moving to a new apartment

Originally Posted by macaroni

Alright, I am going to try this again.

Macaroni, my 13 year old cat, who has a tumor and is doing VERY well (he is very alert and on pills to shrink his tumor), will be moving with me at the end of this month. I would like to make the move very easy on him.

what can i do to ease this move? should i move all my stuff first? or let him scope out the palce first? he will mainly stay in my room, when i am gone, so he doesn't run out, but how many litter boxes should there be in a two bedroom apartment for one cat? all sugestions are welcome.

thanks,

Lauren

Click to expand...

I always move everything first, then my cats. You can also get some feliway spray to ease the stress!!

where can i find feliway spray.. do i spray the cat or the place? *giggles*

Originally Posted by macaroni

where can i find feliway spray.. do i spray the cat or the place? *giggles*

Click to expand...

You can get it at pet stores or your vet. You spray the cat carrier and the new place!!!

You should move your stuff, THEN your kitty. Make sure you move all of his stuff! Move his litter box AS-IS, meaning, if you haven't cleaned it for the day, wait until after you move. He'll DEFINITELY know it's his! For my cats, the litter box is a major comfort item when I've moved. Try keeping all of his stuff in one small, secluded area, and putting him down there when you first move him. Show him his stuff first, THEN let him scope out the rest of the apartment on his own time.

thanks Betty Ann.

I will make sure to do that!

I am also getting that spray. :-D

If you get the feliway, and you need it a little cheaper, try on www.amazon.comm or going to www.revivalanimal.com (Revival Animal sells through Amazon). They cost $$$s less than Petsmart or Petco ($25 compared to the $45 or 50 you pay at the store).

Also during your move, clear out a room, like a bathroom, closet or bedroom first. Place the litterbox, toys, food, water and the feliway in there. Shut the door so your poor kitty won't see the horror of his or her territory being taken apart.
Once everything is moved from the apartment, then take the cats.

For one cat and a two bedroom, it depends on the size of the two bedroom. If it isn't much larger than your 1 bdrm (i.e. only 100 sq ft more) you only need 1 litterbox. If its WAY bigger, such as you go from 650 sq ft to 1000 sq ft, you may consider getting too. I would test with the one though. If you find hes not getting the litter box in time, then you need 2.

See I'm going to go against the grain, and say move the kitty first, THEN your stuff.

I moved last year, and am moving again in a few days. I moved everything then Cassie. She was terrified, there were boxes everywhere, she was in a foreign element, and there were no hiding places.

Looking back, I should have given her own space for a few days, but when I move again, I am doing it right.

I will have my feliway diffusers in place before we move in. I will spray Feliway spray around in areas I will keep them in. I will set up a "base camp" with toys, food, water, litter boxes -- separate rooms for Cassie and Napoleon.

There is going to be so much activity, in either place, that it will be terrifying for both cats. I will move them in first, play with them, assist with the move, get some things in order, then allow them to explore.

I figure, it's the lesser of two evils. I'd want them to be comfortable in new surroundings without the chaos of moving out. That's just me talkin...just put her in a room with some of her familiar toys, maybe a sweatshirt that smells like you, food, water, litter box and leave her boy.

wow!! this is all great advice! thank you all soo much for you help! What i think that i am going to do is get that feliway stuff spray all around, and then move some of my things over (some clothes, tv, a chair or two, and some bathroom stuff).. so that it smells like me. and then move him over and give him some time to adjust. that way.. he knows its his space. I have a big walk in closet that i was going to make his room/ my closet. that way when we are moving in, i can close the door, he can play in there and he wont run out.

If you guys have any other tips, or things that i can do let me know! i love my kitty and want to do anything to make Macaroni Comfortable .

thanks again!
--Lauren

My best suggestion would be to move everything, get it as put-together as you can, have a space set up just for your Macaroni, and when you bring him in, set him in that space. I would start out with one litterbox, but if he starts protesting in the usual pee-or-poop-elsewhere cat fashion, get a second one. (Our Hobbes is picky as such...but his sister, Sunny, isn't.)

I would have something of yours (not freshly washed...something that smells like you) in his space so if he's not feeling up to much investigation, he knows right away you two share the space, and you haven't dropped him off in some stranger's home. Know what I mean?

A good suggestion, too, would be to (and this'll sound gross) save a couple droppings from his litterbox in a bag to put in it after the move. That way he knows beyond a doubt that it's HIS box, not someone else's. I don't normally suggest such drastic measures for such a thing, but in his age, he could use as little stress as possible.

Hope all that helps...and makes sense. Lol...

Originally Posted by lunasmom

Also during your move, clear out a room, like a bathroom, closet or bedroom first. Place the litterbox, toys, food, water and the feliway in there. Shut the door so your poor kitty won't see the horror of his or her territory being taken apart.
Once everything is moved from the apartment, then take the cats.

Click to expand...

Awesome advice...another good idea to reduce Macaroni's stress during the move. I hadn't thought of that one..

Originally Posted by blue_monday_88

See I'm going to go against the grain, and say move the kitty first, THEN your stuff.

I moved last year, and am moving again in a few days. I moved everything then Cassie. She was terrified, there were boxes everywhere, she was in a foreign element, and there were no hiding places.

Looking back, I should have given her own space for a few days, but when I move again, I am doing it right.

I will have my feliway diffusers in place before we move in. I will spray Feliway spray around in areas I will keep them in. I will set up a "base camp" with toys, food, water, litter boxes -- separate rooms for Cassie and Napoleon.

There is going to be so much activity, in either place, that it will be terrifying for both cats. I will move them in first, play with them, assist with the move, get some things in order, then allow them to explore.

I figure, it's the lesser of two evils. I'd want them to be comfortable in new surroundings without the chaos of moving out. That's just me talkin...just put her in a room with some of her familiar toys, maybe a sweatshirt that smells like you, food, water, litter box and leave her boy.

Click to expand...

The ONLY thing I would say against this is that cats are more terrified of the NOISES of things moving around. Young kittens and kitties can handle it, but I would worry about how much stress Macaroni is already in with his age, and the physical stress he's going through. Yes, he won't SEE what's going on, but all the big furniture-moving noises could reallllly stress him out.

Not to mention, what will you do with the furniture you need to move into HIS room, ya know?

I would say that your advice is sound for younger cats, but with a cat in Macaroni's situation, I would try it the reverse way.

I'm not trying to knock ya...I'm just putting the thought out there, ya know?

I just did this between units in my building. Funny enough, I had to take JoJo to the Vet the first morning. I knew full well I wouldn't be able to get her back into the kitty stroller anytime soon, so on the way home, I dropped her off at the new place. She was more freaked out by vet THEN strange place. When I managed to get Jack into the stroller later that day, I had a few things moved over, but not much. He was fine. he sniffed and rubbed every corner he could get to, which was the whole place. JoJo stayed in the bathroom.

You do whatever you feel is best. I had a ltter box, food, and water in the new place. They were fine. I'd say move them over there when you're ready to sleep there. It took me 7 days to move all my c***. but I slept in the new place the first night, primarily because of 'them.' They knew that by me sleeping there, it meant that we were home.

Amanda

I have moved 3 times in the last 1 1/2 yrs with my kitty and she has adapted very well. I tried to keep everything as normal as possible while packing and didnt touch Bella's stuff at all -- keeping boxes stacked in one area, things cleaned up, etc. (and this was hard in 650sq ft!). I only moved her stuff w/ the movers arrived. Before they got there, I moved everything of her's into the bathroom which I had completely emptied. She stayed in there w/ all of her stuff while the movers did their thing. Then I drove her and her stuff in my car and set up temporary camp in my new bathroom and left her in her carrier for about 30 min (Bella didnt want out anyway!), then let her out into the bathroom. Since its a small space AND all of her stuff was in there, she was comfortable w/in a few hours. The bathroom boxes were deposited outside the door and no movers were allowed in. Then later that night after I had set up all the furniture, got rid of most boxes, I let her out into the main area (all other small rooms closed for now). She explored but w/ the furniture all familiar and things somewhat settled, she was able to relax. I picked her up, and went on a tour -- here is the litterbox, food dishes, etc. and she was relaxed in no time. I think if you make them feel safe, they adapt well. I have done this 3 times and its worked out well every time.
Good Luck!

Originally Posted by maherwoman

The ONLY thing I would say against this is that cats are more terrified of the NOISES of things moving around. Young kittens and kitties can handle it, but I would worry about how much stress Macaroni is already in with his age, and the physical stress he's going through. Yes, he won't SEE what's going on, but all the big furniture-moving noises could reallllly stress him out.

Not to mention, what will you do with the furniture you need to move into HIS room, ya know?

I would say that your advice is sound for younger cats, but with a cat in Macaroni's situation, I would try it the reverse way.

I'm not trying to knock ya...I'm just putting the thought out there, ya know?

Click to expand...

No, agreed... In fact, my BF and I are trying to think of a good way to keep Cassie and Napoleon stress free. Napoleon won't have a problem, he's pretty much a whatever cat. Cassie on the other hand is a prima donna and will definitely let you know she's not happy!!! BF wants to take them to the groomers but I think that would be TOO much, ya know?

On the other hand, I think they are happy to get out of the apartment we're in...it's very dark and they almost seem excited that we are packing...truly weird...they can get to a place where there might be more birds to attack

they are also not kittens but not older than 10. So I think they are at a good age to be resilient. Anyway I figure there will be plenty of places to shelter them in my new apt, they will be fine...the place I'm in now...is not that great. We'd have to keep them in the same room and that's NOT HAPPENING WITH THEM LOL. The fur would fly!

Originally Posted by blue_monday_88

No, agreed...

In fact, my BF and I are trying to think of a good way to keep Cassie and Napoleon stress free. Napoleon won't have a problem, he's pretty much a whatever cat. Cassie on the other hand is a prima donna and will definitely let you know she's not happy!!! BF wants to take them to the groomers but I think that would be TOO much, ya know?

On the other hand, I think they are happy to get out of the apartment we're in...it's very dark and they almost seem excited that we are packing...truly weird...they can get to a place where there might be more birds to attack

they are also not kittens but not older than 10. So I think they are at a good age to be resilient. Anyway I figure there will be plenty of places to shelter them in my new apt, they will be fine...the place I'm in now...is not that great. We'd have to keep them in the same room and that's NOT HAPPENING WITH THEM LOL. The fur would fly!

Click to expand...

Oh, I'm so glad you didn't take offense to what I wrote. I was a little worried...it was the last thing I meant by what I wrote.

Anyway, yeah, when they're that young, they can handle so much more (though I think you're right about not taking them to the groomers, too).

It really depends on the cat, in the longrun. I mean, if you have a cat that doesn't really care, it should be fine to just bring 'em on in. But if you have a scardy cat, things have to be done differently.

For instance, our Sunny is very outgoing, and loves to be in the car, but when we move, she hides for a few days (and even when I tried to carry her around the house to get her more comfortable, hugging her close, she shook like a little leaf, poor thing) in a closet, or some such. Whereas Hobbes likes to really check the place out, but freaks out his carrier in the car on the way over. Funny how different each little one is, isn't it?

does that spray stuff really work? does it have cat scents in it? how does it work?

yes, macaroni is a very whatever cat.. when i was little i remember dressing him up in a little dress and feeding him warm milk out of a bottel. (he would purr and purr and purr!)... any one dressing up thier cat(s) for halloween?

Originally Posted by macaroni

does that spray stuff really work? does it have cat scents in it? how does it work?

yes, macaroni is a very whatever cat.. when i was little i remember dressing him up in a little dress and feeding him warm milk out of a bottel. (he would purr and purr and purr!)... any one dressing up thier cat(s) for halloween?

Click to expand...

HEEHEE!!! Cute!! I've never tried Halloween costumes with mine...never had the type that wouldn't mind. You lucked out with that one!!

Although, when I think about it, Sunny probably wouldn't mind...hmmmm...

I wonder what the FELIWAY spray does too....????? I mean does it have a smell to attract or deflect cats...or is it a nutrilzing smell???
Linda

macaroni is going to be a lady bug for halloween. and he doesn't seem to mind