Worry-wart & Moving, don't mix!

talon

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This week I am moving to another state, I will be driving a car with 3 cats, my husband will be driving the station wagon with 11 birds - 4.5 hours. We have everything planned (we think!) down to first aid kit, food, and water from home - plus who goes where in which car. I know logically that everything will be fine.... Yet I still worry!


I worry about the stress on my babies, not only being in the car, but living in a new house, with new things to get used to and new smells. 1 of the cats is afriad of just about everything outside. The house is her safe haven, and this week I am taking that away from her! The birds, well, they don't take change very well either (except one oddball!).

Planning this move has brought me to tears, panic attacks and just plain worry. I had thought it was because I was afraid that it could not be pulled off with much ease - but it has been easier than I imagine (probably because I imagined the worst!) Now it comes down to the last few days - and it is now really about my 3 furry and 11 feathers kids. How are they going to handle their world being uprooted???


I've heard of feliway - can't use it, the birds respitory systems are very delicate and I don't chance oils, etc in the air for fear of harming their lungs. I beleive we will just have to get through this will love and understanding. But I am still worried!

I don't talk with my friends about this, they wouldn't understand - but I knew you guys and gals would.
 

hissy

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Just be sure that when you get where you are going, you put the cats in a secured room with clothing that holds your scent on it to calm them down. Make sure the door is shut securely and when you finally do let them out, let them out in degrees and not all at once so they can get used to the new house in stages.

Good luck
 

spotz

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I would start with the cats in one room, and then let them expand out from there. If that makes sense.

Give them plenty of places to hide, but don't seperate them that way there is still some semblance of stability. Spend lots of time with them, and just see how they respond.

They may be absolutely fine, and they may take a while.

It sounds like you have everything in order, and the more friendly the environment is initially the easier it will be for them.

Wishing you the best of luck and I hope you will keep us posted.

Spotz
 

uncle fester

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Hey, as long as you get there, the pets get there and the furniture get's there, everything and everyone in one piece (Or easily re-assembled), it's all good to go!

I use to move household goods for a major van line and we had one guy running a lady's move who really messed up.

She had a dining room table that had been in her family since the dawn of time. He dis-assembled it and put the screws that held the legs in place back into their holes, but he cranked them down flush with the bottom of the table.
The result was the tips of the screws came right through the finish of the top of this table and when I arrived to "take over", this poor woman was livid, understandably so. Tears of sorrow, rage and anguish were the order of the day.
As luck would have it, I happened to know a furniture repair guy who actually made house calls, so I called him up and told him that I needed his help-NOW!
He came out and looked at the table. Just like the old black guy in "Doc Hollywood", he said, "I can fix dat!" and by the time he left, you'd have never known the screws went through the table's finish except under very close inspection.

The moral of the story is, not every disaster is beyond recovery and not everything that can go wrong will.
Stay tough and things will work out.
 

sweets

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What about one of the flower essences talked about here? I think they're by Bach or Brach? You drop some in their water, not sprayed in the air, which wouldn't affect your birds' lungs. If you keep the cats in 1 room and the birds in another, would you then be able to spray Feliway??
 

pamela

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I recently moved into a new apt about 2 weeks ago with 4 cats- it was on April 28th (Wednesday). What I did was put all 4 cats in carriers before people came to help with the move and kept all 4 in carriers in the bathroom until the uhaul truck was all full then I took them in my car and drove over to the new apt.

Once I got to the new apt, I put them in the bathroom (still in carriers) to wait until I got all bedroom furniture into the bedroom. After that, I took all 4 cats into the bedroom, closed the door, slowly opened the carrier doors then sat a bit away. Spike started to come out, looked up and immediately saw the fan which FREAKED him out. He immediately went back into the carrier. I didn't realize that the fan would scare them but it made sense cuz they have never seen a fan before in their life. (Be aware of new things in ur new home that might scare the cats such as a ceiling fan if u didn't have a fan in ur former home)

I decided to leave them alone in the room with the door closed while I finished the move with the feliway plug plugged in.. After everyone left, I went into the room, laid down on the floor and talked to the cats. 3 were hiding under the bed while the 4th (spike) was under the dresser. After a few hours of talking, Zebra and Pepper came out for SHORT periods of time to check the bedroom out.

Thurs, I stayed home, Zebra and Pepper came out again for short periods of times. Buddy finally came out Thurs nite and was ALLLLL OVER ME. He practically glued himself to either my lap or back. Spike REFUSED to eat or drink.. Fri EARLY in the morning (3 or 4 am), I felt a cat walking around on my bed so I reached out to pet and as I petted the cat, I realized it was Spike who FINALLY came out!!

Fri afternoon, Spike finally ate and finally came out of the bedroom. (I was getting ready to take Spike to the vet when he finally ate! It has been almost 2 weeks now and all 4 will play and explore the apt. The other night, all 4 were chasing each other all over the apartment! That was a very good sign for me..

Whenever I leave, Zebra and Pepper goes into hiding under the bed and will only come out when I arrive home and kneel by the bed and call them out. I think they are still adjusting to all the noises of living in an apt complex..

I think u'll be fine if u prepare in advance and be prepared for behavior changes for the next couple weeks.. AFter a while, they will get settled in.

I know how hard it is!! I kept crying the first week cuz I felt awful seeing them hiding like that but we can't avoid it.. HANG in there. Spend time with them. Be sure to get their favorite things out immediately so they'll have familiar smells/items around..

Keep us posted!
 

big kat

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I hear ya! I just moved last week with one great dane, one cat, and two rabbits. We only had a 2 hour drive, but when we showed up to the new house it wasn't ready for us due to a mix-up (can you believe that?!?!) so we had to drive right back the whole 2 hours without letting the cat or rabbits out of their carriers. Then had to sleep with all of them in an empty house and do the drive again the next day! It sucked and I could tell the animals were fairly stressed but everyone got their own room in the new house with food and water and a hiding place, and I shut the doors and put up signs saying do not enter and had the movers put everything in the common areas so as not to disturb the animals. Then later when the house was quiet we started letting everyone out, though Pepper (my cat) only got the one room until the following day. By the first evening they were all much calmer and acting normally.

It is stressful but as long as you have it very organized and planned out it should be ok. Good luck!!!!
 
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talon

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I will look into the flower essences, I beleive I have seen those at the health food store. I thought I had it planned, but now I am coming up with questions!!?

Pamela, how many carriers did you have your 4 cats in?

All, while they are in their carriers, what did you do about a litter box? With a 4.5 hour drive, I -KNOW- someone is going to have to go! After Max's last trip to the vet where he peed and pooed all overhimself in the carrier - you would have thought I would have already had this down! Ack!

Ideas, please!
 

pamela

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I put one cat in each carrier so I had 4 carriers. The cats were in the carriers from 3:30 pm to 8:30 pm and none of them peed or pooped. I think they were too scared to think about that. I also put a special linen made specifically for pet accidents in the carriers so if they DID pee/poop, I could just wash it. (I believe u can get it at petsmart or petco- one or two came with the carriers I bought- not plastic carriers)I know some people put an open diaper in the carrier so it'd absorb accidents.

I hate to say this but if I was u, I wouldn't worry about the litterbox in the car cuz I wouldn't want to worry about cats escaping car if I let them out of the carriers to use the litter box. I'd prefer cleaning them off than grieving over them if they DID escape from the car and disappear.

I'm sorry I can't be of more help regarding litterbox in the car. I'm sure others will have some helpful hints.

Hang in there!!
Pamela

Originally Posted by Talon

I will look into the flower essences, I beleive I have seen those at the health food store. I thought I had it planned, but now I am coming up with questions!!?

Pamela, how many carriers did you have your 4 cats in?

All, while they are in their carriers, what did you do about a litter box? With a 4.5 hour drive, I -KNOW- someone is going to have to go! After Max's last trip to the vet where he peed and pooed all overhimself in the carrier - you would have thought I would have already had this down! Ack!

Ideas, please!
 
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talon

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Thanks for the reply, I will look at petsmart for those pads -and if I can't find them, I will get some disposable diapers.

I can see it now:

Salesclerk: "How old is your baby?"
Me: "1,2 and 3 - but I am worried about it sticking the their fur"
 

pamela

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Originally Posted by Talon

Thanks for the reply, I will look at petsmart for those pads -and if I can't find them, I will get some disposable diapers.

I can see it now:

Salesclerk: "How old is your baby?"
Me: "1,2 and 3 - but I am worried about it sticking the their fur"
HAHA! Laughed out loud
when I read that last sentence!!

What I'd do with the diaper is put it in the carrier, get the tape part (I'm not familiar with terms related to diapers since I don't have any human kids) taped to the inside of the carrier so the tape won't stick to the fur. Another idea is to cut off the tape part..

One problem is how will the diaper stay flat in the carrier. U might have to play with that. I'd be interested to hear the results of this experiment since my goal is to move to Utah in the next year or so so it'll be a LONG trip for my POOR babies..


I'll be thinking of u!! When is ur move?
 
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talon

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My move is this Friday! Ack!
 
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