So, my boyfriend and I found a much nicer, bigger house in a much better neighborhood to move into. It's less traffic for the strays/ferals and is right next door to one of our family members, who also has many cats. My biggest concern is relocating them.
The new house is 4 miles away from my old house. I have 11 cats that I will be relocating with me (not including all of the kittens i've rescued and am rehoming). Almost all of the cats are friendly and will let me pet them. I just need some advice on how to go about this. Do I keep them indoors for a certain amount of time to get used to smells? Should I take them in a carrier outdoors daily for a certain amount of time until I release them? I'm so worried they will try to make their way back to our old house. How can I make this relocation as easy on them as possible? Also, should I do it in groups of like, 4? Since some of the kitties get along with others better?
Also, since our family member has a lot of cats (both indoor and outdoor), should we try to adjust them to each other? Or just kind of see how they react... not too sure how to go about that all I know is that I don't want our kitties fighting. All are fixed.
There's also chickens behind us that I REALLY don't want my kitties torturing (I don't think theyll eat them, they're big chickens, I just dont want them scaring them, or problems with the neighbor.)
The new house is 4 miles away from my old house. I have 11 cats that I will be relocating with me (not including all of the kittens i've rescued and am rehoming). Almost all of the cats are friendly and will let me pet them. I just need some advice on how to go about this. Do I keep them indoors for a certain amount of time to get used to smells? Should I take them in a carrier outdoors daily for a certain amount of time until I release them? I'm so worried they will try to make their way back to our old house. How can I make this relocation as easy on them as possible? Also, should I do it in groups of like, 4? Since some of the kitties get along with others better?
Also, since our family member has a lot of cats (both indoor and outdoor), should we try to adjust them to each other? Or just kind of see how they react... not too sure how to go about that all I know is that I don't want our kitties fighting. All are fixed.
There's also chickens behind us that I REALLY don't want my kitties torturing (I don't think theyll eat them, they're big chickens, I just dont want them scaring them, or problems with the neighbor.)