How do you move a cat? With planning and patience
By Pet Connection Staff
August 12, 2009
You haven’t even wanted to think about it, but the movers are scheduled, the power’s being shut off, and you’re picking up the packing boxes in the morning. It’s time to face one of life’s biggest challenges. In this week’s Pet Connection, Dr. Marty Becker and Gina Spadafori tackle the tough issue of moving with cats:
Cats like places more than they like people, right?
Wrong. Your cat would rather be with you, no matter where you move to. But if you handle the days before and after moving day improperly, you’re at a real risk of losing your cat. That’s why it’s important to take some time to do it right.
Cats are highly territorial and will seek out familiar places when stressed, which is why they attempt to return to their old homes. While you’ll never manage a stress-free move for either you or your cat, you can make the best of the situation by keeping your pet secure before, during and after the move, and then by allowing your pet to gradually adapt to his new surroundings.
The best way to move your cat is to confine him to a “safe room” before and after the move, and to transport him from one house to another in a secure carrier. The ideal safe room is a spare bedroom or bathroom where your cat isn’t going to be disturbed, and where he can be outfitted with food and water, a litter box, a scratching post and toys.
More tips on a somewhat-less-stressful move here.
Gina Spadafori shares some free help and facts about pets and pesticides, and Dr. Becker reminds pet owners that spaying rabbits has more benefits than just preventing reproduction.
In “The Buzz,” Dr. Becker and Mikkel Becker Shannon have the, ummm… scoop on a new pro-pooper-scooping television ad in the UK:
A British ad campaign urging people to pick up after their dogs features a young child in a park eating, playing with and face covered in what appears to be dog poop, with a tag line noting that “Children will put anything in their mouths.” The ad has gotten no complaints in the tourist town of Torbay, reports the BBC, and is said to be a hit with the permanent residents. And it may be having an effect: Dog doo-doo incidents went from 400 in April to 185 in June. The fine also probably helped get the attention of people who weren’t picking up after their dogs.
Want more? Read the entire Pet Connection for this week, or view it here in the PDF version we sent to our client newspapers.
It’s a good idea to make sure your cats know how to go into a carrier and stay there - relatively quietly - at a non-stressful time so that it’s more familiar to them when you have the urgent need.
And another discovery I recently made when we had tornado warnings and I had to sit in the basement for a while to wait them out - I’ve recently added a third cat, but forgot to buy another carrier. And I discovered I was short one carrier to get all the critters to the basement!
Fortunetely one of my cats is rather quiet and accepting, and so I put her under an upended milk crate-type box. Not perfect, but it worked out okay.
Early the next day, however, another crate was added to my household belongings!
Comment by The OTHER Pat — August 12, 2009 @ 6:11 am
I just moved from Hawai’i to Kentucky with a dog and a cat. I was very nervous about this move so I did a lot of reading and planning ahead of time. In the end things turned out very well. Better than I had hoped for, actually.
I was scared my cat, who is skittish and handled shorter moves much worse in the past, would be traumatized by the move. Not so. All of my planning and preparations got her ready. By the time we took her to the airport she was comfortable in her crate, and had more confidence about new situations and strange people.
I’m glad I didn’t assume she would be better left behind than moving with us. Though I admit to fearing she would handle the move so poorly I would regret putting her through it.
Comment by RTL — August 12, 2009 @ 10:55 am
Our critters can be a lot more resilient than we give them credit for at times. Kudos to you for keeping her with you rather than adding to the list of those “Surrendered due to moving”.
Comment by The OTHER Pat — August 12, 2009 @ 11:15 am
I actually just moved from Colorado to Oregon with three cats. Planning for the cats was without a doubt one of the hardest parts of this cross country move! I actually just posted about my adventures earlier this week!
Comment by Tammy — August 12, 2009 @ 11:17 am
Good tip, OtherPat, about getting the cats used to staying in a crate. My cats usually go in a crate only when they have a vet appt. My brother’s cats that I inherited consider a crate a nifty place to investigate and curl up in - which really is nice if I need to crate them.
My last move, 9 years ago, went better for the cats than the previous move, but I found that even my “bravest” cat, Blackjack, wanted his own “quiet room” — he went up inside an armoire and hid in a drawer. I found him when I was getting ready to fill the drawer with my stuff, and found it was already “filled”. My two lady cats were content to hide under the bed in the quiet bedroom.
I considered the cats (and my dogs) in my selection of the lot for my new house — it matched the layout of their former home in that it was at the end of a street, with a view of the curve to the next street, and on the same side of the street. I wanted them to have somewhat the same view out the front window as they had before - don’t know if they noticed, but they adjusted to the new home well.
Comment by Shadepuppy — August 12, 2009 @ 1:49 pm
I keep open crates out and about in the house, and frequently I will find one or another of them napping inside one of them.
Comment by The OTHER Pat — August 13, 2009 @ 10:06 am