Moving with a nervous kitty

[Maresche]

Does anyone have any advice/experience with moving to a new house with a very nervous cat? My Misao is pretty highstrung when it comes to new places and I want to make our move as easy for her as possible. Just as a point of reference, last time she was away from our apartment overnight, she hid in one room of my in-laws home and wouldn't leave it for the 5 days she was there. This meant she didn't eat or use the litter box during that time. I don't want to stress her out that much again if possible.

Thank you in advance. ^_^

[cr7clark]

Hi Maresche,
Set up a room in the new house just for your nervous feline. Put a litter box in it, and put some used litter in the box that has her scent. Put a bed in the room, doesn't have to be a human bed, just some comfy spot with her favorite cushions, throws, etc., just make sure they have her scent on them. You might also want to put something on the bed or in the room that has your scent on it as well. Put a cat carrier or crate in there as well (the bed might go in here) so she can go into a "safe" place. Don't forget her food and water, make sure you use the food she's accustomed to eating.
When the room is set up, put Kitty in there and leave her be. Don't try to "force" her to come out, just let her be and wait it out.
If she gets really spacey, you might consult your vet and see if he can provide a "kitty tranquilizer" to ease the transition.
Best wishes to you and Misao.

[sailorsaturn]

If theres two bathrooms one of those would be a good spot. Litle, so she/he knows whats going on.

[auggie]

Maresche, you've got to read Aly's Post about moving with her Dogs and Cat

http://www.geocities.com/shireelol/index.html

[ August 29, 2001: Message edited by: auggie ]

[4 feline house]

Bosmom's advice was so right on, there's nothing to add!

[Maresche]

Thank you very much for the wonderful advice! I'll make sure to let you know how it goes, though the move is still 6 weeks away (I like to be well prepared). Thank you again! ^_^

[Karen]

I'm going to be the first, maybe , to caution you on this: be VERY careful! The day of the big move, before you start hauling boxes in or out, put the cat in her carrier, or do something to contain her and make sure she is absolutely secure and safe and contained. I have not one but two friends whose cat freaked out and ran out of the house the day of their respective moves. They were frightened and just ran away. One never turned up again, despite many efforts to find him, he was an indoor cat usually, we all just hope someone took him in when he calmed down. The other friend's cat turned up weeks later, and was eventually reunited with her owners, who had moved several states away.

Cats are very sensitive, and you will probably be stressed with the move. Add to that their whole life being turned upside down, lots of boxes, and doors opened wide enough for furniture to be taken out, and disaster can happen. Is there a way you could move her first, or have her stay with someone for the big awful day?

I am not trying to be alarmist, just want Misao to be safe!

[Maresche]

Karen,

Thanks for the words of wisdom. We're planning to move both Misao and her bud, Terra during the first leg of the move. They both have carriers and we'll be putting them in a back bedroom with food, litter, bedding, etc and the door closed. That door will stay closed until the next day when all moving has been done. Lucky for us, the new place is only 10 miles away and we'll be doing most of the moving ourselves.

Spencer,

I took you advice...all hardwood floors. ^_^

[aly]

Shiloh hates new places, and therefore hates moving. The move I did 2 weeks ago went really smoothly though. Since in previous moves, she had sat in the closet for several days, I set up a box for her in there with a sheet over it. I took her directly to the closet instead of setting her down in the middle of the floor. I also had several articles of my clothing in there for her to feel more secure. This time she ran from the closet to under the bed. I made a trail of my clothes from under my bed out into the living room and kitchen. I guess this worked because she felt safe to come out after only a couple of hours. I think when I brought the dogs over, she felt a lot more secure with them too.

Sounds like you're on the right track. I hope your move goes smoothly.

[Sia1]

When I moved about a month and a half ago, we took the cats over the night before the big move to have them acquainted with the house before everything was moved in. We went to check on them and eventually had to put them in the main bathroom for the movers to bring the furniture in. What I didn't realize was that under the sink area was a water heater with a big hole behind it. Whisper, the gittery one of the three, figured this out real quick and refused to come out from behind the heater for about seven hours. For a couple of hours, I thought he had escaped and I was in tears for most of that time. I checked one more time behind the heater, trying to bribe my kitty with food, and his little head popped out from behind the heater. He still refused to come out but at least I knew he hadn't escaped. After I came home from work, he was finally out and happy as can be. Cats are very wierd creatures..just give your kitty some time and I'm sure she'll love it.

[catwoman]

I have a similar story to Sia1's. When I was leaving my last residence, I put my two kitties in the upstairs bathroom (far from the noisiest of the action.) I put their carrier, litter box, food, water and toys in there too.

After the movers were done, and it was time to head to the new place, I went in ... and found only one kitty! I could hear the other one mewing, so I knew she was SOMEWHERE. Turns out there was a little hole in the baseboard under the cabinet, leading into a hollw base. Kitty had somehow gotten in, but couldn't seem to get out on her own ... even when offered tuna. We had to remove the baseboard to free her. She was fine!

My move was cross-country (3 days) so I got kitty-valium at the vet. Each morning, I will give one pill to eat cat, then go have breakfast while it took effect. Then I would load them into their carrier, where they would sleep all day. (At night, I would let them out to play in the hotel room. Because they are older and not TOO rambuncious, I managed to sleep through theiur play-time!) They both ate okay (although less than normal) and used the litterbox at night.

Once we got to the new place, they settled right in and had no problems at all. No hiding, no nothing ...

I HIGHLY recommend kitty-valium. Just make sure you understand your vet's dosage and instructions.


Good luck!
Catwoman

FYI - I gave them opportunities to use their litterbox during the days, but they never were interested.

[Maresche]

Well, the move is done and all went well. Kitties were taken to the new house early with food, water, litter, toys, their cat stand and some of their favorite clothes (mine! ) Terra sat by the window and watched all the goings on of moving things in. Misao immediately jumped out of her cat carrier and under the bed we set up in there the night before . That evening when things settled down, we let them out into the rest of the house. Terra immediately starting investigating. Misao didn't come out for about an hour but she stayed out for the entire evening. They are both still really jumpy about new sounds but everything seems to be going well. Thanks again for all your great advice

[catwoman]

Maresche,

I am so happy for you that the move went well! That is great news ...

Dianne

[cr7clark]

Congratulations Maresche! This is indeed good news. Scratch the kitties for all of us please, and best wishes on your new location. Keep us posted.

[thelmalu99]

Glad to hear that the move went well and the kitties are getting adjusted!