Adventures in moving

That's a very nice setup you have for them.  I hope the transition goes well.    Thank you for bringing your feral babies with you. So many feed cats and then when they move, just abandon them which is sad, because they become used to knowing when they will be getting food, water and even some shelter.  The next people may not, actually, likely won't, provide any of that for them.

It never occurred to me not to bring them. I have been "advised" to put some down, leave the two outside guys, "get rid of them," etc. People are clueless.

Fed everyone this morning at 5 am. Apparently, only one was restless, so - so far, so good.

That looks amazing! You've done such a great job. Glad you hear you (and they) are sorta settling in.

@Ondine    My guess would be that it was Teresa who was restless. Maybe she has her reasons for not liking the other cats. 

I was wondering, though, how do you decide...who to let out first...to explore the area?

Do you let out the alpha Halsey....first, middle, or last? Does it make a difference?

Are most of the cats bonded with a favourite buddy?

(I don't want to put any pressure on you, deciding or answering or anything...I just kind of wondered if you just "go with the flow" and decide on whoever is awake

...or is there some sort of process to it.?)

Will await the updates...I'm just excited and impatient...I guess.  

I was thinking about that today.  Gracie, Josie and Alfred have all shown signs they want to come out, so at least they are curious.  Poor Chester hasn't eaten at all and just sits in the back of his carrier.  He seems so sad but he does give me blinkies when I talk to him.

I wanted to let them out in pairs - sister/brother Molly and Halsey, outside guys Schofield/Alfred, sister/brother Teresa and Chester and then Gracie and Josie, who like one another but are not really close.  None of the cats seems to have bonded or buddied with any of the others.  The inside guys have basically co-existed, although Chester does follow Halsey around sometimes.

But most of the time, they each do their own thing.  I am not going to let them out of the room until my furniture gets here and all that bru-haha is over with.  Of course, the next week, we are getting a new roof put on, so the poor cats are going to have to wait a bit for some peace and quiet.

I can only hope that once the dust settles, they will adjust slowly.  I do not care if they bond or not - as long as they can co-exist in the house, I'll be happy.

Oh - and Teresa is just a princess.  Chester is her brother and he would only spend ten minutes with her - usually to eat her food.  When we heard her fussing at him, we go let him out.  He would shoot out of that room like a bullet being fired from a gun!

I do not know who is going to be the most difficult but I know in time, they will all adjust.

Angels mommy said:

Yay! Thats great! Well, it sounds like you are taking care of things there.

Ok, Burlington, we are about 3 hours from eachother.

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Yes, I think so.  Maybe when the dust settles, we can plan a visit.

Ondine said:

 
I was thinking about that today.  Gracie, Josie and Alfred have all shown signs they want to come out, so at least they are curious.  Poor Chester hasn't eaten at all and just sits in the back of his carrier.  He seems so sad but he does give me blinkies when I talk to him.

I wanted to let them out in pairs - sister/brother Molly and Halsey, outside guys Schofield/Alfred, sister/brother Teresa and Chester and then Gracie and Josie, who like one another but are not really close.  None of the cats seems to have bonded or buddied with any of the others.  The inside guys have basically co-existed, although Chester does follow Halsey around sometimes.

But most of the time, they each do their own thing.  I am not going to let them out of the room until my furniture gets here and all that bru-haha is over with.  Of course, the next week, we are getting a new roof put on, so the poor cats are going to have to wait a bit for some peace and quiet.

I can only hope that once the dust settles, they will adjust slowly.  I do not care if they bond or not - as long as they can co-exist in the house, I'll be happy.

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Ondine said:

 
Oh - and Teresa is just a princess.  Chester is her brother and he would only spend ten minutes with her - usually to eat her food.  When we heard her fussing at him, we go let him out.  He would shoot out of that room like a bullet being fired from a gun!

I do not know who is going to be the most difficult but I know in time, they will all adjust.

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Yes, I think they will all adjust, too.

Interesting. I thought it would have been the indoor alpha...Halsey, that would have been raring to go, and trying to escape.

And for some reason, I thought you were going to let them out, in pairs, and let them explore, and then put them back into their crates.

But it sounds way better to wait for the furniture, and have everything in place.   I forgot, they would only be exploring empty rooms, until the furniture arrives.

 Plus, It also gives all the cats more time to spend smelling each other, hearing each other, and getting used to the new surroundings...in a more calm way.

Poor Chester, though. He does not sound like he's liking the new arrangement, yet.

Maybe you will have to tempt him with different food, or treats that he likes.

He might be the one, that needs one-on-one special time with you. Away from everyone else, if he does not start to eat.

Some major coaxing, and quiet time, with you.

It does not sound like he got the 'good end of the deal' with having to be around Teresa the princess, his sister, in the past.

(Unless, you could tempt Chester again, by giving Teresa a bowl of food, and then swapping it out, and giving it to Chester.

Maybe it's her smell, or the fact that it was her food, that he liked. Though, it was probably just the food. And he had to eat up...to get extra calories to run out of that room, from Teresa.)

Running that fast needed extra nutrients. Poor guy.

I feel slightly bad for Teresa...but if she's a diva...then that's hard to be around.

All the cats probably give her a wide avoidance area.

Here's hoping that Chester eats, and starts feeling better.

The rest of the cats sound okay, so I'm confident that they will all like their new place.

And you're right, co-existing is what is important. No one has to sleep next to each other, they just have to share the same territory-house, and respect each other.

Hi, just catching up. I've been having very slow compiter issues!
My phone is smaller, so not as easy to use, but better than the computer at this point.

So happy to read all seems to be going well. The space looks nice. Its a nice big sun room, the kitties should enjoy that!
Yes a visit sometime would be fun!

Keep up the good work! :bigthumb:

The furniture arrived today and the place looks like a warehouse!  I've changed out some crates and will finish tomorrow.  Everyone will have a bit more room.  I had to cram all seven cat trees in the sun room, though but I guess they'll come in handy once everyone is out and about.

Every room, every closet, every square foot of floor space holds boxes.  I am going to take my time opening them all and figuring out what to do with all this stuff.  This house is bigger but the rooms are smaller, so our furniture does not fit well.  I may be having a yard sale soon.

Ondine said:

 
The furniture arrived today and the place looks like a warehouse!  I've changed out some crates and will finish tomorrow.  Everyone will have a bit more room.  I had to cram all seven cat trees in the sun room, though but I guess they'll come in handy once everyone is out and about.

Every room, every closet, every square foot of floor space holds boxes.  I am going to take my time opening them all and figuring out what to do with all this stuff.  This house is bigger but the rooms are smaller, so our furniture does not fit well.  I may be having a yard sale soon.

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Hey Wait !!

I read 8 cats...So what's up with only 7 cat trees??

Who's the cat without a tree?  (I'm just being terribly mean...and totally joking @Ondine.  You are free to call me a 'turkey'. )

Having that many trees seems like a bonus. I would have figured that they would have shared tree space, or tree levels.

(except for Teresa).

But you know...based on that 'cats and boxes' thread...that I view over in fur pictures...I bet some of your cats will probably prefer some of those boxes, to hang out in.

How is Chester, doing?

Turkey! When Teresa had her own room, she didn't have a tree - more like a stump. Schofield and Alfred had tables but nothing cushy like they will now.

I actually left one at the NJ house. My husband is supposed to replace the carpeting on it and bring it his next visit. Not that we have space for it now!

If you still have the cages on the floor I was going to suggest banana boxes full of books or something to raise them up off the floor to look out those awesome windows.

8 cats! that's wonderful! I think they will figure out their pecking order-as long as you have hidey holes up top and below then it will work-each kitty will figure out their turf. And of course there will be hissy fits going on until it works itself out.

Great job with moving! and hoping for smooth sailing!

We had a day without any hissing today!  I took the covers off everyone's crates and let them see one another.  I thought for sure there would be a chorus of screams and howls but nope, they just looked at one another.

I let everyone but Schofield out - yesterday I had to net him to get him back in his crate, the little brat.

I am taking Molly to the vet's on Friday, though,  She's so sad and has stopped grooming.  She's also had some episodes of hacking, like she has a hairball but nothing results.  I don't want her to be really sick and I'm thinking its the move.

No hissing!  That's a good thing.  

That is a good day!! Good kitties!

I hope Molly feels better, & its nothing but a little move stress.
Do you have the feliway or comfort zone diffusefs plugged in?

Ondine said:

Turkey! When Teresa had her own room, she didn't have a tree - more like a stump. Schofield and Alfred had tables but nothing cushy like they will now.

I actually left one at the NJ house. My husband is supposed to replace the carpeting on it and bring it his next visit. Not that we have space for it now!

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 turkey.. . Teresa only had a "stump".    Well, no wonder she's a little miffed at the other cats, then. That doesn't seem fair.

But it was probably one of those nice, artistic stumps, that 'princess cats' would love. And she did have her own room, too.

Whew, okay...eight cats and eight trees...with one being on the repair "to-do" list.

Ondine said:

 
We had a day without any hissing today!  I took the covers off everyone's crates and let them see one another.  I thought for sure there would be a chorus of screams and howls but nope, they just looked at one another.

I let everyone but Schofield out - yesterday I had to net him to get him back in his crate, the little brat.

I am taking Molly to the vet's on Friday, though,  She's so sad and has stopped grooming.  She's also had some episodes of hacking, like she has a hairball but nothing results.  I don't want her to be really sick and I'm thinking its the move.

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Excellent !  (That 'taking off the covers' seemed a little like 'opening the curtains at phantom of the opera' ...so I'm glad that they all just looked at one another.

That's a pleasant surprise.

And glad that there was no 'chorus of screams, howls, or hisses.)

I thought the girls were doing well, so also hope that Molly gets to feeling better.

And hope that Molly's vet visit goes well, too.          

Oh joy!  The roofers are here and it sounds like Armageddon!  There are four men on the roof scraping off the old.  One man is covering all the windows with tarps to protect them.  Two days of this and the cats and I will all be bonkers!

Ondine said:

 
Oh joy!  The roofers are here and it sounds like Armageddon!  There are four men on the roof scraping off the old.  One man is covering all the windows with tarps to protect them.  Two days of this and the cats and I will all be bonkers!

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Yikes.

Do you like listening to soft country music on the radio?  Maybe some raindrop sounds, or ocean waves?

(When the roofers were here, my 4 cats all scrambled to the basement, and slept down there. I put on some soft music, thinking that might help to drown out the hammering.

Really not sure if it worked, since I figure my cats are more into rock and roll, country and dance...or maybe that is just me. But they did sleep.

And everything seemed to go back to normal when the roofers left for the day.)

The good news is - they will be finished tonight!  Then, quiet will descend on the house again and we can begin the real adjustments.

I do not have a TV or a radio and haven't been able to find the CD player, so music out unfortunately for the time being.  I am opening boxes one by one, so sooner or later, I will find it.