Moving across the country with feral cat

Hello. I have been living in my apartment in southern California for the past 6 years. 3 years ago my daughters and I began taking care of a feral cat colony. There was 4 or 5 of them. Most of them have disappeared, but one of them stuck around with us. She likes to come in and out whenever she pleases. We feed her and love her. Sometimes she stays all night, sometimes she doesn't. We are now having to move to Tennessee due to financial struggles. We want to take her with us, because she is part of our family. We are worried because she enjoys going outside so much. We don't want her to run away when we get there. And we are worried because of the extreme difference in climate. Here in southern California it's 65 degrees day and night and she can live outside 23 hours of the day. In Tennessee it's hot during the day and really cold at night. And it snows.

We are worried that if she gets out, she may run away and then she would be outside and could get hurt or stuck in the rain or snow. Does anyone have any suggestions or ideas of how we can take her with us, and keep her happy. How can we help her adjust to being an inside cat? Will she ever be happy if we keep her inside? We don't want to put her through a big traumatic thing like the move, and find that she will never be happy. We love her so much, and just can't imagine not having her with us.

She is tame to a point. She will never be a lap kitty, but she does like to cuddle next to us if we are sitting on the couch, or laying in our beds. We can pick her up and carry her inside. We realize that we will have to make her a completely inside cat for this move. Any suggestions, ideas, or thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Stephanie

I think it is so wonderful of you and your daughter to want to take her with you. I don't have any expert advice but I am sure others will be glad to offer you some.

It will be very important to keep her indoors. I moved a feral a few years ago, not far, about 5 miles. He was outdoors in his first place but we brought him inside when we moved him.

He managed to get outside and it took a week, but he went back to his original place. I brought him back again and not two days later he escaped again, was hit by a car and ran away. But five days later, he was back in his original place again, only bruised.

Needless to say, I brought him home and he has been very happy inside. He never attempts to go near the door. I was so frantic when he was missing, but I thought he would never adjust to living indoors. I am so grateful I got him back, and he is very happy.

I hope all works out for you, please keep posting.

Aw, what wonderful work you've done! I'm so sorry for your troubles - too many of us have experienced the same. (My DH and I moved back into our RV, giving up the rental house).

I'd bring her with you. Cats are attached to their territories, and whatever happens to her, she'd have to have a new territory - you can't just leave her behind without care.

You will be able to allow her outside - but only after being confined inside for at least a month or 6 weeks. She may not be happy about being confined, and it's a great idea to set up stacked baby gates on each other in the frame of the door that will be kept closed to whatever room you choose to put her... but once she's been confined and fed and cared for that long with you, she shouldn't run away when let out to explore.

Of course, she may settle down after being inside that long, and you may not have to let her out at all.

Welcome to TCS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I think you are wonderful caring for this cat and loving this cat so much. I am sorry about your situation, you are not alone, this economy has hit many. . I agree that you cannot leave her behind. She is your cat now and rely's solely on you for food and comfort. She will definitely need to be confined inside of the new house in her own room or a very, very large cat enclosure for at least a month or two. And if you do want her to live outside, I would use a harness in the beginning only. Then back inside to her room. She could happily become an indoor kitty though. You could at least try it in the beginning and see how she adapts. Most cats brought indoors from the outdoors do adjust beautifully, especially if you develop a routine and schedule for her. Including lots of playtime and vertical spaces for her to climb, jump and play. Best of luck to you and your upcoming move. About a week before you move, I would keep this kitty inside the house safely and start preparing her for her new adventure and indoor life.

Thank you all for your kind words and input. I couldn't imagine going anywhere without her. I just keep hoping she will be happy. Being an outside cat probably all of her life, and she's at least 9 years old, I don't want to make any moment of her life unhappy. It seems like from what you have all said, that she will be able to be happy in our new home. Any suggestions on making the transition easier for her or ideas to help her adjust are greatly appreciated. Her happiness is really important to us.

Also, any recommendations for the ride? It is about 2,200 miles from here to our new home. We will have a large animal carrier. But any ideas on what would make it not so stressful for her? It will take about 3 days to drive.

Thank you, again. We really do appreciate all your help.

Stephanie

Here's an article on moving with outdoor cats (and the author has extensive experience with ferals). Assuming you won't be sleeping in the car, it seems it might be better to travel with a smaller carrier, and let her into the large crate at night. I also think there are several members that made long car trips with their cats. I'll see if I can find travel tip related threads here for you.

http://www.felinexpress.com/stray-fe...tdoor-cats.asp

Found an excellent thread for you: http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...ght=car+travel

On second thought... even though the article recommends a smaller carrier, I'm thinking that because this will be a completely scary experience for her anyway, the less cage/crate door opening there is, the better. I know you'll have to take care of food, water, and give her a chance to use the litter. Does she use a litter box in your home? If not, I HIGHLY recommend using Dr. Elsey's Precious Cat CAT ATTRACT litter. It IS expensive, but will help her transition.

And I do highly recommend lining the crate with several layers of those doggie wee wee pads (a recommendation in the thread link). Whenever we take Sheldon to the vet, he evacuates out of every orifice within the first five minutes of the drive. It is SO convenient to pull over, pull out the wee wee pad, toss it in a plastic bag, and he's got a clean crate. But like one of the posters mentions, if you do have to do this, make sure ALL windows and doors are closed.

You may also want to consider some Rescue Remedy (flower essences). I didn't see it mentioned in the thread. It may not help, but it cannot hurt. I'd dab a little around the crate. (This is not a product where more is better, just a few dabs in the corners will help if it's going to).

I have a cat who we believe is 7-8 years old and lived outside for most likely his first 5 years or so. He had been an owned cat at some point though and did well coming inside. He did however still want to go outside but with all the dangers and his medical conditions I wasn't willing to take the risk of letting him out. So we came to a compromise - he goes out on a leash. He wears his harness all the time and when he wants to go out I put him on a 30+ foot rope that is tied to the porch. He's okay with it. He's happy just laying on the pavement squirming (for some reason) and chasing bugs in the grass. A lot of the time he just lays around out there catching some sun. I do put him out by himself sometimes but I check on him through the window often. If I'm with him I untie the rope from the porch and let him roam around nearby. If he starts going too far there is a 30 foot rope I can step on to stop him. We don't have a yard anymore but when we did he mainly just walked around the yard.
This may not be a good long term solution for your kitty but it's something that can be done in the beginning if she gets cabin fever. Heck, it may even work long term.
If you do this it's important that the harness she wears fits snuggly. Cats can get out of their harnesses but it's much harder if it fits snuggly.

I would also highly recommend that you have her microchipped, if she isn't already, AND get her a safe collar with a tag that has your contact information in case she does take off. I'm a huge believer in keeping collars and tags on all cats at all times. If they get out, which can happen at any time for any cat, they will immediately be recognized as an owned cat and not a stray which I believe would make it more likely for someone to pick the cat up and find the owners. I also always include the words "I'm Lost, Please Call..." on the tag. This way any person that may come across the cat outside will know that this is a lost cat and not an outside cat going on a stroll and would be more likely to help the cat. Your cat is of course an outside cat but I would use the wording anyway since she's at risk for running away.
Microchips are great but they don't replace collars and tags in my opinion. The microchip isn't visible and it's only useful if someone picks the cat up and take it to a vet to be scanned. If people don't even know that the particular cat is an owned lost cat they are unlikely to do that.

Good luck!

When you bring her inside to prepare for the move, put a harness on her so she can begin getting used to it. During the trip keep the harness on her (if you are using the smaller carrier)and a leash attached (you can pull the leash out threw an opening in the carrier. Anytime the car door is opened and her carrier is open, someone needs to be holding that leash.

Good luck with the move. We may be making a similar move (TX to MN) next year and are worried how we will be able to do it with 5 cats and two dogs.

...and just in case you don't read the article to which I provided a link, the most important advice in it is trap her and bring her inside - whether in her crate or a safe room - BEFORE there's a lot of activity outside with cars or packing a van. The activity may scare her away, so make sure you contain her before her normal routine would be upset.