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The litter tray

Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

Original poster

Letting cats out after moving house.

27 replies

Wholetthetwocatsout · 26/10/2022 12:59

We moved a week and a half ago and our two cats have been inside - we intend to let them go outside this weekend, when it will have been 2 weeks.
Both cats are outdoor cats and are desperate to go out - they spend a lot of time looking longingly through the patio doors.
They've been fine using litter trays and I will keep the litter trays going in the hope that they will toilet inside.
We've put a cat flap in the back door and both cats have shown interest in it (it's locked).
They are both torties and very feisty - they won't tolerate collars else I'd get trackers for them.
I'd be grateful for advice please - any tips please? (I'd be happy for them to be indoor cats but that means no open windows and risking them making a dash when we open doors...).

OP posts:
Annon12345 · 26/10/2022 13:01

I think we left it two weeks and ours were fine. Our issue was we moved less than 1 mile as the crow flies so we were worried they'd actually go back to our old house but thankfully never happened and they kept really close. We were going to wait much much longer but they were both so frustrated at being locked in so risked it

LeMoo · 26/10/2022 13:02

I've always left it 2 weeks after moving. Supposedly they use the sun to guide their sense of direction and 2 weeks is needed for them to forget/adapt.

Keep them in another few days if you can, but don't panic if they escape before then.

LeMoo · 26/10/2022 13:03

Oh and update their microchips ASAP if not already done.

Bestcatmum · 26/10/2022 13:05

I usually leave it 2 weeks. They know where the food is and I go out with them the first time. I haven't lost one yet.

Noramax · 26/10/2022 13:07

Some people advise buttering the cat's paws. I suppose the cat then licks its paws & ingests its new environment? Just a thought.

Donepaying · 26/10/2022 13:08

Same , kept them in about 10 days and then opened door , we sat together 🙄 on the step , one jumped down and sniffed the grass
The other just sat next to me for ages

By the next day they were off , often coming flying in cat flap for a shit then back out again
😂😂😂

LeMoo · 26/10/2022 13:19

Noramax · 26/10/2022 13:07

Some people advise buttering the cat's paws. I suppose the cat then licks its paws & ingests its new environment? Just a thought.

Cats are lactose intolerant so I wouldn't recommend this - their stomachs might not be at their most robust right now anyway!

YaffleYaffle · 26/10/2022 13:31

Last time we moved we cracked after about a week because our cat was bouncing off the walls. We had moved two streets away so were worried he’d go back but he seemed to cotton on that he lived somewhere new now!

Noramax · 26/10/2022 13:33

Yes, most cats are lactose intolerant, but it might still work - and would be better than losing your pet. .I've never tried it. Has anyone? Would something else work?

SallyWD · 26/10/2022 13:38

I've always followed the advice to wait 4 weeks. We moved last year and my cat was still extremely unsettled after 2 weeks. After 4 weeks he STILL found his way to our old house (a mile away) but he realised the new house was home so he came back. He returned to the old house a few times but always came back. Good luck!

eggsandbaconeveryday · 26/10/2022 13:57

We let our cat out after 5 days when we moved back in June. He was desperate to get outside into our lovely new big back garden so we went out with him. We let him sniff around and scent mark, then took him back inside after 20 mins . We did this for the next few days and after that he has been fine.

Original poster
Wholetthetwocatsout · 26/10/2022 13:58

Thanks for all the advice. We'll have a go at the weekend and see what happens.

OP posts:
Dreikanter · 26/10/2022 14:00

I waited about 2 weeks when we moved, but she’s a homebody and doesn’t go far, plus she’ll come back to a whistle. First time out I made sure she was hungry, so that was an extra incentive.

You could also scatter some of their soiled litter around the edge of the garden to help mark their territory.

AutumnLeaves5 · 26/10/2022 14:00

I think if you sprinkle some of the used litter around the edge of the garden it will help them know where home is.

AuntieJoyce · 26/10/2022 14:00

My two torties had escaped within the first couple of days of the new house and both Just came straight back in again. Torties are smart

Original poster
Wholetthetwocatsout · 26/10/2022 14:04

AuntieJoyce · 26/10/2022 14:00

My two torties had escaped within the first couple of days of the new house and both Just came straight back in again. Torties are smart

One is. The other is definitely not! It took her a whole winter to be brave enough to use the cat flap - we had it taped open for months. That's one reason I'm a bit worried... an unfamiliar cat flap!

OP posts:
YaffleYaffle · 26/10/2022 16:26

LeMoo · 26/10/2022 13:19

Cats are lactose intolerant so I wouldn't recommend this - their stomachs might not be at their most robust right now anyway!

Show quote history

It’s also an old wives’ tale. Do not do this.

Original poster
Wholetthetwocatsout · 26/10/2022 16:49

YaffleYaffle · 26/10/2022 16:26

It’s also an old wives’ tale. Do not do this.

Show quote history

No! The mess!

OP posts:
Purpleavocado · 26/10/2022 16:51

I couldn't even keep mine in 2 weeks, he starts really sulking and getting stressed. He was fine though, I went out in the garden with him the first couple of times and brought him back in before he could dash off. Then he was out and about with no problem. I did leave a towel out with his scent on it, near the door.

thecatneuterer · 27/10/2022 11:06

Noramax · 26/10/2022 13:07

Some people advise buttering the cat's paws. I suppose the cat then licks its paws & ingests its new environment? Just a thought.

This is just an old wives' tale (are we still allowed to say that? What's the PC equivalent?). Don't do this.

nomorespaghetti · 27/10/2022 12:55

We moved about a month ago, and kept our boy in for two weeks. He loves the outside life, and I was worried he’d get lost or go for an epic wander, but he’s mostly stayed nearby and has come back when I’ve called him. We haven’t got a cat flap yet which is a massive pain in the bum. We’ve had to keep the back door open in case he needs to get back in in a hurry - there’ve been a few encounters with the neighbourhood cats where he’s been chased, and I don’t want him to be unable to get away.

QuantumWeatherButterfly · 27/10/2022 13:42

We let my old girl out after a week. The garden has 6 foot high fences all round. You could not imagine a less athletic feline than my darling QuantumCat1, they would have been quite beyond her when she was just out of kittenhood, let alone in advancing middle age. DH described her, accurately as 'not exactly a flight risk'.

With QC2 and QC3, it's an entirely different situation. We haven't moved with them, but if we did, I'd want to keep them in for at least 4 weeks. They are both extremely athletic and pretty stupid. But I don't think it would be an issue, they barely go outside anyway as it is - they are from warmer climes and quite disgusted with the British weather. Instead they limit themselves to causing chaos in the house.

bumblebeebrain · 27/10/2022 13:47

I got a cat harness for mine and we went out for walks around the garden to help her get used to it. She was dying to get out of the harness and explore. Kept her in for a week or two but then went out with her nervously every time I let her out. She was fine. I was the nervous one.

Girliefriendlikespuppies · 27/10/2022 14:01

We moved in the summer and I lasted 3 days before letting the cats out 🙈 it was too hot to keep the doors and windows closed.

They were absolutely fine, stayed in the garden and didn't start wandering further for a week or so.

It does depend a bit on the cat, my brother had a cat that never settled in their new house and at every opportunity would try and walk back to their old house!! Their old house was about 5 miles away and he often turned up there, in the end the new owners adopted him as he obviously preferred that house.

StillNotWarm · 27/10/2022 14:22

After 10 days, DC jumped out of a first floor window we didn't think she could reach or get through....
She stayed, we think, in the garden until her crying woke DS2, who came to wake me.

We took her out into the garden most days after that, but only when someone was with her. She was inside the house whenever we went out.
Let her have free roaming through a catflap after a month - but it was the summer holidays, and someone was around most days