Advice needed for House move with a semi feral cat

[Moocrewmummy]

A bit of background to begin with. Maybe a bit irrelevant and slightly off topic to start but in dealing with pet loss plus I think it’s a cute story to share. Actual point of my post is at the bottom🙊

Myself and my then fiancé moved in to a house that came with its own feral (semi by the end) cat, Betty a calico. The previous owners cat accumulated Betty about a year before we came purchase our house. Both the previous owner and his cat passed away, leaving Betty to us in the sale. We fed Betty in our outhouse, no matter what we tried she would never come within 2ft of us but in an odd way I think she appreciated it. She came, fed and went again. We tried beds, blankets, cat flaps, all sorts to get her to settle down for the night in the outhouse but she always left. Apart from the odd freezing night she would sleep on the boiler. Betty around 6 months ago then accumulated a friend, well more of a cling on but secretly I think she accepted her new friend, Mervin rather robust black cat.

We are in the process of selling our house to upsize, as much as we love our home extending would cost more than sizing up and after an opportunity we couldn’t refuse, we are on the move. However, I was extremely anxious about what was best for the cats. We were worried that Betty more so wouldn’t adapt to moving to a new home, with a new road and whole new surroundings all together.

As devastated as I am to say, Betty obviously wanted to stay with the house in spirit and unfortunately passed away last weekend. Ironically I’d never been able to stroke her whilst she was alive but our gorgeous calico cat will be with us still as we had her cremated.

Mervin is a really friendly cat. He’s a little bit disheveled shall we say but he’s very affectionate. I think he may have been a farm cat at one stage as he’s comfortable around us but won’t come in the house. He doesn’t have a collar on so my plan is to see if the vets could check for a microchip. He comes daily to feed and always cleans the bowl. We want to take him with us as like Betty we have grown very attached to him but is this a wise decision(if he’s not chipped)? We have thought would the new owners take him on but they a)may not want to b) we don’t think think we could leave him behind c) our oldest daughter 3yo is extremely attached to the cats. She knows Betty has gone over the rainbow bridge and won’t be moving with us. Gravitas may not be understood but my daughters content that Betty gone to somewhere new to play.

In a nutshell, once we confirm he’s not owned (any other tips on ways to confirm this apart from chip checking appreciated). Also would a semi feral cat cope with a move?

thank you in advance to anyone who reads this! 🩵

Have the vet check for FIV as well as a microchip, and have him neutered too.

If you catch him and put him in a carrier to take to the vet, he may well associate the carrier with an unpleasant experience, so if you do end up bringing him with you, ask the vet for a gabapentin tablet or drops to make popping him into a carrier easier. Keep him in the carrier the entire day of the move. Maybe establish a food and water spot in your new house so he can associate your home with a food supply.

It is possible to turn a feral or semi feral cat into a house pet by means of treats and lots of patience. Your little DD would need to be watched carefully if you want to do this. If you think he would stay an outdoors pet, make sure there are no major roads, railways, or crazy, cat-hating pellet gun owners near your new house.

Lovely photo btw

Paper collar and scan for chip. If it’s hard to get him to a vet, a volunteer from a cat welfare group could come and scan him (I do this regularly as a volunteer so please reach out to local groups for assistance).

Will he let you pick him up to get him into a carrier to go with you when you move or to a vet? Again, rescue groups may be able to assist with trapping him so he can be neutered, chipped and vaccinated first if you are taking him.

It’s great you want to do this. He will either enjoy becoming a fully fledged house cat or will come and go on his terms but you’d need to keep him in a good while when you first move. Good luck. He’s gorgeous 😻

I have just moved house with my nervous cat. I followed advice online to trap her in one room while the movers did their stuff, and then at the new house do the same in the bathroom (as that is the only room they don’t need to go in). We had 2 days of packing and then the move day. On day one cat ran away before I could catch her. But then came back at night. Day 2 I prepared the room with her litter tray and food and water and some familiar items. She wasn’t happy about it but I got her in there, where she hid behind a suitcase all day. I had also asked the vet for something calming and they gave me something called Nutracalm to mix in her food. Unfortunately she then didn’t eat much of her wet food, whether due to stress or because the medicine made it taste different I don’t know.

At the new house I asked the movers to wait until I had settled the car in the bathroom. She hid behind the bath and once they’d left, remained there but came out at night and slept on my bed. Next couple of days she remained behind a box in my room but came out at night. I think it’ll take a while for her to be settled, but it’s going ok.

in your case the cat is not used to being indoors so you’d have to go through an earlier stage of catching him and bringing him inside and then keeping him there. Also at the new place you have to keep tnem
in a few weeks so that they can leave their scent markers around the place and know it’s “home”. If he’s been a fully outdoor cat, this may be stressful for him so I’d definitely ask the vet for advice. Good luck with the move!