Anxiety over moving with two cats

[BeccaT]

Me and my husband are expected to move into our very first home of our own at the end of this month! It's been stressful and exciting, and while he's been dealing with the financial side, I've been dealing with the logistical side of moving. One major concern of mine is moving with our cats.

I've done a bunch of research leading up to this. The plan is to move the cats belongings into one of the rooms in the new house, then move the cats together once all of their furniture is setup. This room will also have a window facing the front of the house so that they can see us when we're moving the rest of the furniture so hopefully that would make them realise they're not there alone. We'd stay with them for a bit to make sure they're settled and situated, then we'd start to move all of the other house furniture while they're in that room, but the priority was to make sure the cats were in the new house first considering there's nowhere safe for them in our old house to be while we're moving furniture. I also fully intend to set up a makeshift bed on the floor of that room if it turns out it'll take more than 1 day to move everything as I wouldn't be able to sleep at our old house knowing our two cats were in a new house alone.

Thankfully, the house is in the same town we live in now and is about a 10 minute drive at most, so I'm not concerned about the travel side of things. I believe I have the plan down (please tell me if anything should be changed) but I'm still so full of anxiety. I'm scared that they'll be scared, or that they won't adjust very well. I hate the idea of them being stuck in a single room for possibly several days as they already get upset when they're locked in a room in this house, but I'm also willing to stick to it seeing as the new house is much bigger and different to the one they both grew up in. At least one of our cats grew up from a kitten in the house we're in now, the other has been with us for almost a year and came to us as a 1 year old but she is also the most skittish one.

I'm not quite sure what I wanted to achieve by making this post other than maybe seeking reassurance and advice. Like I said, I believe I have the plan down enough just from researching what to do when moving cats into a new home, but the anxiety over the cats possibly not adjusting well to the new house overall won't leave me, and I'd love to be given any advice to make this transition easier for our babies.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi
Having them in their own safe room in the new house is excellent and really the only way to do this.

The more calm you are, the better off they'll be, and I'm thinking they will surprise you and do just fine.

Speaking of calm, add a couple of calming products and you, and they, should be golden, and congrats! Relax as much as you can, and enjoy the new place !

 

[jarn]

It's possible I've approached things wrong in the past, but as a renter I have a history of lots of moves (though we've been in our current place for 8 years and have no plans to move).

We've always just safely put the cats in their own space (either at the old/new place), and then move everything. Once things are moved and more 'normal', we let them out and they can explore. They seem comforted to be able to see us and explore with us around.
I've had more cats than I can remember (used to do special needs fosters/TNR/help run a rescue), and they all adjusted quickly.

Even Lear (RIP), our most recent semi-feral, just needed some quiet time at the new place and he was out and happy pretty fast. The last move move sucked for him though, poor guy, he hid in a cat box and we couldn't get him out. Since that last move we were just moving to a bigger unit in the same building, and we knew he wasn't coming out come heck or high water, despite our many attempts, we just walked down the hall, to the elevator, took it to our new floor and then walked to our new unit. But he'd done well with previous moves, and that move was done in pieces, I think he just got too suspicious so when we started moving furniture - we tried getting him into the bedroom, but he was also hard to catch and we didn't want to scare him/upset him more by chasing him around the apartment, so we left him in the cat box thing (one of those carpeted tree type round things with little cubbies). So I do think if you can get them somewhere safe and quiet prior to stuff getting moved around that's ideal.

 

[lollie]

Sounds like you’ve done lots of research, so you’ve probably already heard this, but make sure their scent is on the baseboards. Just rub a cloth around their heads, picking up their scent, a rub it along the baseboards of the room. Would still do this to the rest of the house when it’s time to let them loose, especially if you don’t know if other animals have lived there before.

 

[BeccaT]

Sounds like you’ve done lots of research, so you’ve probably already heard this, but make sure their scent is on the baseboards. Just rub a cloth around their heads, picking up their scent, a rub it along the baseboards of the room. Would still do this to the rest of the house when it’s time to let them loose, especially if you don’t know if other animals have lived there before.

I actually hadn't read about this! All that I'd read was mostly about giving them time to be in one room for maybe several days. This is super helpful though, thank you. Thankfully this house is a brand new construction so no other pets have lived there before, but it's definitely something I never thought about doing. I'll definitely be sure to mark the baseboards with their scents.

And thank you to everyone else whose responded so far. We'll likely make sure they're secluded to that one room until we're absolutely done moving everything in, so that they don't get spooked by moving large things around this new space. But after that we'll probably use our best judgement on whether we'll let them out to explore the first day or not. When we first adopted our second cat, she was so terrified that she hid under the new bed we'd bought for her and refused to move. She thankfully warmed up to us after she finally ate some of the food we gave her and was a completely different cat, so we think that was more to do with us being new people rather than a new home, but the new home likely didn't help. I'm just scared that she'll end up the same way, or both of them will.

 

[Furballsmom]

When we first adopted our second cat, she was so terrified that she hid under the new bed we'd bought for her and refused to move. She thankfully warmed up to us after she finally ate some of the food we gave her and was a completely different cat, so we think that was more to do with us being new people

Yes, definitely

 

[catloverfromwayback]

Best of luck with your move! Phoebe has been with me in my last two moves, and Daisy on the latest, both of which involved interstate flights, and the second one prolonged cattery stays because the removalists took twice as long as they said they would and Mum and I were stuck in a hotel waiting for our furniture. Phoebe was stressed - the cattery here wasn’t good, much too small and the cats could all see each other - but Daisy, who I’d only adopted a couple of weeks earlier, was quite calm. They adapted well to moving into this tiny unit, perhaps because we’e always so physically close. Sounds like you’re planning really well!

 

[Tobermory]

I've moved multiple times both locally and cross-country (U.S.) with two or three cats. They've always settled in quite quickly once we're in our new place because we're there with them and they're surrounded by familiar smells and furniture. The first day and night, they're cautious and hide, but by the second day, they really get into the unpacking!

The fact that you're moving locally is a big plus and will make it much easier on the cats. They'll be nervous, of course, but since you're moving their furniture in first, they'll have their own comforting smells around them. Two additional ideas: Make sure they have cave-like hiding places in their room. It can be as simple as a blanket thrown over a chair with a small opening to come and go. Or you could put a carrier at the back of a closet and close the closet door most of the way.

We moved the smaller stuff ourselves, but we had movers for the larger furniture on both ends of the move. I taped a large sign on the door of the room where the cats were that read, "CATS! Do NOT open the door!" I didn't want one of the movers opening the door by mistake, looking for more stuff to move.

I'm sure they'll be fine. Although we joke about them being creatures of habit and routine, they're actually pretty adaptable, especially when they're with their people!

 

[Neko-chan's mama]

I'd recommend leaving a worn shirt or a used bath towel in the room with them.

 

[ladytimedramon]

Thanks for this thread. I'm looking at moving apartments this summer. Neither of the girls have moved before. The apartment will be about 15 min or so from my current one. It will have 2 bedrooms, an improvement from 1, so I can at least have a place to put them while everything else is getting moved around.

 

[Alldara]

Congratulations!

As a renter I also moved a LOT with Nobel and Lily.

I always move the cats first and put them in a room with the door closed. Not the bathroom. A few times we had overlapping dates so we did move a few things over by car first.

I always play music during the move, and for at least 48 hours after. It stops them being jumpy at every sound. If a person can stay with them, they like that, but it's not necessary.

Try to set alarms to keep feeding on schedule.

Search the home for ANY dangers or places you don't want them to go before releasing them. If it's much larger than they are used to, consider a slow release over a week by using a gate to keep them sectioned if they are very nervous. You wouldn't want to find out there's a hole from the people who moved out, after your cat's already inside!

 

[Alldara]

Oh! If you don't have a room, a large crate that fits all their needs will do. Previously I borrowed one from my local Buy Nothing Group

 

[iPappy]

Congratulations on the new home!!!
When I moved with several cats, they were set up in a quiet room with all "their" stuff (boxes, familiar beds/blankets, toys, etc.) and that's where they stayed until they showed signs of being curious about what was on the other side of the door. They were then free to explore, but the door to "their" room was always left open in case they got spooked and needed to go back to a safe spot. They adjusted very well, I'm sure yours will too.

 

[egofailure]

I'm happy to have found this thread, as I'm planning a move from my apartment to my first-ever home in about 3-4 weeks. As corny as it might sound to some, my cat, Sasha, escalated my goal of home ownership. I wanted more space for her, as well as the ability to build a Catio, allowing her to get some outside time safely.

Sasha's a "solo cat" type of girl but likes to keep busy. I know that she'll absolutely love the lifestyle upgrade once she's settled, but I'd like the settling part to go as smoothly as possible.

Based on this thread, I seem to have a few things going my way.

1) The move is only about 35 minutes away.
2) It's a 3-bedroom home. Setting up a private room for her will be easy.
3) There will be overlap between my renting and first month of ownership. I'll likely close the first week or so of February, and then have the remainder of the month.

The day prior to the move, I can set up the room with her scent and preferred items. Then, the AM of the move, I can drive her over, set her up in the room, and post a "Do Not Open" sign on the door for those assisting with the move (delivery professionals). Later that day, after the move happens, I can add her scent to the rest of the house and consider giving her access to more space, based on how she's doing.

Sasha, like most (if not all) cats, loves routines. We play in the AM and PM, which includes treats being chased down the stairs and "couch hangouts." I think the sooner I can re-start those routines, the better.

Am I missing anything? Also, Becca, I'd love to hear how things worked out for your cats!

 

[DeesCats]

I haven't moved in years with my cats but I would suggest locking the door to the room your cat will be in as sometimes people you hire don't pay attention to the sign on the door.