Cats adjusting to a new home

[algebrapro18]

Hey everyone,

My wife and i just moved to a new home in the St. Louis area and our cats have done a complete personality shift.  They are normally easy going and very well adjusted but since they've been in the new house they've been VERY skittish and have spent 90% of the time hiding in the basement. Normally this wouldn't bother me but we found out(thanks to one of our cats) that there is a cat accessible hole in the ceiling in the basement and I am worried sick that a) they will get stuck up there and not be able to get down or b) will fall and hurt themselves.  

We don't have any of our furniture in the house yet and had some deliveries made yesterday and Jewel, who is usually all over deliverymen(I swear she was a housewife from one of those tv shows in a previous life) spend the entire time in hiding.  We tried treats, wet food, even her favorite toys to try to get her to come out of hiding but she wouldn't budge.  My wife was eventually able to get her down(much to her hissing dismay) and we have the hole jury-riged shut until our landlord can come out and fix it but they still keep trying to hide elsewhere.

Any suggestions on how to make them feel comfortable in the new environment?  Will getting old furniture in the house help?  Our POD was delivered today and the moving truck will arrive tomorrow.  Do you think this is a result of going from old house to hotel(for about a month) to new house?  Is it just to much moving?  If so how do I help them snap out of this scared behavior.  

Our oldest cat seems to be handling it much better and pretty much in stride its our youngest cat, Jewel, that I"m the most worried about.  She's going to be 2 next year and this is our first move since getting her.  Tom's moved from Wisconsin to Chicago before so I think thats why he's taking it better.

Any advice/help would be appreciated.

 

[laralove]

Cats don't like travel or change. They're in a new environment and will need time to investigate and build a sense of safety. Once you have familiar objects in place, the transition will probably be easier. Just give them some time. 

 

[gfunk27]

Hopefully I can help, My wife and I moved from an apartment into a new home about 6 months ago. Our only cat at the time who was normally very friendly and outgoing, ended up hiding in the basement under a couch for about 3-4 days. We left his food, water, and litter box in that room for him so he would feel safe. Eventually he started venturing out slowly, and one day he just came and jumped on the couch with us! It definitely takes time, and I'm sure every cat is different. Let them explore on their own slowly. The moving process is very stressful - loud noises, no familiar scenery at all, etc. They should come around.

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

 
Hey everyone,

My wife and i just moved to a new home in the St. Louis area and our cats have done a complete personality shift.  They are normally easy going and very well adjusted but since they've been in the new house they've been VERY skittish and have spent 90% of the time hiding in the basement. Normally this wouldn't bother me but we found out(thanks to one of our cats) that there is a cat accessible hole in the ceiling in the basement and I am worried sick that a) they will get stuck up there and not be able to get down or b) will fall and hurt themselves.  

We don't have any of our furniture in the house yet and had some deliveries made yesterday and Jewel, who is usually all over deliverymen(I swear she was a housewife from one of those tv shows in a previous life) spend the entire time in hiding.  We tried treats, wet food, even her favorite toys to try to get her to come out of hiding but she wouldn't budge.  My wife was eventually able to get her down(much to her hissing dismay) and we have the hole jury-riged shut until our landlord can come out and fix it but they still keep trying to hide elsewhere.

Any suggestions on how to make them feel comfortable in the new environment?  Will getting old furniture in the house help?  Our POD was delivered today and the moving truck will arrive tomorrow.  Do you think this is a result of going from old house to hotel(for about a month) to new house?  Is it just to much moving?  If so how do I help them snap out of this scared behavior.  

Our oldest cat seems to be handling it much better and pretty much in stride its our youngest cat, Jewel, that I"m the most worried about.  She's going to be 2 next year and this is our first move since getting her.  Tom's moved from Wisconsin to Chicago before so I think thats why he's taking it better.

Any advice/help would be appreciated.

it might help jewel a lot to have one room set up for her as a "safe room". this room would have basic furniture, jewel's litter box, water and food dishes, and some cat toys. very importantly, there should also be clothing that you/your family has worn (but not washed yet) and something that tom has laid/slept on in there, so jewel has familiar scents with her.

keep the door to jewel's safe room closed to start off with, though you could let tom in/out as he wants. i think with cats it's many times much easier/less upsetting for them to just be able to hear movers/contractors/etc, instead of being able to see them too. i'd put both jewel and tom in the safe room while the movers are there.

let jewel start to feel comfortable in the one room first. then when she seems interested in doing a little exploring of more of your new home, let her do that but keep her safe room door open and let her go back to her "comfort zone" when she wants to. it's sometimes comforting to a cat if one of the people they feel most comfortable around walks with them while they explore. it can be very overwhelming for cats when we move to a new home. after a bit of time, you could start leaving jewel's safe room door slightly open, so she'll get used to hearing the normal goings on in your home and can come out to explore more and start to join you/your family.

 

[algebrapro18]

They are actually doing MUCH better today.  We got our dogs today and Jewel came right up to both of them and rubbed around both their necks.  And then tom came up to me for petting while both dogs were right there I couldn't believe it.  He HATES our black lab and tolerates our other dog but would prefer to be a cat only household so for him to not hiss or anything at the dogs and come over to me was HUGE.

We also started getting some our larger furniture into the house and so they were up stairs most of the afternoon exploring all their old stuff.  And since they came out of the ceiling we were able to seal things off so they can't keep hiding up there.  I don't mind them hiding under beds/couches but up high where they can fall is a no go.

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

 
They are actually doing MUCH better today.  We got our dogs today and Jewel came right up to both of them and rubbed around both their necks.  And then tom came up to me for petting while both dogs were right there I couldn't believe it.  He HATES our black lab and tolerates our other dog but would prefer to be a cat only household so for him to not hiss or anything at the dogs and come over to me was HUGE.

We also started getting some our larger furniture into the house and so they were up stairs most of the afternoon exploring all their old stuff.  And since they came out of the ceiling we were able to seal things off so they can't keep hiding up there.  I don't mind them hiding under beds/couches but up high where they can fall is a no go.

i'm so glad that jewel and tom are doing much better today!

 

[algebrapro18]

Yeah I was floored to see the change.  Unfortunately I couldn't stay and monitor the progress all night...had to work lol.

 

[laralove]

Glad things are normalizing for them!