Moving cats from country to town

[FancyCatSlave]

I’ll try and keep this brief. Not that long ago I lost 2 cats in quick succession to being hit by cars. We were in a small village and not on a main road but as a result moved to an absolutely pin drop dead end lane in a quiet village where our garden backs on to a vast country estate.

We got 2 kittens who are now 2, they are very outdoorsy, tree climbing and estate wandering hunting assassins. They are also little cuddle monsters and my DD adores them as do I.

I’m getting divorced and we have to move. I might end up living in a market town (or a busier village) and I am absolutely terrified about the cats future. Any house will be in a cul de sac or similar but I’m unlikely to be able to find a location like we have now where there are virtually zero cars anywhere near the house.

Has anyone had to do similar? I literally feel
sick about it all. I’m limited in where I can move as can’t change DD’s school etc but the cats have become my fixation.

The little boy is more of a homebody and as he ages I can see him becoming bone idle and staying in the garden. But our little tortie girl likes hunting rabbits and going for miles. She terrifies me.

Sorry you have had no replies, OP. I don’t know the answer to your question but I guess the obvious thing would be to build a catio or cat-proof your garden? You might find that the change of scene acts as a bit of a reset and the cats don’t go far.

Our previous girl cat didn’t roam much, and just today we were talking about how our old neighbour, a very glamorous lady who would sunbathe in her bikini, often found herself sharing her sunlounger or blanket with her on sunny days! She eventually took to leaving the blanket down for her, and the cushions on their garden furniture. When we had to have her pts last year we adopted a one year old boy who had been a stray kitten for most of his life. I fully expected him to be a real roamer once we started letting him out, but he’s always in shouting distance and I am so grateful (partly because he’s orange and a bit of a dafty). He likes sitting on next door’s garden chairs too, but it’s a single man who lives there now and he is far less accommodating of cats’ needs.

I’m so sorry, that would stress me out too. Maybe are there any cat charities near you that you could ask for advice?

When you look for your next property maybe try and get somewhere that you could easily add cat safe fencing to. Would give more room than a catio. The only other thing (although it doesn’t protect them)is to have them wear trackers. Being able to
find them gives some reassurance. What we have as well is a microchip cat flap, so they have a curfew and are kept in after dark. In the winter this ties in quite nicely with feeding time so once they are in they can’t get out again until morning. Again it’s not foolproof but it lowers the risk