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Moving to a new home

Posted Sun, Jul 27, 2008, 10:54 pm PDT

Moving involves a fair amount of stress. For a cat, the stress is often magnified because the change takes him by surprise and suddenly he finds himself in an unfamiliar environment. Here are some tips to help your cat through the transition.

1. During the packing phase, keep his routine as normal as possible. Engage in interactive play sessions on a regular basis to show him that no matter what, there's always time for fun.
2. Have ID information updated in time for moving day. List your cell phone number so you can be reached no matter where you are.
3. If your cat is allowed outdoors, keep him indoors several days before the move. It would be tragic if you couldn't locate your cat on moving day.
4. On moving day, either board your cat at a boarding facility or vet office, or place him in his carrier in a separate room. The room you choose should already be already emptied out or it should be the last one to be emptied. This will prevent the potential for someone accidentally letting kitty outside when the front door is open.
5. In the new home, set up a sanctuary room for your cat. Don't let him loose all at once. This is unfamiliar territory and he may need time to get his bearings. Set up a room with his litter box, bed, scratching post, food, water, and some toys. If your cat is frightened, set up a hiding places such as a few open papers bags on their sides.
6. Use a Feliway Comfort Zone diffuser to help him identify with the environment. If your cat is allowed outdoors, don't let him out right away. He needs to develop a familiarity with this territory. You also don't know what cats are in the neighborhood and he may end up in fights. If possible, a move to a new home is a good time to do a transition to becoming an indoor cat.

For more help, refer to my book, Starting from Scratch.

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17 Comments

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1. KayKay - 5:23AM on 07/28/08

when i moved from my apartment to my condo, i was lucky enough to be moving close by. since i wasn't moving into the condo right away after i bought it, i would take a few things over to the condo and then later on in the day take my two cats to the condo so they could begin to get fimilar with the condo and their things in it. i always made sure to take one or two of their toys over and some of my things that had my smell on it. this gave the cats a chance to play with toys and know that my smell was there. once i actually moved in, the cats were fimilar with the condo, where things were and could smell my scent so they knew i wasn't going anywhere. i also would leave something at the condo before i moved in and then a few days later bring that item home for the cats to smell. they were able to get a little bit of the new condo smell on the item that i had left there and then brought it home. overall, my cats did a great job with the move.
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2. sunny_1_ - 8:40AM on 07/28/08

An old trick my mother taught me was to put butter or margarine on the cats front paws before you let them out. After putting the margarine on their paws set them at the door and open it. Go out with the kitty and you'll see the first thing they do is lick their paws. This plants the scent in their noses. Allow the cat to snoop a little and bring them back inside. The next time you let the cat out they will smell around the door and recognize it as their own scent. They will never get lost as long as they can find their scent.
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3. shawnmeboy86 - 8:30PM on 07/28/08

it
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4. CP - 9:26PM on 07/28/08

I adopted my cat at the age of 2, I have had her for a year and my kids and I just moved to a new house and the cat just want to stay in the basement all the time. she don't walk around the house like she did at the other house. I wonder why?
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5. Cha-Cha - 5:55AM on 07/29/08

my apartment is in the basement so that is not a problem as long as she can find her litter she will venture out on her own when she is ready. I don't think buttering her paws will work.
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6. sunny_1_ - 11:39AM on 07/30/08

To Cha-Cha: buttering a cat's paws has worked several times for me. If you're cat isn't going outside then there's no problem, but even if you don't believe me do you really want to take a chance and let kitty out with no scent to follow back home?
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7. DM - 3:10PM on 07/30/08

We moved recently to a town about 10-miles away. On the first day, I moved one complete bedroom and set it up in the new place, thinking that the cats would recognize all of it, they'd have a bed to hide under, and I could close the door if I needed to while we moved the rest of the place. It helped, but it turned out that they weren't as disturbed by the move as I thought they'd be. I had taken vacation while we moved, so someone was home with them all the time that first week.
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8. Sukki - 5:53AM on 07/31/08

I always set up my bedroom in the new house and put my cats in there with all their belongings, litter pan included, for 3-4 days. I would then introduce them to the rest of the house. They didn't get to go outside without a leash for two or three weeks and I knew what other cats where out there!
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9. Cha-Cha - 2:39PM on 08/01/08

Sukki - that sounds like very sensible advice
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10. sgmaya2@sbcglobal.net - 7:27PM on 08/03/08

Help! My brother passed away in April, and his declawed cat was given away to someone who let her out! She ran away, of course, but thank God, has been recently found nearby in good shape. I am going to take a trip to get her and bring her home with me ASAP. I have 2 other cats and a dog, but there shouldn't be any problem with any of them. My cats are rescued, and my dog ignores cats. I will be driving with her for 200 miles to bring her back here. I'm not to worried about the trip, I will have a good carrier, but how to bring her into my home. Any advice will be appreciated. I know she's a sweetheart, and my brother loved her so.
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11. Laura S - 9:39AM on 08/05/08

I'm introducing my 4 year old cat to two 1 year old cats, one female one male. He is moving into my boyfriend's appartement and I'm moving into a dorm (that's why I can't take him with me). Any suggestions?
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12. MJ - 10:20AM on 08/09/08

Good questions. Long answer here but I hope it helps. I've learned a lot the hard way so I'll share what several bad and finally several good experiences taught me. Maybe you can avoid some painful lessons. A lot of people, including me, have thought that a pet being willing to accept visitor pets in their home means they'll accept a new resident pet. It isn't always so. Or a pet which has been submissive with other animals in the past can be counted on to behave well and not get aggressive. Again, it ain't necessarily so. Introducing animals to each other can be pretty stressful even when we think they're going to be ok with it. And even when it's going well, it's probably going to be stressful none the less. It's best, I think, if we're prepared to go slowly and then take our cues from the animals themselves before we throw them together. If it turns out we don't need to take much time helping them adjust, great. But to be kind and responsible pet owners, we should be prepared to give them the time they need. Animals like cats and dogs live a huge part of their world in scents. It informs them and they use it to communicate way more than we humans typically appreciate. We can use it to advantage if we're willing to understand that about them. With cats, scent sharing before introducing them physically can help a lot. Before bringing a new cat into the house, rub the new cat with a clean towel and let him or her sleep on the towel for a few days. Then bring that towel to the resident animal(s) and let them sniff it and get familiar with it. Do the same with them - rub and let them sleep with a different clean towel - and bring it to the new kitty. Leave the towels with each and start letting the scent mingle with the opposite animals, and after a few days return the towels to the first pet you rubbed it on. This is a way of telling each of them that there's a new friend soon to enter their lives. When you move the new kitty in and physical introductions do start taking place, leave room in your plans for keeping them completely separate and introducing slowly if that's called for. Start by keeping the newcomer in a separate room where they can all smell and hear each other from under the door. Be prepared to do this for up to a couple of weeks if necessary - so have a separate litter box, food and water. That way the animals are not required to make many immediate territorial statements to each other. And you can more easily check for signs of distress before you ever put them in the same room together. Note any signs of distress - obvious physical arousal like fur standing on end, ears back, arching or crouching, hissing, vocalizing aggressively, at worse, spraying, etc. If pets on either side of the door are demonstrating any of these behaviors it's too early to let them in the same room together. Spend some more time scent mixing and reassuring both, let them get to the point of curiosity and interest before opening the door to each other. Once you know they're on the road to acceptance, you can open the door for brief periods and gradually start increasing the amount of time they all spend together. For the first week or two it may be best for the new kitty especially, to have half a day or so to himself or herself just to relax without the other animal(s) around. Be prepared to provide that in the same private room until you see that he or she is able to sleep in the presence of the other pets. As you're putting them together, demonstrate a lot of affection and reassurance to both the resident animal(s) and the new kitty. As you pet one and then the
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13. MJ - 10:22AM on 08/09/08

ps sgmaya2, my condolences for the loss of your brother. You're doing a lovely thing taking his cat. Best wishes to you and the cat, too.
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14. ELIZABETH M - 10:29AM on 08/16/08

we moved into our trailor about a year ago and our cat hid under my bed.He used to sleep under there at the other house.So I assume that it was his familiar place .he came out after about five or six hours .
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15. C T - 11:06AM on 08/18/08

Good tips, I am moving to my boyfriends house with my indoor/outdoor cat. I realize I have to keep him in at the new place for awhile but he is a cat that loves the outdoors and I can't see turning him into a total indoor cat. My boyfriend has a dog and we've been introducing them in my house for short periods. So far both pets are scared of each other with the dog being very curious but jumps back every time the cat swats him. Luckily the dog is crate trained so the cat will get his chance to walk about the new house
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16. loricherokee - 10:48AM on 08/26/08

My husband and I +cat moved from MD to ME in May. Patches is a rescue, adopted at 2, now 12. We followed all the rules listed in the blog about moving but it was still difficult for him. He had to be put on a harness & leash for the 1st time & spent seveal days in and out of a carrier. We moved from the house on Thurs., didn't move into apt until Mon. He's a shy cat & a lot of our friends/relatives have never seen him - just photos. His favorite place is under the bed. Bedroom was set up first, his toys, food & box were put in the room. After almost 4 months, he has gotten almost back to his old self except for one thing -he is apparently very mad at me - it's all my fault. He was never a lapcat but would occasionally spend some time in my lap at night. He hasn't even sat next to me since we got here. His show of affection was a very hard head butt - he weighs 13 lbs. Now I have to initiate the contact. He lets me pet him more but just is not as friendly. I get the most attention from him when it involves food. He has a totally different attitude toward my husband. He is allergic to cat scratches so has never picked Patches up or put him in a cage. We both feed him depending on time of day. Patches is always rubbing against his legs & sitting by him to get petted. He wakes him up very early in the morn. to get fed but lets me sleep. He is usually lying on floor by the bed when I get up. He is spending less & less time under the bed. I miss his company & don't really know why he's still upset. There are no box problems, no food problems, he has started playing w/his toys again. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
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17. MJ - 1:47PM on 08/28/08

loricherokee - Could it be that it's not so much anger at you as a little damage to his trust? If he'd been rescued to start with, maybe he's had some trauma in the past and needs lots of consistency and a longer period of reassuring to re-establish the bond. Best of luck.
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