Help! Advice for moving cats to new home

Hello!

I'm hoping to learn about the best way to move my cats into a new place. I currently live in a one floor apartment, and I'm moving into my fiancee's home. It's a 2 story house with a basement. I plan to put the litter boxes in the basement, but they won't really spend much time down there, other than to use their pottie.

My cats are littermates, 12 years old. They have a history of aggression towards each other, but they are doing okay these days. I don't want anything to "trigger" a re-directed aggression episode with the move!

How is the best way to go about this transition?

Thank you!

Personally I'd try to confine them to one room with litter pan, food and water for a week or so. Let them slowly explore the rest. Gradually move the litter pan to where you want it.

Are these gonna be the only pets in the house, or does your fiancee' have other pets?

Have some of your cats' things at the new house prior to the move so that they can smell their own scents. When you put them in the carrier, put their blanket and favorite toy in there so they can have some security. Use the same water bowl / pet bed they've been using. Give them time to slowly explore the house on their clock. Every cat is different.

For our kitties w/ our move, Pooch took about three weeks. Luke took about two weeks. Kelly had no problems.

My experience with moving is pretty simple. I would definitely transport the cats in separate cages and maybe put them in different rooms for a few hours upon arrival. Make sure they always remain indoors for at least a few days if not a week. This lets their systems recover and makes sure they don't try to run "home". Try to comfort them with a blanket or toys that smell like them. They will slowly re situate to their environment but probably be very scared at first and may hide under a bed or couch. Try to be around the house to comfort them and talk to them (and break up any fights). Maybe buy some kitty treats. Make sure they have collars and maybe a microchip in case they do escape. Moving for a cat is like similar to jumping into a tub of water (not appealing to at least my cat.)

I plugged in Feliway at the new home before the move. I transported in separate crates. I had everything set up in one room (food, water, beds etc). We arrived that night and by the AM they were out exploring the rest of the house, calmly.

Thank you all for the great advice!

My fiancee does not have pets, thankfully. This will be almost as hard on him as it will be on my girlies!

I also wonder if I should move them before I start to empty my apartment?

Thanks!

I moved my belongings first. So that once we got to the new territory there wasnt continual interuption with moving things in, but just a calm new enviornment.

My hubby and I moved almost 8 weeks ago, we have a nine month old kitten.

What we did was #1 took the sheets off of our bed at our apartment and put them back on at the new house--instead of clean sheets--so he could still smell us and him.

We kept him locked in our bedroom for two days at the new house--with food, litter box, water and toys. We had stuff everywhere and just wanted him to be safe.

When the third day started he was tired of being in our room and so we released him to explore during the day when we were home. The next few nights we locked him in our bedroom to sleep. But by the end of the week he was tired of sleeping in our room.

At that point we transitioned his litter box from our room to the kitchen--and hopefully will be transitioning to the basement soon.

We have had no accidents and Jack loves the new house!

Leslie

I put extra litter boxes around, one on each floor, until they get used to the new place. That way they will always have a litter box close by.
Good luck with the move. Hoping things go smoothly.