Moving house with cat

[nomorespaghetti]

We're hopefully moving house soon, as I'm almost in tears with stress... about the cat! He's an outdoor boy, hates being stuck in. The last time we tried to keep him in (he had an eye infection and needed drops) he got very stressed and started weeing and pooping everywhere. Anyway, I know he'll have to stay in for a few weeks at the new place, we'll just have to cope with it, my main concern is what to do with him during the actual move.

We'll have packers in the day before the move, the move the following day. I think that all the activity from the packers will freak him out massively, and if we let him out he may not come back for a while. I'm worried if that happens that we may not be able to catch him before we need to be out. We don't have the space at our current house to shut him in a room. At the new house we would have the space to shut him in a room, but I'm worried with all the activity from movers and children he'd end up escaping.

I'm thinking cattery might be the least stressful option, but he's never been in one before... he was rescued though (as a young adult) so he's been in a rescue centre. He's ok with other cats, but I can imagine the whole thing will be horribly stressful for him...

Thank you

Cattery. It’ll be stressful but he can have fun punishing you when he gets to the new house. I kept the Bengal in 4 weeks when we moved and he didn’t ask to go out for ages.

It will need to be a cattery. Some of them have 'family' pens with access to an outside caged area which might suit him better than a small indoor one. They can cost more though.

Take him a couple of days before you move, and leave him there a week. Then get one room ready in the new house that you can keep him in until he settles a bit. Then it will be a case of keeping him indoors for several weeks, so don't leave any windows open! And make sure he's microchipped and his vaccinations are up to date. Catteries need their jabs to be current.

Cattery. Then you know he's safe and well.

I emptied one room so I could put him in there on moving day. I moved him in a cat box. But after that I popped him in a dog cage.
There was only one bathroom in the house so I couldn’t put him in there. Worked well. As he just sat and watched everything.
Before I moved. I put together a catio outside in my garden and let me cat get used to it.
One of the first things we did on moving day was set the catio up outside when everyone had gone. And put it next to an open window with the litter tray in.

It wasn’t a perfect plan but worked really well.

Adding to say. I used a dog cage as it was large and I could have his litter tray in there and was large enough for him to move around. I didn’t want him to stay in his cat box for hours. I left it around for a few days and he actually went back inside for the first few days. I suppose he felt safe in there.

Like u I was beyond stressed as he is an older cat and has never moved from the street he was in. I let him out on the garden a few days later. He came and went fine.
Actaully the first time I let him out. About ten mins after I started calling his name. The owners of the garden he was in started yelling back to me … he is here. He is fine. 😂

I would definitely go for cattery. It’s just one stress, as opposed to the multiple extended stresses of being present for the move.

I totally sympathise on dealing with a cat that messes when stressed, mine is the same. All I can suggest is keeping everywhere as tidy as possible, I had to get rid of some stuff that had been left on the floor.

We put ours in the cattery for a week. He went in the day before the packers came. Definitely the least stressful option.

As pp said - he will need to be neutered, up to date with vaccinations and probably chipped to go in a cattery.

Personally I would put him in a single room in the new house and lock the door plus put a sign on door saying quiet please.

Cattery. My highly outdoors rescue surprised me by not minding it. He just sits down and chills.

Mine was locked in the bathroom along with his litter tray, food and water bowl, whilst we finished off cleaning the carpets, repainting the kitchen and hallway, defrosting the freezer and cleaning the oven. Then as the rest of the stuff, we could take in the cars was packed in and then the removal guys came to get the bigger items I put DCat inside his carrier but still left him shut in the bathroom. Whilst they were unloading the rest of the stuff in my new place I then went back to my flat. Quickly did a final meter reading and then grabbed DCat said goodbye to my flat and went up to my bungalow. By the time we'd got there everything was pretty much in place and I was able to put DCat straight into the conservatory and shut him in there for a few hours. Apart from wondering around a bit that first night he settled in really well. I was lucky though that the property I moved into had been empty 6 months so I'd being able to start boxing up I didn't desperately need and move stuff over gradually to store in the garage.

I moved with my 21 year old cat 2 years ago.
It wasn't out of choice, I had to move for a new job after losing my old one.
I was desperately worried for her.
I put her in a cattery for the move then drove to the new place 200 miles away with her in the car.
She wasn't actually that bothered about the new house, she hid for a couple of days, all she cared about was being with me. We had a lot of lovely cuddles. After a week she was fine. We had all our familiar smelling stuff around us.
She went on to live for 2 more years bless her.
I suggest put him in a cattery, it will be far less stressful that the alternative.
Then give him his own room for at least 2 weeks before letting him out into the rest of the house to explore.
I always let mine out after a month. They always came back.

Thanks all. I think a cattery is the way to go... especially with us having packers in the day before - he is really skittish and will hate all the activity and noise. As @SettingPrecedents said, the cattery is just one stress, as opposed to multiple stresses.

I went to see a cattery last week. It's in a gorgeous setting on a farm, and seemed very calm (they were playing classical music for the cats ). It was quite large, with a lot of cats, but the pens were spacious and had areas to hide away, and windows to look out onto the farm. It's only going to be a couple of days, and I think he'll be ok, so I've booked him in provisionally.

I wish I could get a catio for him to adjust to the new house! I'll set up a little room for him at the new house. We did that when we first got him from the rescue centre, and he stayed in there approximately half a second, before coming and cuddling up on our knees!

Anyway, picture to say thanks for the advice <3

The cattery sounds like a good idea but if he's an outdoor cat it won't solve the hardest bit of it all - keeping him in when he finally arrives at your new house. We made it to nearly two weeks (out of the suggested 3) but we couldn't bear the noise anymore from our Siamese and let them out. For the move itself we kept them in the shed while we moved out of our old house, brought them to the new house and shut them in the least used room with several plugins for cat stress which do really help - ie https://www.amazon.co.uk/FELIWAY-Classic-Diffuser-Comforts-behavioural/dp/B0031TFZRK feliway. A cattery helps with the move day but you still really need to consider what you do when the cat arrives to its new home.

Not sure why the link didn't work www.amazon.co.uk/FELIWAY-Classic-Diffuser-Comforts-behavioural/dp/B0031TFZRK

Definitely not cattery! Just moved with an elderly outdoor cat. He had Feliway in both houses a week or two before the move and on moving day was kept to wherever the movers weren’t (including outdoors). He was moved first and waited in the new house for the movers. He was kept in a utility / boot room with his own chair / tray / belongings and once the movers had gone he was allowed into the kitchen.
given he’s never moved before and is a highly territorial Bengal of 19, I was really worried about it. Turned out to be a total non event and apart from being a bit nervy when discovering new parts of the house, he was fine. Eventually allowed out after 4 weeks or so. It really wasn’t difficult despite major anticipatory anxiety in my part! The Feliway at both ends for weeks ahead is definitely the key

(Obv when eventually allowed out, it was morning before feeding so hungry, under supervision and we’d put some of the used contents of his litter tray in bushes in the garden for familiarity)

Thanks @MrsJamin I’ll get some of those diffusers. I know, I’m dreading keeping him in. When we first got home we kept him in 3 weeks… I’m planning to keep him in for 2 weeks as a minimum in the new house. I wish I could get a catio, but it’d just be too expensive. It’s going to be difficult

I love you got a Bengal to 19, mine only made 10 due to the road but I always planned hed make 20.

Ours was very territorial too.