Moving Advice

Hi everyone! I am moving to the country in awhile, and I wanted to seek out everyone's advice. My cat, Neon, is very adventurous, and often deals with new places by disappearing for 24 hours . Does anyone have any tips that might make it easier and as stress-free as possible?

Hi @NeonTheBlackCat  Welcome to TCS.

One thing that you really must do is make sure that Neon doesn't go outside for at least a month. That's how long it takes for cats to accept a new place as their home and stop thinking about returning to their previous territory. If you let him go out earlier than this he will try to find his way back to your old place and you may never see him again.

The best way to make the move stress free for Neon is to keep him confined to one room for the first couple of days. Set up the room with his bed, toys, litter boxes etc and all the things that remind him of home. You could try getting a Felliway Diffuser. This is a plug-in that mimics the hormones mother cats give off when they are nursing kittens. It helps cats to stay calm.

Make sure you block off all the hiding places in his room so he can't get stuck anywhere. Lock the windows too as some cats are able to claw open sliding windows.

I'm sure that with time Neon will settle in to your new place. Just please don't let him out too early, even if he is usually an indoor-outdoor cat. 

Congrats on moving to a new place!   The only thing I can add to the above advice is that you might consider creating a place (that you know of so if something happens you know exactly  where your kitty is) for the cat to hide in. Some cats get anxious if they have nowhere to hide, and I don't know that a Feliway diffuser could help with that.

Hope you settle quickly into your new home. I agree with the above advice. Keeping Neon in for several weeks is so important. I moved twice with my cats and after a week or so I used to pick them up and show them the view from all the Windows with the hope that it would familiarize them with the surrounding area.

Good luck with your move!! I am moving out of my house into a new house also but I have 3 weeks in between in a hotel as my new home is delayed. Im worried about moving also as my savannah does not like change and hes funny in a lot of ways so Im so worried. Any advice would be great thank you everyone!!. I think once we get into new house the smells from out furniture and stuff will be familar, its the in between that really worries me.

Stunning looking cat.
Difficult problem for you. I can only suggest that you surround him in familiar things and smells when you are in the hotel. If he has a bed or something he sees as his might help.
Good luck with the move.

thank you. He does have a bed, but he doesnt really use it anymore. I have his toys and stuff and will take a blanket he likes to lay on. Just feel so terrible about this whole thing.

It might be easier than you think. He will have you as a constant. Wear some clothes and take them unwashed with you to the hotel and leave them around the room. That will give him comfort.

Thats a good idea. Thank you so much