How long to keep our cat in after a house move?

[Rumours0fAHurricane]

We love in just over 3 weeks and we have a 5 year old mog. We've had her since she was a kitten and she's friendly and confident - and mad!

We are only moving 2 miles up the road but how long do we keep her in? And any tips on how to actually do it on moving day? I'm thinking of getting a pet cage to pop her in for a few hours whilst we are in and out the house unloading. She won't like it but I can't think of a better way round it.

Any advice please?

3-4 weeks.

About a month ideally.

And yes your plan to keep her in a crate or large carrier on moving day sounds good. I've heard of too many cats escaping just before a house move so being in a crate for a few hours is much safer.

3 weeks if she seems relaxed and confident. Longer if she doesn't. And All windows need to shut, even those you think she couldn't possibly get out of.

Crate is a great idea

Agree with all of the above suggestions in theory.

Many years ago I moved house with my first cat (who had previously adopted me as a stray - he just decided to move in).
Planned to keep him in for a couple of weeks. Cat had other ideas so at three in the morning (the first morning he was there) demanded to go out, and he was a really loud cat. Being too tired to think straight I eventually let him out. He was back at 6.30am at the front door demanding to be let in for his breakfast.

A few years ago some friends of ours adopted a stray (in quite a bad way) who approached them in a car park. After taking to the vet (abscesses, treating an open wound etc. and castration) they finally got him back home. Locked their cat flap and blocked it with a crate of beer.
During the night they heard a crash - the cat had moved the crate of beer and broken through the cat flap. He returned 30 hours later and has never strayed since.

I suspect that strays who have decided a home life is for them operate to different rules.

Ha ha @Grumpyoldpersonwithcats - cats are a law unto themselves!

Ok so it's as I thought. I'll keep her in for a few weeks and we will see how we go. I'll borrow a pet cage for the day of the move and will see how long she takes to settle into her new home

We recently moved and ended up abandoning our plans to keep the cat inside for several weeks. After 24 hours he was miserable, yowling to get out. He likes to spend a lot of time lying around inside, but hates not having the option to freely come and go! We ended up letting him out after a day, though luckily with the nice weather and our holidays, we were able to keep the back door open, so he’d been coming and going as he pleases. We lived 10 miles away though, so less chance of him trying to return to the old house I guess.

I moved about a mile.

Kept the cat in for 2 weeks solid.

She kept going back to the old house. She didn't want to move.

After getting her 6 plus times, I saw her sitting at the front room window inside.

In the end the new occupants kept her. Kids were distraught but that was what she wanted.