Moving across town with a nervous rescue cat

Starting this thread as kind of a diary and a place to ask for advice while my family moves into a new place across town.

Here are the basics of the story:

We have one cat, a three-year-old Maine Coon who came to live with us after being rescued from abuse/near death

He's been living with us since September

Regent is very sociable with humans, but he is extremely afraid of the outdoors, and he will become hostile toward any cat he sees outside

Our household is me, DH, and his mother. Regent almost always has one person home with him.

We currently live in a two-story house, and Regent has free access to every room

Our landlord recently gave us a notice that we have to leave the house

We've chosen an apartment across town. We're going there Saturday to sign the lease. It has no stairs inside, but it's basically the same amount of space.

So that's about it! I don't want Regent's anxiety to be a problem during/after the move. If you guys have any tips or advice, I'd love to hear it.

My cats hate the cat carrier when it comes to the vet, but they love it as a hiding spot. I leave it out with their favorite fleece blanket in it and they get in it when something new or strange is happening. I also have a spare room I can put them in when there is any hustle and bustle that may upset them.

I also bought a little tent made for a small dog, but only my littlest cat fits in it.  I do not know what dog they were selling it for, but my 14.5 lb cat definitely can not fit in it, although he tried really hard.

Regent is too big to play in a carrier! We bought a big one intended for a dog, and it's just big enough to comfortably carry Regent. We leave it sitting around and put some catnip in it a few times. He is definitely not afraid of it, but he never goes inside.

Our plan on moving day is to have MIL go with him to the new place with his food dish, litter, toys, etc while the movers are loading up. That will give him about an hour to explore the new place in silence with someone he knows. Then when the movers arrive he can stay in the bathroom for an hour. MIL is willing to sit with him in the bathroom.

Good idea. One of mine retreats to the top perch on his cat tree when he is scared.  I have only moved when we had a dog. They just don't care. My food is here, I have a fenced yard and my people are here, all good. My cats are nervous Nellies and one little thing out of place or any change in schedule and they are all thrown off.

The schedule thing bothers Regent more than moved furniture! We started packing this weekend, removing paintings from the walls, etc, and he was very brave. He would back away/hide for a few minutes, but then his curiosity kicked in, and he walked right up to sniff the boxes.

But let one of us be an hour late coming home from work, and he pouts like a child!

Mine too! My husband and I both work close to home so we come home for lunch everyday. They are all waiting by the back door.

I have one that does not like misplaced items.  My husband put up a cat shelf, which she loved! He left the level laying on the living room floor, she stalked it like prey.

I read somewhere some advice about keeping your cat in one room with its things so it has one place to get used to before letting it explore the whole house/apartment which might be overwhelming. Sort of like bringing a new cat home for he first time. I have never moved with pets so I have no personal advice to give.

Hi Cgillo, thanks for the thought. We will definitely take Regent straight to the bathroom and then leave it up to him how much he wants to explore. If he stays in one spot, okay. If he is keen on exploring, okay. The good thing about him being there before the furniture is he won't be able to hide under the bed.

Kitty, sometimes when he is acting weird we have to stop and think about what might be throwing him off!

Well it didn't take long for the first problem to arise! I seem to have pulled a muscle in my back when we emptied the book shelf last weekend. I've spent all day limping around. I have a doctor appointment in the morning.

Meanwhile, Regent can tell I don't feel good, so he sat on the couch next to me all evening. But in typical cat style it turned into him feeling sorry for himself because my sickness meant no play time.

I wish you better and a successful move.
I'm waiting to hear more.

Yesterday we signed the lease and got the keys to the new place. We then took MIL back home to stay with Regent while DH and I started moving in preliminary boxes. It did help Regent's anxiety; he was well behaved in the evening. But, this is taking a lot of our time, so we haven't been able to play with him, and he definitely misses it. He's becoming more assertive to jump on the bed and walk overtop of us with loud meows looking for attention at 3:00 in the morning. And every morning, he increasingly tries to block me from leaving.

I'm taking Tuesday off work for a doctor's appointment, so I plan to spend the afternoon at home relaxing. Hoping to get some quality time with him then.