When it comes to moving house with cats, you can be surprised at how challenging our feline friends can make moving out. Moving home on your own is stressful enough; add in the stress of moving with a pet, and the process becomes even more confusing. However, while you might be stressed out yourself, have you wondered about how the move could be impacting your cat?
If you want to go about moving house with your cat without the stress, we have some useful and actionable tips for you below. So, what can you do to keep your cat on-side and happy during this stressful moving period?
Preparing for the move
First off, you need to get your cat ready for the move itself. Many of us find that we simply forget about the importance of daily routine during a move. This, though, will cause chaos for your cat. So, instead, try and keep your cat’s routine as consistent as it was beforehand.
Things like food and sleeping times shouldn’t change, and you should also still look to keep social time for you both. This gives your cat a sense of comfort during such a stressful period. You might also benefit by making a temporary ‘cat room’ that has all of their toys, their litter tray, their bedding, and their water. This means that your cat still has a place to go to when it wants some peace and quiet. It also means you can focus on the move knowing your cat can find a bit of privacy so that the move does not needlessly disrupt its quality of life.
Try and arrange this move into a ‘cat room’ around one week before you start packing up to make the move; this gives time to adjust.
Give your cat a safe space
On moving day itself, try and give your cat a little room to relax in. Either place your cat into a cattery, or leave them in the room we discussed above. Now, you can pack everything away and come for your cat at the end. This avoids any risk of injury, loss of property, or even less of your pet.
It gives them time to relax, to savour their time in their old home, and to tire them out. This means that when the time comes to go, they should be in a far less difficult and stressful mood.
You need to do everything you can on moving day to reduce disruption. Keep their feeding and fun times consistent. Once you arrive at the new home, unpack their most beloved items in front of them so they can immediately associate their home with their belongings.
Make time for settling in
Once you have finally moved into your new home, you might want to focus on giving your cat as much help as they can get to settle in. Pick a room in the new home where your cat can make their HQ for the time being. This gives them a little den – entice them with their bedding, water, and some toys and treats. This helps them to easily acclimatise to the room. Small adjustments are needed, as the move to a whole new property can be overwhelming for a pet. Instead, let them slowly but surely feel their way into their new home – then, slowly but surely expand the rooms they get to visit and look around.
Prepare for an adjustment period
Lastly, once you are in your house and settled, prepare for an adjustment period. Your cat will likely have accidents with their toilet habits when they move into such a new routine and new area. Don’t scold them for this; it’s a natural response to what they are going through. Instead, go that extra mile to clean out litter trays, to give them some toys to play with, and to help them adjust at their own pace.
Slowly but surely, you can expand your cat’s exploration of the new house. Let them get used to the indoors as closely as possible, then introduce them to the outdoors. This should be taken extremely gradually, though, as overexposure to the outdoors in a new area can be daunting to a feline.
Try and get your cat outdoors maybe 10-15 minutes before they should be eating. This makes them more inclined to follow you back indoors and thus make sure they don’t spend too long outside. Now, you can gradually build up their knowledge and understanding of the new area, which should vastly improve your ability to succeed.
The process is simple – care for their needs, look out for signs of stress, and treat their adjustment period with empathy. Do that, and moving home with your cat will become a much easier process!
