My cats are very upset!

We're in the middle of moving and the cats are getting stressed. Little by little we have moved our stuff into the new place and the cats haven't seemed to notice except for lately...They keep pooping outside of the litter box and following us around. Which is fine, I don't mind them following us, but the 'accidents' are worrisome.

Other than giving them extra attention, what can I do?

*bump & ...You can try this... I know a couple of catsite members use flower essences, i do too...

http://www.petsynergy.com/flower.html

Change: Cats are especially place-conscious and extremely aware of new smells and sensations, but Beech can be helpful to any animal who is reacting negatively to a new environment or household member.

When you do move the cats make sure you introduce them to their new home one room at a time... depending on your cat you can let them out into new areas as time goes by.... wait a second.... you already know all this stuff... i just saw how many posts you have...

oops....
Good luck Tamme....

no no no! Thanks Yzma! Any advice is totally welcome.

So do you think I should, like, keep them in the bedroom for a day, then open to the sitting area and bedroom for a day and then finally the rest of the apartment?

I dunno tamme... depends on your cats... if we ever move my plans are to confine them for a while then let them out bit by bit.. if they seem to be doing okay then i'll speed things up a bit, if not then i'll slow things down a bit... but i think they'll be okay... one room at a time... you should be able to tell by your cats's reactions...

maybe you can ask some people who've had some experience with that feliway stuff if it works with moving house?

just to make sure they don't develop any nasty habits...
i've never used it myself but it may work for you
Good luck
keep us posted ya?

Ya, I'll keep you posted...Tigger is pretty old and I don't think she takes change very well. It might be good to keep them confined to half of the apartment for a little while but then opening that barrier would be like moving again wouldn't it? It would be like "hey this is new!" and then "hey this is new!" again in a few days? Wouldn't that be more stressful than "hey this is new" only once??


Does that make any sense?

I think they need a "safe" place where they don't feel threatened. If you introduce them to one small room, they can explore, and get to know that room quite quickly, and they will have a retreat. Then, as you let them explore the rest of the new place, they will have that safe spot to retreat to when things get overwhelming.

If they have a huge complete new house or apartment to get to know all at once, that creates a lot more stress.

groundhog day for cats?
ya i know what you mean...
em i think for cats it's the smells right?
the main thing for her will be getting used to all the smells.

The smells will change entirely from your old house to your new place, so the only continuity you can provide her will be your smell, her kitty litter, her food, her toys and all the recognisable smells that she is used to...

But within your new place the smells won't change so much... from room to room. The biggest change will be the initial one... After that the little ones won't be so bad...

If you're worried about shocking her, then it's bestto wait till she shows some curiosity about her surroundings. That'll indicate to you that she is ready to explore some more.

For all we know she may walk out of the room she's in and sniff around a bit and then go straight back into the room again... On the other hand she might run right out of the room and start playing in the living room...

Interesting Fact:
you know those stories about cats who travel MILES to get back to their own home? You know how it happens? Like this... Your cat judges it's world and it's place in the world by the way the sun travels over head. It's their point of reference so to speak. They have a very very good sense of direction and this helps them to find their way around in the wild...

So, if you take your cat to a new location, it will not be used to the sun appearing in the new position. It may, if it is SO troubled by the sun being in the wrong place travel... the purpose of the travelling is to correct the position of the sun... so your cat by daily trial and error will keep travelling until the sun appears in the correct position... Now by the time the cat has returned the sun to where it ought to be, it is already in territory that it will recognise, and will thus be able to find by way of smell or sounds it's old home...

So it has very little to do with the cat returning to the house... it's just putting the sun back where it ought to be...
This is why they say you shouldn't let your cat roam after moving...

This theory only applies when there is a huge displacement of the sun, if it's marginal it's unlikely that you cat will register the change... some cats may register the change but just not be bothered

700! Well Whaddaya Know!...

Congrats Yzma!

My cats are strictly indoor. So I don't know how much they are bothered by the sun...

Now the only trouble will be deciding on a place to keep them. The new place is smaller than the present one. The master bedroom is as big as my queen size bed. so I don't know if it would be very good to keep them in there for too long ... other than that there is the entranceway which holds the bathroom and the bedroom. Then there is a door into the living room which I can block off. It's a bigger area, so maybe I'll keep her in the bedroom for half a day - then open her up to the entranceway area, then eventually the kitchen and living room (which is just one long room).

Sound good? I hope it works for her. She is getting up there in age. I'm not too worried about Roo, cause he's fairly young...but he'll get the same treatment as Tigger, just so that he doesn't get any strange smells on him.

Tamme, smaller spaces actually feel more secure to a cat. When we moved last, we had the bedroom and attached bathroom and walk-in closet open to the cats. Ophelia decided on her own to stay in the walk-in closet, hiding inside a small box with her blanket over top of her for almost 2 days. We brought in food and water and litterbox for her and I waited to fill up the closet until she was more comfortable. By the time she came out, Trent had already explored the whole place, but we did keep him confined for a day in the bedroom too. The doors were open for her at that point, but she still didn't come out of the bedroom area for another day.

Besides the food, water, litter and toys, be sure that Tigger and Roo have places they can hide and feel secure in in their safe room. Bring in things that already have their smells on them - like Ophelia's blanket that she hid under.

Aww good luck Tamme!! Poor babies

Thanks guys, you are all so much help!

Hi

You could try a couple of Feliway diffusers around the place - might help calm them. Hope they settle down soon.

Cheers.

I thought Feliway was for preventing marking territory...but I looked it up and it's supposed to calm animals too.

Do you think I could find it in a pet store??

Petco is supposed to carry it. I got mine online for cheap and it came in 3 days.