How to move the kitties?

Hi everyone! It's been a looooong time I know but I'm back for a bit and need a little advice please. We are currently in a small three room apartment. My squeeze and I are in the process of purchasing our first house and I was wondering the best way to move my two furballs? I know moving is a timultuous time and I was wondering if anyone could advice me on how we can minimize the trauma to the boys.

I've not had to deal with this.But, hopefully someone that has, will see this!!

I'm not EXACTLY sure, but I think this is how they suggest doing it:

When you start moving, put the kits in a room with all their stuff..close the door so they can't see you taking apart their surroundings..

Then move the kitties to the new house, also secluded to one room, and empty out that last room in the old house..

It will be hard for them especially if you have high stress kits...Trout near tore my arm off, when I picked her up to finally move her into the new place when I moved. She was terrified.

In the new place, Trout hid for about 2 days and slinked around all nervous...but then she was fine.

Good luck!!

Great! Thanks! I heard that the kitties are the LAST thing to be moved. They should remain in the old place and taken at the end. Is this true?

What about litter boxes? What's the rule? We have one now and it's perfectly fine... but with a larger place, will it be sufficient?

Being in a new house,I would get another litterbox.That way they won't stress if they can't find the one.

Originally Posted by TONIM68

Great! Thanks! I heard that the kitties are the LAST thing to be moved. They should remain in the old place and taken at the end. Is this true?

What about litter boxes? What's the rule? We have one now and it's perfectly fine... but with a larger place, will it be sufficient?

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When I moved with my cats, I left them last to move. In our new home, which was much bigger, I left them in my bedroom to get aquainted first. But they were ready to explore the rest of the house that night, so I let them and I just walked around with them as they sniffed everywhere.
I had to eventually add additional litter boxes because we started having some poo problems. Could have been because of the larger space, not sure, but once I added more boxes, the poo stopped! Good Luck with your move. I hope the boys adjust well.

I would basically do what everyone has already suggested. Move the kitties last, put them in one room with all their familiar scents and toys that they love, anything that will make them feel at home. I would also take the litterbox/boxes not scooped out, someone suggested this to me so this is what I did when I moved with Sash just recently. I also used Feliway and I would highly recommend buying that, I used the plug-in. I was very worried how Sash would adjust being that he lived at our previous apartment for 11 years and he was getting ready to turn 14 soon, so I was really worried that at his age and being so comfortable for so long that this would be hard on him. Boy, was I wrong! He adjusted remarkably well. He hid under the bed for a few hours but he was then ready to come out and explore and within a week you would of thought he lived there his entire life. I don't know if the Feliway helped or not, but I would certainly use it again. I hope your kitties adjust just as well! Good luck!

Thanks so much for the information folks! We just got back from the contract signing and handing them over our life savings. The closing will be soon though and we're really excited!!!

Feliway? What does that do?

Also, I know this is a weird question but, currently our apartment is carpeted wall to wall everywhere with the exception of the kitchen and bathroom (of course). The new place is allllllll hardwood floors . Until we can get rugs, do you think this will this be a problem for the boys?

They will slide all over until they figure it out.But, they should be just fine!!!

Originally Posted by TONIM68

Thanks so much for the information folks! We just got back from the contract signing and handing them over our life savings.

The closing will be soon though and we're really excited!!!

Feliway? What does that do?

Also, I know this is a weird question but, currently our apartment is carpeted wall to wall everywhere with the exception of the kitchen and bathroom (of course). The new place is allllllll hardwood floors

. Until we can get rugs, do you think this will this be a problem for the boys?

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As crittermom said they will be fine. We moved from carpet to hardwood floors and they adjusted just fine to the floors.

Thanks for your help... I'll keep you posted on how they settle in.

Conratulations on your new house! We just bought ours less than 2 years ago, and only had 2 cats then. We were able to keep them at the apartment until later in the day, after we did the moving. If you can keep them out of harm's way while doing this, it's best. (I had most everything packed in advance, so they weren't upset by the apartment moving part.) It only took us most of a day to move stuff into our house; we set up the bed first (no, not what you're thinking!!!)--that way, if we were exhausted, we had a place to sleep. Anyway, we made sure all the commotion was done before bringing the cats in. We had food, water, and litter set up for them when they arrived (make sure you put the litter when you plan to keep it permanently, to avoid mishaps later!). We couldn't wait to see their reaction--the trip, though only about 12 miles, seemed to take forever! Our house was the first time they saw stairs, which was a blast to watch.

The floors shouldn't be a problem--they'll get used to it; and likely, will make a game of it, as Marge did on our laminate flooring in the foyer--the stairs are centered in the foyer, so she skidded around them, like the Road Runner--then I saw her deliberately do it for fun!

I'm sure your cats will love to explore your house--and you'll have so much fun watching them! It's amazing how fast cats take over and settle in, and become fat, lazy, and obnoxious...:-)

Best of luck in this exciting time! Wishing you all the best (and take pics!!!)

MargeCat

Thanks for the well wishes. We're really excited!
This will also be the first time with stairs for our guys so it should make for some interesting pictures! LOL!

I'll keep you all posted on how it goes. We're just waiting on a closing date now and it feels like it's taking forever.

Best of luck I look foward to seeing pics!

Feliway is a plug in or spray that mimics the feline facial pheromone of a cat. It helps to comfort cats in stressful situations such as moving. You can find it at Petco or most pet stores. I ordered mine online. Here's a link to where I purchased mine http://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail.h...a-b7887b1cb53f

Originally Posted by TONIM68

This will also be the first time with stairs for our guys so it should make for some interesting pictures! LOL!

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Sash just loves the stairs! It was his first time having stairs also and it's just been such a joy to watch him go up and down the stairs. He does it all the time now, you should see him zoom down the stairs after he goes potty! I just love watching him so much use the stairs, as I'm sure you will too. Would love to see pictures of your babies once they get settled!

Here's a pic of Sash going up the stairs

Hi! I just wanted to thank everyone for their wonderful advice. I learned a lot and it was all so very helpful.

The move went great - we moved in officially on my birthday (Dec 16th) after two weeks of cleaning, preping and slowing moving small stuff back and forth. I think I was stressing about the kitties more than I should have because it went pretty smoothly. I had put feliway up a few days before to try to take the edge off, but I'm not sure if it worked or not. I took them over to the house first thing in the morning before the madness began, and set them up in the basement. They were both pretty freaked out but Jake was initially the happy explorer (as long as I was around) and Elwood took some time to even come out of his carrier.

The little box is set up in the basement, which also turned out to be no big drama. It took about a week or two but I am happy to say that they are both fully settled and have claimed this house as their own! They even learned to use the cat door in no time.

Thank you all again for your advice. It's been an scary and exciting experience for all of us but it's the happiest time!

Here's a pic of the house!

So glad to hear the move went so well for you and your kitties. I think we worry way more than they do. Your house is very pretty!

Yeah - I was pretty freaked out worrying about how the 'puds would adapt. But they settled in nicely and now run around like maniacs! The funniest thing is watching them slide on the hardwood floors!!!