moving house with cats~any advice?

[J20BABY]

i have 3 cats, 1 has kittens at the moment, they all go out in the day and on a night, apart from the one with kittens at the minute. so how long should i keep them in the house until i let them explore do we think?

2 weeks, I am afraid.

oh thats not too bad, i thought it was about 6 weeks, i wonder if my older cat can remember how to use a litter tray when i got the other 2 she used to pretend to use it, do all the digging and then squat, but never actually went, and then look at me as if to say 'aren't i clever?'it was quite funny actually

We moved from a rural area, to a built up area, and we let ours out after a couple of days, they were absolutely fine.

Cats are not stupid, they will explore bit by bit, once you let them out they are not going to leg it off, they will go a few feet then come back and keep repeating this until they are used to the area.

hth

my cat used to sleep in his as a kitten

be very careful when you do let the kittens out, lots of vets say they shouldn't go out at all til immunised as they can pick stuff up from stray cats poo in the garden. up to you if you want to be that careful, would depend on how many cats in the area i suppose

Would second the two weeks. I also put our cat in the cattery the day before we moved and collected him the day after, just to make sure he was safe and not overly stressed.

I kept mine in for 4 days - had planned to keep them in for a week but they drove me mad to get out. Best bit is rounding them up into the cat baskets

oh i'm not keeping the kittens 3 is plenty enough thank you, 8 weeks old and they've got loving homes waiting for them

thanks for all your advice

If they are at all unsettled in the new place contact your vet for a feliway diffuser - can really help.

and bring something with their scent on to let them bed down with

And don't do what I did when we moved. Left the catching the cat until the removal van had gone thinking that she always comes in when called.

Of course she knew something was happening and buggered off and refused to come in. We had to go without her and then go back the next day and get her. Put cats in a carrier before the removal men come, or ideally put them in a cattery for the day.

WE have moved three times with our cat who is now 12. The last two times we let her out the day after me moved and she was fine.

I let mine out the first day!!! She kept close to house and clearly preferred it cos she never attempted to go "home" which wasn't far away.

The vet told us 2 weeks.. though once the cats know their place for feeding and sleeping they will be sttled with the new place and probable can start to explore the garden. Good luck

we let ours out straight away. the garden was so much bigger than he was used to so he just went exploring. he did disappear for a couple of hours and i was a bit worried at that point, we'd been so busy sorting new house hadn't really paid him any attention. but just as we were starting to panic, he strolled in.

we moved quite a distance, but he's been fine, loves it here.

Ours were from Blue Cross and v anxious when we got them, so when we moved I kept them in for about 4 weeks (also as we had booked hols during that time and didn't want neighbour feeding them to worry about them running off).
Also use the Feliway spray/diffuser from the vet, which helped settle them in.
Does depend on the area and your cats, best also to use your judgement and take a view once you are there.

Thank you all for your responses, i think i'll see how they settle in and maybe let them out when they're hungry, they shouldn't go too far away then