Moving house with a cat help!

[middleclassdystopia]

My beloved 8 year old puss is moving house with us in a few weeks. We have been here since we got him as a kitten and i'm so worried he might run away.

I might phone vet for advice but any tips from people who've moved house with a cat would be appreciated.

How can I make it as smooth as possible for him? We aren't moving far.

Put him a cattery the day before you move , too easy otherwise for him to be accidentally let out and leg it.
When you bring him to new place have one room unpacked with his bed, bowls, litter tray and leave him in peace to settle. Once house is mostly unpacked let him explore at his own pace. I'd keep him in for about 2 weeks depending how long it seems to take for him to feel settled, particularly if you are not far away from old home.
Make sure he is chipped and the details are updated with new address.
Feliway plug in helpful for the first month.

I was told to keep my two indoors for 2 months after we moved and let them out on a lead the first few times to let them get used to surrounding area. Then not feed them before they go out. Hungry cats come home lol. We couldn't afford a cattery so emptied a room and kept them in that with all their stuff and moved them last when our bedroom was all set up. They stayed in there for a few hours before exploring the rest of house. Although they slept in front room at old house they now still prefer sleeping on our bed

We have moved many times with our cat. We just put her in her travel box first thing on moving day and as soon as we arrived at new house let her out in the smallest room with food, litter tray, closed door & sign on door so no one let her out accidentally. As soon as removal men had left and outside doors could be closed we let her roam around the house (she usually found a bed to hide under for most of the first week). We kept her in for two weeks (maybe three after first move) and only let her out during the day for another few days. Good luck. Has your cat got a collar with your address/ phone number on? Don't forget to update them asap.

I would put him in a cattery until you are all moved in and organised. You will then need to keep him in for at least 3 weeks.

If you aren't moving far there is a chance he will try and return to the old house, so make sure he has a collar and is microchipped to your new address asap.

Good luck. x

Whilst we were actually moving, I kept my cat in the bathroom with all her food and litter box and bed. Kept her there for a couple of days after as well. It feels cruel but when cats are anxious, they are comforted by small, safe spaces so don't feel too bad! They don't like houses/their territory in disarray as they feel insecure and they might spray. All in all, keeping them somewhere safe and relatively left alone (i.e. not going in and out with boxes all the time).

If you can, let her out room by room so she can discover the house bit by bit. My house is a bit open plan so i couldn't which resulted in a cat madly running around franticly sniffing and marking everything (by rubbing her face on stuff, nothing worse!)

All sensible advice above about the actual moving. Once he gets to your new home you must keep him in for at least three weeks. You need to be very careful about leaving windows open (basically don't do it at all!). Cats will squeeze through the tiniest window openings and will try to jump three floors or more.

Yes and of course remember to change the microchip details and if he isn't chipped already, get it done before you move.

We put our cat in the bathroom and put a notice on the door that she was there. When it was quiet, we let her out and from memory think that we let her out after a couple of days.

Her biggest move was when she was 12 from NW England to SW France, and we did the same then. Strangely for a cat, she's attached to us rather than the house, and it's never taken long. She's 19 next month, and has moved 4 times at the latest count.

Ours only stayed in 11 days but he seems to have the street layout sorted and I like to think he found the house by design not accident.

Originally he was going to be kept in a month.

Don't forget to change his chip details and print out a copy. I've got mine as a PDF on iBooks.

Good advice thank you. I would've forgot about changing the chip details.