Moving

[Wallywobbles]

We live in France. And we have moved house but haven't yet sold our old house yet. (Anyone looking for a 5 bed house with 2 Gite's?) The people staying in one gite have been feeding the outside cats. One of which is ours and one of which has adopted us (another thread in the making there). They are leaving this week so we need to get our animal hats on now.

My long experience of France is that mostly outside cats stay when you move and gradually disappear because understandably the new owners aren't that interested. DH (French) is if the view that cats are attached to their territory not their owners.

So how do I move an outside cat? She pretty friendly but hates coming in. DH won't have cats in the house and we are all fine with that. There isn't a suitable outbuilding I can shut her in.

There is also a big Tom here. He is 12 and was castrated about a month ago. He's become absurdly friendly of late and food obsessed (is that normal). But he is massively territorial. Chased off every other cat up to now.

Cat 1 to be moved
Cat 2 resident bruiser.

Bumping in the hope that someone cares 😿

I'm not an expert but don't want you to think no one cares.
Could you try feeding them at your old house in some sort of box/ crate... and then once they are relaxed about it, shut them in it to move them?? A bit like they so to trap, neuter and release feral cats? Your cat is almost elegant - of course you must give it a try to move her with you!

Sorry - meant to write is elegant, almost regal... but ended up sounding like an insult... not at all intentional.

Thank you Eliza. I suppose I'm worried about how to stop her disappearing/being chased off when we arrive.

Oh, sorry. My misreading. Food, and more food? What's her favourite - my older cat will do most things for some real human tuna!!
Is the tomcat you're worried about at your new house? How far away is his home? Is water spray too harsh - and start now in advance of your girl's arrival?

The Tom is my husbands cat. We've moved from my house to his. We love him too. Just don't want him to kill our Fifi cat.

'My long experience of France is that mostly outside cats stay when you move and gradually disappear because understandably the new owners aren't that interested.'

That's negligence bordering on cruelty, surely? Even if the cats are used to fending for themselves in terms of hunting someone needs to take responsibility for their medical needs.

You really do need to keep your girl in for at least 2-3 weeks while she adjusts to her new territory. It's not really a hardship in the grand scheme of the many years of her life. If that really isn't allowed then I'd buy a cat run with a cabin for her so she can adjust there. Setting her free into a new environment with an unfriendly resident cat is asking for her to run away. She needs time to get her whereabouts and they both need time to get used to seeing each other without being able to chase.