Moving house with a cat?

[localprocrastination]

We're about to move house, and have a 3 year old cat. I already know all the advice about how to settle her into the new house, because that's well covered online. But, I'm worried about the packing and moving days themselves, which are likely to be at least 1-2 days of strangers traipsing in and out, removing everything from the house. Then at the other end, even if we lock her in a room with familiar items, there will be lots of activity to get the new furniture in, and no guarantees a removals person won't accidentally let her out.

Ideally I would like to find a refuge for her for a couple of days, so we can get all the familiar furniture out of the old house and into the new one before we move her into it, but I'm interested to hear how other people have managed the process.

I moved mine straight over to the new house- made sure her ‘stuff’ ie scratch post, toys and basket had been unpacked, she settled straight away. We moved on the same estate but she knew her way home straight away- she’s Siamese so quite clever but can be temperamental so it could have gone either way

The safest thing is to put her in a cattery while you pack and move. They find it really stressful.

Cats are surprisingly resilient critters. They will cope with a hell of a lot, provided they have a calm place to which they can retreat. I've just done 9 months of solid building work with mine, and he's been brilliant throughout.

Make the cat a bed area upstairs with food and water nearby, and a litter tray. Put a sign on the door saying 'CAT - NO ENTRY'. Put a radio on low if the cat seems bothered by the banging and crashing around. Most cats will find that a lot less stressful than going to a cattery.

if its going to be two days of moving put her into a cattery for those two days will be much less stressful for her and give you time to set up a room for her to settle into before picking her up, that said i moved house with four cats and a dog, i put them all into one bedroom first shut the door and didnt put anything in there till all the items were in the house and removers had gone

My cat became very unsettled as packing progresses in the weeks before the move so I put him in a cattery ( that auto corrected to chattery - might have been more correct 🐕) cattery are the easiest way forwards for a couple of days , much less stress for her and you

On moving day my cat went to stay at a friends for a few hours.
As soon as we had everything into the new house and we were no longer going to be going in and out of the house we went to pick her up. We then put her in our bedroom with her bed, scratching post etc until the house was a bit more organised after a couple of hours then just opened the bedroom door.
She just explored the house as she got more confidence.

If you’re having a firm come and pack your things for you, I’m sure your cat will be fine. If it’s anything like mine, when there’s strangers in the house she just goes and finds a hiding place and keeps out the way.

We have an amazing lady who cat-sits and dog-sits for us when we're away. If we moved, they'd go to her for a few days til we were in and settled.

Have a look at catteries and ask around on local pages to see if there's anything like that near you.

When we moved the cats went to the cattery for a couple of nights. It's not just packing up, but also unpacking when you need to keep them out of the way. It won't be easy to find a secure space when you're having to move around boxes of belongings and furniture. The last thing you want to be worrying about is whether your cat is safe.

Due to renting in London we've moved our cat 5 times over his life. We put him in his box on moving day, he quite happily sits in there until the movers have gone the other end. Then we plug in the Feliway, show him where his litter box is and let him roam. We don't let him out for about two weeks.

Our cat is a lazy bastard so never roams far anyway.

We also put ours in a cattery when we moved. The upset would have probably caused them to disappear and we would have spent half of moving day trying to find the cats to take them with us, which is something nobody needs.

We picked up the keys on the Friday, Thursday night I dropped the cat to my mums so I wouldn't worry about sofas and large furniture being taken out and in - we picked up the cat Saturday morning once front and back doors were closed from the bulk of the big items being moved about. My concern was the cat escaping and this just allowed a fuss free move. Good luck!

Mine went into a cattery - he settled fine after I picked him up.

We took ours to my brother's for the day, locked him in their kitchen then once the movers had gone to the new house we picked him up, when we got to the new house we put him in the smallest room with his toys, food, water etc and didn't let him out until things were so nice the rooms they needed to be and the movers had gone. I know the advice is to keep them in one room, but he was scratching to come out, then had a glorious time exploring the new house, we didn't let him out for a good 5/6 weeks though and then tried to do it with a lead and harness but he really didn't like it. Initially he didn't leave the garden but does now.

I moved everything out gradually over a fortnight, and the last trip was me and the cats in boxes in the back of the van while DP drove. We'd set up the scratchy post and bowls and litter trays int he new gaff beforehand. They were fine.

You know your cats best. Mine would hate to go to a cattery (they suffer dog like separation anxiety, little fools) last move they were unfazed by all the packing. I moved them to the new house first where I had prepped their room (litter trays, beds, boxes to hide, food/water & scratch posts) Big sign on the door saying do not enter. Kept them in that room for 48 hours while we unpacked, visiting regularly. They were totally fine. Weren't allowed outside for at least 4 weeks though. Good luck!

I think either she should go into a cattery for a few days each side of the move, or you should keep her in a spare room, or a quiet room at least, both while packing and unpacking.

Oh, and we have a Litter Tray board for cat related stuff.

My cats would have hated cattery too! I moved in a day.... emptied box room first & then put their beds/ litter tray / food & water in. Closed the door & they were fine.
Took cats in carriers & stuff as I left, then when I arrived in new house, put them in bathroom with all their stuff while removal men did their magic! they were absolutely fine!

It would be cruel to make it carry furniture.
Hire a removal company....

I'd say it depends on the cat's personality and whether you have an overlap. We had an overlap, and Dcat (since deceased) would've been really stressed by a cattery. So we moved all the spare room stuff over first, leaving space clear to park Dcat with tray, food etc on main M-day. We then moved her last of all, after all the big items had been moved and set up in the new house. This worked well for us.

My cat would hate a cattery. Have moved three times with him and he was fine. Took him last and let him out first. Even if you assign him to downstairs loo and put tape over the door, as long as he has everything he needs while you unpack, he'll be fine. Then let him out to have a sniff.