Cats vs Building Site (new build estate)

[noodlesfortea]

Looking for some advice and opinions on what's best to do about our cats.

We are due to move house in the next few months, and we are moving to a new build estate. Our house is one of the first to be complete on the estate, so there will be building working going on for the next year in close proximity.

We are concerned about our cats getting onto the building site and being injured or getting trapped inside the buildings as doors/windows will be getting opened while they work on the insides.

Opposite the estate is a quiet but fast road, so the alternative to being in the building site is crossing the potentially risky road to enter the woods.

Keeping them inside indefinitely is not as option. They are very free range cats with no limitations on when they can be outside at the moment, and spend most of their days outside when the weather suits, so being indoor cats would be awful for them.

We've had some discussions in the past about rehoming them, as one of our dogs chases them. They are not terrorised or anything, often it's very harmonious, but we have wondered if they might have a better life in a dog free home.

My parents (hi mum if you're reading this) have suggested that now is the time to rehome them, but I would feel so awful doing this during a cost of living crisis when people are giving away pets they're struggling to feed. But equally I don't want them to be hurt living in an unsafe environment.

Does anyone have any experience of cats on new build building sites, or advice for what might be best?

Build a catio or buy one. It would be the best solution for me. TBF I think most cats would do well in one and much the best thing for them especially in a new home that way they're out but safe. No problems having to re-home them which can be difficult with older cats as most only wants kittens and you won't be running the risk of them being used for dog baiting.

Build something to keep them safe, at the end of the day you took them on. You have made choices and decisions that effects them so do what you need to to look after them. Roaming round a building site is definitely a no no. You would be pretty pissed if you moved into your new home stinking of cat pee because some residents who got there first didn't respect anyone else. To put it bluntly if your going to use the dog and everything else as an excuse to remove them then you should be rehoming every animal and definitely do not get anymore!

It astounds me how people claim to love and care for things but can give them up so easily because it suits.

I would strongly suggest you go to the building site and assess it before deciding. We are the first house and the works are due to go on for another 5 years.
like I said above, our cat is fine … however our builders are very responsible. No houses are left open and the site is fully locked from 5pm. The noise during the day keeps my cat away … but he’s quite timid.
you need to think about how the site is run and the personality of your cat(s)

Unless you know someone who’d take them, I’d imagine it would be hard to rehome them together. We adopted a cat bit too long ago and the foster “mum” couldn’t let the cats out, but was struggling to rehome cats that were already outdoor cat. She’s had one kitty confined to the house for 6 months as no one will take her in, despite being very friendly.

Please keep them in.

I believe that concrete is fatal to cats. If they walk through wet concrete or through the powder they will get it on their paws. If they try to lick it off it could kill them.

My sons Siamese have a large catio , it’s attached to the French doors from the conservatory, they also have cat flat things on the small windows and the cats can’t get into the kitchen so the back door/ kitchen window can be open whenever . It’s easy really .

Letting them out at night is the worst thing to do, they're harder for drivers to spot and people drive like maniacs when the roads are quiet. Ours got run over at night a couple of streets away, never let them out at night since.

I'd never rehome as you can never truly know what the next owners will be like. They could end up abandoned or worse. Catio sounds like the best solution to me.

Outdoor roaming cats definitely can adjust to becoming indoor cats. Our old girl (who unfortunately we had to say goodbye to last month due to lymphoma) was a very free range cat before we emigrated to Canada. We kept her inside here because of coyotes etc and she lived a perfectly happy life (there was a period of adjustment initially). We definitely still have doors/windows open in summer (we also have a catio upstairs) because we have screens on our windows/ screen doors. The lack of window screens baffled me when we were in the Channel Islands, but I guess a lot of the older homes there aren’t built to have them installed.

Long story short, outdoor cats can adapt to indoor living.

I had a company called Sanctuary SOS catproof my garden. Absolutely fantastic they were! I had a cat with severe epilepsy, it wasn’t safe to let him roam, but he loved being out in the sunshine. Highly recommend them!

There’s a company called flat cats who sell screens that mean you can open windows without your cat getting out.

I haven’t tried them yet but plan to get some in the summer. Our groomer recommended them as she uses them - we only have high top windows that open and she warned me cats can even jump that high!

We moved on as the first people in a completed home and everything around us was a building site for months.

We had four cats at the time and it was fine... one did get locked inside another house overnight once but just came home the next day looking a bit put out (the builders told us about their surprise to find her miaowing at them when they opened up the next day).

TBH it was like a cat's playground...they loved exploring and were pretty pissed off when everyone moved in to 'their' houses and they had to learn to stop going into every open window.

All of the builders loved my cats... one in particular is very nosey and loves people.

She would follow them around and watch them work, basically inspecting their work as it happened.

She'd often be found taking a nap curled up on the seat of a mini-digger or wherever a builder had put their jacket down.

She was a chatty little thing and would announce her arrival 'on site' to be coo-ed over by an ever growing fan club of trades.

We moved to a new build and one of our beloved free roaming cats was killed within a month of moving in. It was horrendous. Mum wished that she'd insisted on cat proofing the garden instead of listening to everyone saying the cats would be fine.

We bought some brackets & wire like this from eBay & cat proofed our garden when we got our two rescue cats!

our previous cat wondered off & got lost, it was heart-breaking, we couldn’t bear the thought of losing another one!

Do you have the option for them to live at a family members or friends house for a little while and join you when it’s safer? Best of both worlds then, safe for now but you don’t have to give them up completely.

We were in the same situation, one of the first on the estate and a nosy wandering cat. He stayed at my parents for a few months until the building work moved a bit further away from us and we assessed it safer for him to join us. He had lived there before in fairness, but he’s also a very adaptable cat.

We’ve never had any issues, he’s tended to stay out of the way, as far as I know. He was more interested in visiting the woods and bringing back baby rabbits or hanging at the park on the estate and following people on walks 🤦🏼‍♀️

Otherwise a tracker as suggested could be your best option. At least you’d know where to find them if they did get into trouble.

Is there a garden? Why don't you cat proof the garden? Better than a catio as more room to roam... Awful to consider rehoming them :(

You can get some amazing pop up catios connected by tunnels. They look amazing for cats to play in. So a catio doesn't have to be permanent or boring.

I've seen one where the tunnels were arranged as a cross and cats had an awesome time running the length of them.

My cat will always detour her walk in the living room to go through her play tunnel! 😻

Something like this perhaps: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tunnel-Foldable-Outdoor-Playpen-Fences/dp/B09YNP2LKR/ref=asc_df_B09YNP2LKR/