tips on cat adoption please!

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a friend of mine is moving abroad and dh is desperate to adopt their cat. we have had a cat before but she got killed by a car on the road. we have since moved house and now live in a really quiet street next to a golf course.

anyway

i am worried about taking this cat as i dont know if she will move to our house easily or not - mu friend doesnt have any children whereas i have 2 under 4 yrs.

my friend is at work all day and the cat just comes and goes out of the cat flap as she pleases, gets plenty of time on her own etc

she will be pestered my my 2 girls (who know the cat pretty well) as they are so young

just looking for tips please on making her move as comfortable as possible

(ie is it true you have to keep them indoors for 6 weeks?)

the cat is less than a year old

thanks

she's quite young which will make it easier but definitely keep her in for a couple of weeks at least and only start letting her out gradually.

try and set aside an area in the house thats hers, away from too much commotion and kids, a utility room or unused box room or something, with her food, water and litter tray easily accessible. leave her in this area for a couple of days and gradually let her into the rest of the house once she's a bit calmer around ye.

make sure to take some familar objects from her current home such as a nice smelly blanket and some toys so she has some things she recognises.

HTH

thanks pt, i had never thought about keeping her in one specific area for a few days. i dont really have an area like this though, we have a utility room but thats where the back door is and this is used as the main access to the house iyswim

maybe our bedroom? we dont go in there much during the day, and its a big room. she could have the dormer window bit at the far end, with her basket and stuff

sounds perfect, just as long as it's somewhere quiet and out of the way so she doesn't feel too intimidated in the first few days, especially as she's from a very quiet home originally.

Good advice about own quiet space. I was once told by a vet that cats like to sleep high up because if they're outdoors and need to escape they go up a tree. No trees indoors, so go onto high surface. The other thing you could try is a product called Feliway (you have to get it from a vet). It comes as a spray or plug in and releases a pheromone into the atmosphere which the cat finds calming (it's similar to the pheromones that cats deposit on the objects (and people!) that they rub their cheeks across.

I think the 6 week thing is about the cat feeling familiar and comfortable in its surroundings (back to those pheomones) so that it comes back in to a place it feels secure.

Good luck!

im worried about her finding her way back to the house the first time she goes out! or am i not giving her the credit she deserves...

it's a possibility but if she's happy and comfortable in her new home and has been given enough time to adjust she should be fine.

the attachment will be more for her old owner than the area she used to live. all of my cats have been dragged all over the country on holiday and have never tried to run home, and i've moved house with a few too and it doesn't bother them much.

the best thing would probably be to make sure she's well used to you and your dh before she moves in so that she trusts ye.