Moving with my OAP cat

Hey all. I have 3 cats - one of which is senior. She is almost 17 and was my Grandmothers cat who sadly past away 18 months ago and Tara came to us. While she has been living a good life with us, she doesnt get along very well with our 2 other cats, its not overly bad but they arent best friends. In a few weeks we will be moving home and the journey will be around 3 hours. I worry about her stress levels during the car journey as there will be 2 other cats in the same car no doubt crying and stressing each other out. Can anyone recommend any calming products or remedies apart from Feliway as that doesnt seem to work for my cats and Zykelene doesnt seem to be all that good? Should I make stops during the journey for any reason? What about when we get in the house? How can I make the house better to my cats as quickly as possible? Unfortunately, this move is unavoidable and I hate putting any of my cats through it, never mind my old girl Tara. Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated.

Bless you for taking in this senior girl! so often you hear about them in shelters, so I'm so happy she had you to take her.

We just moved with our three...who do not deal well with change. It was an hour and a half trip with them all in the same car. A few things we found really helped:

1. Cover the carriers with a light-weight cloth, so they don't have to constantly see all of the stressful things they can see in the car.

2. Put a favorite blanket or some dirty laundry with familiar scents on it in the carrier with them and keep it around for a bit in the new house - we had a big blue towel that the cats had slept on in the hamper before we moved, so we didn't wash it and brought it with with all of their familiar smells on it. They dragged around the living room for the first month we were here and would lay with it when they felt uneasy - I think it's just something familiar for them.

3. Keep them in a small area for the first little while - a few hours to a few days depending on the stress levels. As you mention she doesn't get along so well with the others, maybe give her a separate space of her own for the first day or so.

These all worked well with my guys. I found they calmed down and settled in within a week. You mention stopping - unless you know it will be at a place where the cats can safely come out of their carriers, I wouldn't stop anymore than absolutely necessary. I know others here have also moved with cats, though, and I'm sure they'll have more suggestions.

Good luck!

Thank you so much for your reply. There was never any question of her going to a shelter, she is our family and we have always loved her dearly and she is very happy and spoiled lol

Thank you for your tips, they sound great and will certainly try them. Tara has her own blanket that she sleeps on so will use that, not sure what I can use for our other cats but will think of something lol I didnt want to make stops but worry about fresh air and them soiling themselves but I guess the best thing would be just to get there. Thanks again xxx

You might want to take a short break for yourself if you're driving alone, but there's no reason to stop for the cats on a 3-hour drive. I go to cat shows several times a year that are 4+ hours away. Anything under 6 hours I don't let the kitties out of the carriers. Even when I let them out on longer trips they might drink some water but usually ignore the litter box.

Thanks for your reply. I will be traveling with 3 other people who will be looking after a cat each lol I wont let them out of the carrier until we get inside the house and they are in a separate room. Thanks again

LadyVesuvius said:

 
Hey all. I have 3 cats - one of which is senior. She is almost 17 and was my Grandmothers cat who sadly past away 18 months ago and Tara came to us. While she has been living a good life with us, she doesnt get along very well with our 2 other cats, its not overly bad but they arent best friends. In a few weeks we will be moving home and the journey will be around 3 hours. I worry about her stress levels during the car journey as there will be 2 other cats in the same car no doubt crying and stressing each other out. Can anyone recommend any calming products or remedies apart from Feliway as that doesnt seem to work for my cats and Zykelene doesnt seem to be all that good? Should I make stops during the journey for any reason? What about when we get in the house? How can I make the house better to my cats as quickly as possible? Unfortunately, this move is unavoidable and I hate putting any of my cats through it, never mind my old girl Tara. Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated.

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when i moved my cats, a 12 hour drive, i kept them both in their carriers the whole time. some precautions i took -- made sure both my cats were wearing collars with tags that had my contact info on them, never opened the carrier doors without first having locked all the car doors from inside (so my sister didn't come back and open the car door while either of my cats could potentially zip out of the car), brought bottled water and travel water dishes for both cats, and bought disposable puppy pads (in case either cat had to pee/poop on the journey, they'd be easy to replace with fresh pads).

when we got to our new location, both cats stayed in their carriers in a quiet room at my brother's house while the moving van was unloaded and i started setting everything up. by the time my two cats got over to our new apartment, i had the furniture set up, their food/water and litter box set up, and all the unpacked boxes in one room with the door closed. i found that both cats were much less stressed by me having much of the furniture placed and no noises from movers or other unfamiliar people around.

we've moved three times since then. we're currently in a house that i bought for us -- so i don't plan for us to move again. for these three moves, i unpacked and set up everything in the first 3-4 days. all the packing boxes were unpacked and flattened, and set out for the trash people to pick up. i found that once everything is unpacked and set up, my cats would then start to settle in and get used to having a routine once again -- it was easier for them.

Thanks for your reply. 2 of my cats have actually pee'd themselves during short journeys to the vets so the puppy pads are a great idea. Will have to try and put them in a very quiet place while unpacking, I have no family where I am moving so cant leave them at someones house :/ will have to get my thinking cap on lol Thank so much for your advice!