Letting cat out after moving home

[LivingForRedWine]

Hi everyone

I was wondering if anyone let their cat out before the recommended 3 weeks after moving home and how it went.

We have been in our new house for a week and we haven’t slept due to one of our cats (who usually would go out at night) waking us up to play or be fed or just to come and sit near our heads! He is climbing the walls and I cant carry on with this for another 2 weeks.

We have tried to shut him in one of the downstairs rooms at night but we have sliding doors and he has figured out how to open them and he keeps escaping up to our room again and either battering our door down or meowing loudly outside it which is waking our son up too.

Our other cat (who has never been allowed out at night) is absolutely fine.

I am thinking of slowly introducing him to the garden this week. Any advice would be appreciated.

I had to have a semi feral cat in my downstairs room for a month, due to an injury and him needing to be kept in until he was better before being neutered.

The problem with letting yours out in a new area is he doesn't know where 'home' is. Back in the 70s, one of ours got out after a move, and months later turned up at our old house 40km away.

You are just going to have to come up with solutions. Or risk him getting lost or injured.

I am moving at some point and have 6 semi ferals that will be coming, have to be inside and I'm planning for 4-6 weeks.

I’ve always kept mine in for 12 weeks. Then a walk round the garden firmly held.
Never lost a cat yet.

I once let a cat out after about 10 days and it was OK, though a bit nerve wracking. But the stress of being kept inside was making her ill, she'd always been an outside cat.
I wouldn't do it until at least 2 weeks if you have only moved a short distance though as they will go straight 'home'.

Could you securely fence a section of garden so the cat can at least spend part of the day outside during the settling in period?

A minimum of a fortnight, I think. Bit tricky in midsummer when you want all the windows open!

It might also depend on the cat's personality and whether they will be cautious and just go for a sniff around, or be off like Usain Bolt and over the fence and away in no time at all.

We found that letting them out just before their dinner time helps the first time, so that they were hungry and much more likely to come back in again after a couple of minutes. They then get the reward of food for returning.

I got a new cat three years ago and started letting her out with an open window from the room I initally put her in two weeks in. It happened to be my study so I was down there working anyway, and she got her confidence knowing she could come in and then go out again whenever she wanted to. I closed it at night. She doesn't roam beyond the driveway, and it took her a while to get used to seeing the neighbours, so a few hours of staring out of the window helped.

Semi feral cat returned home three times. A month on feliway tablets and she settled. Amazon

Thanks everyone. I obviously dont want to risk him getting lost or injured so I will just have to think of other solutions to keep him in for another few weeks until he gets more used to the house.

We have only moved 15 minutes away from our old house so he would probably try and go back there if we let him out now. We will have to introduce him slowly at first in a few weeks the letting him out before meals is a good idea when we start this.

Hopefully we can think of something in the meantime so we can all get some sleep soon.

No I absolutely wouldn’t. I thought the advice is minimum of four weeks.

We recently adopted 2 cats and we waited 5-6 weeks to let them out. Even then it was supervised garden time for a couple more weeks and then back inside for their supper and to stay in for the night.

"Zylkene Calming Supplements for Cats & Dogs up to 10kg 75mg | Promotes Relaxation | Helps Pets cope with Short-Term challenging situations: Loud Noises | Easily Administered | 20 Capsules : Amazon.co.uk: Pet Supplies" https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00K06MAK2?tag=ceukreviews-22274714-21&linkCode=osi&th=1&psc=1&language=en_GB&ascsubtag=uk_cid5789060793456-2814330#averageCustomerReviewsAnchor

Our semi feral cat took these for a month. She seemed a bit stoned. She'd already run away to the old house three times. After taking these sprinkled on wet food she was fine.