House move with cats - give me your tips

[Packar]

Just me and 2 elderly cats moving a 20 minute journey away. Doing a self move with help of friends.

My thoughts were to keep them locked in a quietish room with litter tray, food, water, beds whilst all the moving out is taking place. Get things in place at new place then go back to get them on the last run. Any problems with that?

I will keep them in for a month in their new home before letting them out.

What are your tips for the moving phase when they're resident in my current house and furniture etc is being moved?

And what are your tips for when they arrive at their new home?

Guess we can play by ear then, see how we are fixed on the day. We thought it would be less upheaval if all their stuff was in the old house with them, and we have a week of crossover time with the 2 houses…but maybe they would find it too upsetting with (nearly) all the rest of the stuff in the house gone and us sleeping elsewhere. Thanks for mentioning this!

Ignore the nonsense about buttering paws. Cats aren’t supposed to eat dairy, it’s bad for them!

Our cat hates catteries so that wasn’t an option. Lots of Feliway helped - you can get sprays to use in the car and plug-in diffusers for the house.

Ah yes, our cat pulled up some carpet in protest while shut in one room at the old house on moving day.

Luckily our buyer had had a carpet company round to measure up for new ones or we’d have been a bit stressed!

Another vote for using the bathroom if you can. It's the one room that no one needs to be in and out of assuming a secondary toilet elsewhere. Oh and avoid putting them in a room with a chimney. We did that once and it took quite sometime to extract the cat from where they decided to hide. Otherwise we've held out for as long as possible and let them out before feeding.

Before letting them out for the first time, to give context to the last sentence!

It’s not for eating. It’s so it lays a scent in the ground when they walk. This way they can find their way back home.

If you put something on their paws, they’re going to lick it. It’s an old wives tale.

Have you actually tried it?

I had a strange experience when I moved 20 years ago. I only moved 10-15 minutes away walking, from my old house. DH and ds got a big van and packed stuff up. Me and DC stayed in the sitting room. DC watched out of the window. I went into the kitchen to make a drink. DC got out of the cat flap and disappeared. DH and ds arrived at the new house and started moving furniture in and the cat wandered in the door of the new house and sat in front of the fireplace as if to claim his spot. The cat must have followed them or spotted the removal van. It's still a joke that the cat was in the house before I was.