to them. If you let them out earlier they won't see the new place as home. We moved after adopting a stray cat. He really needs to be outside a lot but we kept him in for 5 weeks. He STILL found his way back to our old house (1 mile away). Your cat night cry a lot foir the first few weeks but she's not crying to go out, she's crying because she's confused by the new house. We found Zylkene helped settle our cat. It's a very natural milk based supplement. You can buy it on Amazon or Pets at Home. Others swear by Feliway so you could try that but it's never worked for our cat.

Ruth2009 · 19/05/2023 07:20

We moved 60 miles with our cat, he was a very outdoorsy cat before, we kept him inside for at least 2 weeks after moving then let him go out, but he was scared and since then he never goes out, he only ventures into the garden for a sniff if the door is left open.

We have a cat flap too but he won't use it.

I don't know what happened but it's a pain in the bum and we're back to having a litter tray in the house which I hate.

wildinthecountry · 19/05/2023 07:23

You would get great answers if you post on forces sweethearts section on here, I moved around a lot but with dogs .

LaMaG · 19/05/2023 08:46

Unexpecteddrivinginstructor · 19/05/2023 06:54

Yes this is the advice we got from a vet. Introduce cat to the garden and they will be leaving their own scent. We had cat locked in 1 room with some plug in oil diffuser thing, can't remember the name but it's commonly used in the cattery and vets. Then at night let him wander around the house. Plan was to do this for 2 weeks min but on day 3 a kid called to the door at night while he was on his wander around the house and he escaped out the front. Found him after a very stressful few hours (got to know neighbours though!). I do think his outdoor scent in the garden helped lure him back.

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