Moving to a flat

[NickMyLipple]

Does anyone have any experience of moving cats from having free access to the garden 24/7 to a first floor flat?!?

It's work accommodation, much much bigger than our house and in the most beautiful grounds. Cats will be perfectly safe once out, but I've just no idea how it's going to work!

We will need to leave them in for the first few weeks, right? But it will be bloody hot and we will need to open windows... I'll maybe check with the flat cat man if we can get them for giant sash windows!

And then getting them in and out every day? No cat flap, and at least 2 other doors not including our front door for them to have to get through. They aren't the best at coming in when called as they're very much outdoor cats, but they are both very loving and know where they live, and come back for 2 meals a day...

I'm starting to fret!

Yeeess...we'd lived in 3 places in 10 years, first 2 bed house with garden, then 3 bed house with gardens, then tiny flat with no garden and heavy exit doors.

It was very hard on the cat. Were you planning on leaving them outside at set times? It's communal gardens I take it, what will you do with little poos? Any other animals there? Congrats on job anyway

It's good your new place is so large (good for spacing cat paraphernalia!) but one thing I did find that if I took her through all the heavy doors to the tiny unexciting courtyard I couldn't hear her when I got back inside. It was a lot of running around checking.

Would you be allowed to put a cat house in the grounds? It would make it easier if it rained and if you want them to stay out for set periods

@LanguidLobster we actually have our own garden but the cats won't know that! It's a massive school so literally surrounded by fields, grass, woodland, sports pitches, golf course etc etc.

I don't have a plan at all. But if they don't come in when I call them at 10pm they are out all night 😂

Some people have cats, others have dogs and it's very rural so deer, foxes, badgers etc.

We will have litter trays in the house. We have them now but they sit virtually unused for most of the summer!

Wouldn't a cat house be like a cat bed? Ornamental and never used 😂

True, they've devils with their lovingly purchased beds. So haughtily dismissive!

I guess if there are foxes you'd need to coax them in at night. They should be very happy. Think some people on here have catios though not quite sure what they are...

No advice in regards to the access issues however I would start on working on an easier routine to get them in at night a bit earlier.
Feed before they go in the morning and then attempt to feed at tea time so they are used to returning a bit earlier.
That way they may return home with you when you finish work.

Get a cat house before you move, that way they will be used to it beforehand and if anything like my outdoor lover, they will sleep in it during the workday too. Also good for rain shelter when you can't get them in.

My friend put a cat ladder from their first floor flat onto the grounds below! They are boarding school teachers and it’s school accommodation so didn’t have choice as that’s where the assistant house parent had to live.

They left the window open, but then fixed a piece of Perspex with a cat flap in it over the window.

They were obviously not allowed to do anything to the actual fabric of the building.

They made the cat ladder themselves out of wood and wrapped it in siasal rope for grip.

I believe they discreetly fixed the ladder to the window sill but shhhhh don’t tell the school. Can remove the fixings and fill the screw holes when they leave.

@serbska - interesting. Our building is a listed building and has access all sides, if you see what I mean, so people will clock on to a ladder pretty quickly. I might chat with maintainance once we are in and see if they have any suggestions though as this must come up from time to time! I'll have a look at cat ladders in the meantime. We do have a bathroom which opens onto a flat roof but it's still one story high, so not sure how they would manage.

Give got an outdoor cat tree which theybcan launch themselves from into an open window. Or else i have a catflap to the outside door which just means the flat door is left open whilst we are in. They are called in on a night and thats that. Even if im up til midnight. After that they are licked out til 6am. They are 99% in by curfew. They respond well to sweeties.

@NickMyLipple oh their ladder is v visible, just not the fixings! They got permission from the school to have a temporary ladder as long as it didn't go to the ground where pupils were allowed in case they tried to climb it, it fell on them etc.

We do have a bathroom which opens onto a flat roof but it's still one story high, so not sure how they would manage.

Yeah so actually they have the window onto a flat roof of an entrance way then the ladder. Means the cats aren't trying to do difficult movements on a window sill. Ladder>flat roof>window with cat flap.