Do I really need to keep them in for 2 weeks??!

[violet0805]

So we moved house on Wednesday. We have two male cats, who we brought over from the old house on Thursday.
They are driving me up the wall!!!
Clawing at carpets, scratching at doors, I'm having to deal with litter trays again...
it's like having a baby, they woke us up 6 times in the night.
One of them jumped on my window sill in the night and sent everything flying. We tried locking them in the kitchen but one was meowing and they were scratching at the door..

We are in a bungalow now so they are waking the whole house up, including my 7 year old daughter who has autism and if she's woken up at 2am she will think it's time to get up 😩

Last straw was just now when one cat was squatting over the litter tray, completely off target, and pissing all over the floor!!

I've heard if you let them out before 2 weeks they will go back to the old house? not that that's a bad thing

Do I really have to keep them in for 2 whole weeks?? 😭

We have moved a lot with our 2, we used to do the 2 weeks thing, but it became impractical, ours have always come back to us even when let out after a few hours although 1 often spends the first night out and exploring and gets us worried. They generally stay close by initially and keep coming back to check on us little sorties out if you like gradually expanding their range.

We had one occasion where one disappeared the first time out after 2 weeks in, but it turned out he had got himself stuck somewhere rather than trying to go back to the old house! We found him very thin and miserable a few days later, still stuck!

I've moved 4 times with my cat. At first I kept him in for a week but on our last move we just let him out as soon as we got there. We've never had a problem, he usually too scared to go much further than the garden for the first few days

I think it depends on the cat. I moved around a lot with my cat in my twenties and I would let her straight outside when arriving at a new home. She used to always stay near the house. If you are near to a busy road it is probably better to keep them in for several days, to be on the safe side.

We've moved a lot and now just do two or three days in - let them out for the first time when they're hungry, so they come in quickly when called for food. Go out with them the first time.

We moved during the heatwave at the end of May. We needed the doors and windows open so it wasn’t practical to keep our boy shut in. He went out after two days and we’ve had no issues.

How far away is your old house? Are the cats chipped?

I took my new rescue cat out in my back garden on the third day. She stayed close to me and the house, and hurried back inside with me. It took several days of escorted visits to the garden before she gained confidence to go out there alone.
Cats are not stupid - as long as you’ve fed them in their new home, they’ll return to their food supply and security. I think it would be a nightmare to lock them in for a fortnight if they’re used to going outside.

Thanks for the advice everyone, I re-read my post and it sounds like I hate my cats, but I really don't!

They are sitting by the back doors wanting to go out..

It's also impractical due to how hot it is and I have big french doors in my lounge that I can't leave open.

One of my cats is fat and lazy so he won't go far but the other one is a skinny hunter and used to go out searching for presents for us 🙄 we had a cat flap at the old house and came back to mice, rats, frogs, birds, crisp packets, leaves, feathers.. all sorts. Luckily we don't have a cat flap here! But I'm worried he'll go out hunting and get lost (he's not very bright - he's the one who pissed on the floor)

We are in a quiet area though and not too close to main roads.
I just don't know what to do!

@squadronleader87

We are quite far from the old house, I don't think they would find their way back there.
No they aren't micro chipped - we are looking into it at the moment though.

I had thought that the two weeks was so that they could kind of set their internal compass, to make it easier to find their way home if they get lost.

If something spooks them and they make a run for it they could then find it hard to find their way home.

Sounds like my view may be outdated though.

I have a cat who detests being shut in so I do appreciate your dilemma. Having also gone through the worry of him uncharacteristically disappearing for two days though, I'd always err on side of caution.

If you do let them out make sure their chip details are updated.

Definitely get them micro chipped first.
I let my rescue cat out after one day, she hated being trapped in (she had lived in a house, with 9 other cats so I think was used to being out a lot). I lived in a very safe area at the time, not near any fast/busy roads and she always came back when I called her.
Moved 3 times with her now, (always a fair distance from old home) and she will always respond when I call her in so I'm happy to let her out fairly quickly

Kept my two in for a week. They were seriously stir crazy but were fine, no attempts to abscond. Better territory than old house.