Just moved. Cat is having a breakdown!

Hi... I am new here and hope you can help. I just moved to a new apt. on Sunday. Pudding is usually very high strung so I expected odd behavior from her to begin with. She slept in the closet for two days and now is up all night "howling" at the top of her lungs while running back and forth. My other two are fine so I thought she would adapt to their patterns. No luck. I personally haven't slept in two days because of this. I don't want to give her cat tranquelizers but I am afraid if this keeps up I will need to. Any advice?

Carolyn

Welcome to TCS!
Try confining her to one room with some familiar blankets and toys and maybe something of yours. Reassure her and bear with it. If she is still eating and drinking and using the tray then I say skip the tranquilisers and buy some earplugs for you.
There are also some calming plugin things - feliway I think they called, you may want to look into.
goodluck!!
Kim & Dax

Pudding sounds scared. No big surprise, though, since cats are not normally big fans of change, especially a huge change like moving to a new apartment. (The bigger surprise is that your other two kitties have adjusted so quickly - that's a break, at least!)

It's usually best to let your cat get used to one room at a time, so keep her confined in a room with her water dish, toys and litter box. The reason for this is so she won't feel so overwhelmed. Moving can be traumatic for humans, but at least we understand what's going on. All a cat knows is that suddenly, her whole environment has changed and everything that was familiar is gone. Hopefully, making her "world" small at first by keeping her in one room, with familiar objects and smells will help her become acclimated to the new apartment. Leave a radio on low with some soft music, spend time with her in the room as often as possible and try to stick to her old routine as much as you can. You might also want to try a Feliway Comfort Zone plug-in. It's a diffuser of cat pheromones which calms cats in stressful situations. You should be able to find it at one of the large pet supply stores like Petco or Petsmart.

Good luck, hope Pudding will feel calmer soon.

Thanks for the advice. Unfortunately, keeping her contained in one room will only driver her nuttier. She doesn't like that at all. She never did, even when she was a kitten. I will look for feliway though at Petco today. I do hope that will work. Thanks again!

She's just having trouble adapting to the new enviorment.

Try to make things as normal as possible. Try to make your new home look as simlar to your old home as possible. Place everything where it should be. Give her lots of attention, and try to calm her nerves. She should be fine in a few days.

I went through this recently with Dori, we just moved from our apartment to a new house. The apartment was the only place she had ever lived. I introduced her to areas of the house slowly and worked with her but she still had a really hard time adjusting. She quit eating though and as soon as she did that I went to Petsmart and bought the Feliway diffuser. I plugged it in my room where she sleeps with me at night and by morning she was eating again. She was still a little uneasy for another couple of days but then she really improved. The diffuser lasts for 4 to 6 weeks (I can't remember which) but I didn't have to buy a refill. I actually unplugged it a few days ago. She is well adjusted to the house now and doing well.

I'd say just give it a little more time. Pudding sounds like my Katie. We've moved several times in the 12 years I've had her and with every move (once she came out of hiding) she's spend a week or so wandering around making
the most pitiful noise I'd every heard. I'd go into a room and just find her sitting there, totally fine, but obviously missing her old home.

One thing that I would suggest that has not been mentioned is invest in a black light. Douse all your lights at midnight, cut out all sources of light coming in from outside and shine that black light around. My guess is, there are old pet stains in your carpet that might be driving her nutty. www.odordestroyer.com or www.urine-off.com carry great products that break down the enzymes in urine and get rid of even the oldest stain.

Thanks for the suggestions. I tried the Feliway Plug In last night and suffice to say I had 2 hrs of sleep again. Although, my male cat Taz loves the box. I think she may be seeing shadows from the courtyard out the window. We come from a quiet house to a noisy apt. bldg that faces another bldg. I am going to try nightlights in the bathroom and the hallway and I truly hope that works.

Carolyn

I just moved last week with Oscar. I brought him on a Thursday and he started eating on Sunday. He was hiding all day and wouldn't come out, eat or use the litterbox. Sunday night he started eating and Monday he was coming out and being his normal self. Before the move he had a lot of energy and I was concerned. But everything is normal now!
What I did was put him in the bathroom with his litterbox and dishes and a balnket from the old home with familiar scents on it for him to lay on. Shut the door and at night, would let him out. So instead of him hiding under the bed and not coming out, he wouoldn't have to be so scared. All cats react differently to changes like that. But I think your baby should be ok in a few days.

How is Pudding doing today?