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The litter tray

Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

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Original poster

How long to keep cats in after a move?

12 replies

lollilou · 25/08/2013 08:26

Hi, we are moving this week and have 2 three year old cats. How long will we have to keep them in once we've moved? We moved just over a year ago and kept them in for 3 weeks I'm hoping the advice is may be less than that as I hate emptying the litter tray and seeing their sad faces gazing out of the window!

OP posts:

cozietoesie · 25/08/2013 08:39

I'd go for 3 or 4 weeks. It may be a PITA but better than them going out and not feeling 'home' thoughts about the new house.

Oh - and I'd supervise when you first let them out as well, experienced outdoor cats though they may be.

Does the new house have a cat flap?

Original poster

lollilou · 25/08/2013 08:49

Yes the new house will have a cat flap thank goodness, we haven't been able to fit one in this house is rented and all the doors are glass on the bottom which would have cost £££.
Can't wait for them to be able to come and go as they please. Opening doors/windows is a pain in the winter.
Ok, litter tray duty it is then I'm the only one who will empty it too.
Thanks for the advice.

OP posts:

cozietoesie · 25/08/2013 08:58

I'll confess here to letting The Lodger out a bit earlier than that but he was a law unto himself - and in any case, as soon as he saw the local cats toting their semi-automatic weapons, he turned around and came back in for a comfortable snooze. I wouldn't have done it with any other cat.

Good news on the cat flap front. If it's not to be a microchip flap immediately, you might think of saving up for one of those for security reasons. In due course.

Best of luck with them.

Lonecatwithkitten · 25/08/2013 10:55

I have always kept mine in 2 weeks and then let them out an hour before a meal so they don't go too far the first time.

thecatneuterer · 25/08/2013 17:05

We, at Celia Hammonds, say they should be kep in for three weeks. I think it's worth being on the safe side and following this advice, even though you will feel bad for them.

MirandaWest · 25/08/2013 17:07

Think I left it three weeks.

ChoudeBruxelles · 25/08/2013 17:13

We moved in June. Managed to keep the cats in for a week. One made an escapebid whenever we opened a door and seemed to be contemplating jumping from a bedroom window at one point.

cozietoesie · 25/08/2013 17:24

It's a difficult one and I reckon that much will depend on your own assessment of the character of your cat. Are they a hunter or a homebody, calm or 'hot', adventurous or timid....... but I do agree with Lone's approach of letting them out before a meal - very practical.

I would only say that I do believe that you should go out with them first time. I think that the picture of you against the backdrop of the house door, or pottering in the garden, helps to fix it in their minds. Maybe there's also some scent trail that you leave as well.

LST · 26/08/2013 11:14

We have 3. We left them 2 weeks . Couldn't of kept them in longer than that they werr getting feral!

Just don't feed them. They were all fine

dontsqueezetheteabag · 26/08/2013 11:18

I have 3 cats. They stayed with a friend of mine while we moved and decorated. They are a bit sensitive so thought that was best.

Once we got them into the new house we kept then in for about 1 week. I let them out (supervised) each day for a few days and then let then out properly at the end of week 2.

I always let them out when they were due to be fed and had a huge stock of their favourite treats to shake when I needed them to come back into the house.

Kayshields · 02/09/2013 14:32

I recently moved with my 8 year old cat, and I wondered and worried about this too as he is very much an outdoor cat, I kept him in for two days then eventually just let him out as I felt bad keeping him in.. he came back later the same day and has been in and out since.. he doesn't seem to mind the move at all, I guess it depends on the cat x

woozlebear · 03/09/2013 12:51

Normal advice seems to vary between 2-4 weeks. When we first got ours we were told at least 3 weeks, but actually more like 4-5 weeks. We've just moved and our vet said at least 2 but that this time they'd be moving with us so would be attached to us and all their things, if not the house.

That said I've also read (and this is what I've been going by) is that you shouldn't even think about letting them out until they're behaving totally normally inside the house. (Rather difficult to assess in our case as we've had tradesmen in the house since day 2 and the poor cats have either been nervous or sulky about being shut upstairs away from the chaos, but 3-4 weeks in we're now starting to see normalish behaviour.)

I'm finding it very hard at the moment too. The really outdoor cat sits and howls at the back door every night for an hour . If it was just the tortie I'd have let her out in my company the minute we got there as I KNOW she wouldn't go anywhere if I was there (mummy's girl, home cat and rubbish at climbing fences).

We're getting Katzecure cat proofing fitted in the garden this week though, so after that they can go out all the time

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