Moving Day: What to do when the cat says, ‘I’d rather not’
By Gina Spadafori
September 18, 2007
Christie’s latest Your Whole Pet column is up on SFGate.com, and the topic is moving with pets. Cats, of course, are very much creatures of habit, most comfortable in familiar surroundings. That’s why they’re much more difficult to move than dogs are.
From the article:
For most dogs, wherever you are is home. They get settled in their routines and don’t like being uprooted, but chances are, if you manage to keep them safe during the actual move, they’ll adapt fairly easily to the new home as long as you’re in it.
Cats, on the other hand, have already had all the change they wish to experience in their nine lives, 10 times over. Cats don’t want to be put in a container, covered or otherwise, and have no interest in ambient music. And they’d really like you to stop clutching their paws, thank you very much.
So, what do you do if circumstances beyond your control, such as a desire to have enough closet space for your shoes, or a kitchen in which you can actually prepare a meal instead of just using it as somewhere to store the microwave, cause you to start noticing “for sale” signs everywhere you go?
First, just accept the fact that you’re being hopelessly selfish, and don’t let your cats’ scorn or the way your dog follows you from room to room looking mournful get to you.
Helpful advice abounds in the piece, which includes a cautionary tale to any pet-lover looking for a good therapist in Northern California (which is to say, everyone who doesn’t already have one).
My Granny was a source of home remedies of all sorts; during the depression it was often a case of do-it-yourself medical care. Her approach to moving the cat was to put it in a box, cover the box with a light cloth, assign one child to monitor the box until it was safely inside the new home. But then, instead of just releasing the cat to explore and find its way in the new place, Granny immediately buttered the cat’s paws. She buttered them liberally and the cat, or course, sat down to clean the mess. It took a while. Whatever the reason, we never had a cat wander or even seem distressed by a move.
Comment by Nancy Nielsen — September 18, 2007 @ 2:47 pm