We have a 10 year old cat. He is quite timid and home loving and HATES going in the car - trips to the vet are a complete nightmare. I'm worried that when we move house he will be severely traumatised. Has anyone got any advice to make the move less upsetting for him. Is it possible to get him sedated? We're only moving a couple of miles but it will still be a big deal to him.
My 10 year old cat is sufficiently stupid to take house moves in his stride (no brain = no fear) but I did have him sedated once for a 400 mile car journey. I wish I hadn't because he howled like a banshee all the way up to Cumbria and the sedative only kicked in once we arrived. On moving day is there a neighbour who will take your cat in and you can collect him once everything has been shipped into the new location? Then you can let him out in the new house for a good sniff around knowing that all doors are firmly closed and removal men are gone.
I helped my sis-in-law move about a month ago.. she'd only had her cat for a couple of months & he's very very timid (hid under the stairs for most of the ordeal)...
We tried to keep him in the house so that we could move him across to the new house asap... but there was a bit of a cock up (f-i-l was shouting about not being able to find the back door key, so I let go of the cat... but he actually meant the shed key.. so back door was wide open & cat ran out)...
He actually ran back to his old owners (about a mile away) and hid under the decking in their back garden for a day...
I think that most people suggest trying to keep your cats in one room.. then moving them into the new house as soon as possible - still keeping them in an isolated room (no coming & going) until all the moving is dealt with.
Good luck though, I don't envy you.
Bec
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I love the male body; it's better designed than the male mind. - Andrea Newman
We had our cat sedated as we were moving 70 miles away. It was a pretty routine thing, we just had to get her checked over at the vet beforehand to make sure she was healthy and also to weigh her. We packed her up and went to the in-laws while the packing was done. She just sat and stared for the whole journey. At the other end we shut her in one of the bedrooms while the removal men unpacked, once that was done, she was up and about immediately! She's rather a nervous cat too, and after a quick walk around the house to hiss at each room she registered her disgust by sulking upstairs. But after a couple of weeks she completely got over it and now she's happier than ever
Empty one room in your old house, put the cat, food and litter tray in the room and shut the door. If you can't lock the door, then put a sign on the door so that nobody lets the cat out by accident.
When everything is packed and the removal van has left, put the cat into the travelling basket and take to your new house.
Before you unload anything at your new house, put the cat, food and litter tray into the smallest bedroom and lock/shut the door as before.
The cat will miaow. She may scratch at the carpet to get out. She may just sit in the corner on her haunches, but she will be OK.
Only when the removal van has gone and you have shut the doors and windows, let the cat out and cuddle furiously.
This worked for our 16 year old cat when we moved. She howled all night for two nights, then settled in nicely.
Good luck!
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There are 10 types of people in this world, those that understand binary and those that don't.
When we have had to move animals I always follow the vet’s advice:
Place items of the cats (favourite toys, blankets etc) in a room in the NEW house, along with its food and, temporarily, its litter tray. Preferably you need to do this 24 hours before you move so the scent gets into the new room but a couple of hours while you move your stuff may have to do! You can also put an items of the cat around the house; the idea is to spread the scent around the cat’s new territory.
When you come to actually move, it’s best to move the cat without its knowledge. So either pay for a sedation (vets do this all the time on bonfire night) or put the cat in a covered cat box until you arrive and are inside your new house.
Once inside, leave the cat in its room with its scent for the day. It helps if the cat can see out of the window. At night, let the cat out but only in the house, allow him to explore the rest of the house.
Next day, let the cat outside but only if the cat wishes it, don’t force. Otherwise, leave him to his usual activities.
I would never sedate my cats (although it's tempting, they screech like hell in the car ). I would do as Jalpeno says. Alternatively if there is going to be disruption with packing things up, I would put them in a cattery for a few days either side of the move.
I would not let a cat go outside in a new location for at least a week, probably more. You need them to be bonded to and confident in the new house before they explore outdoors. That's what the animal welfare organisations advise.
I think they recommend that you keep your cat in for a fortnight after moving, but I must admit I've never been able to stand the plaintive wailing for more than seven days. So after my tolerance has been exceeded I allow the Giant Furry One to go out for a strictly supervised excursion, but he has to promise not to leave the garden first. Although he understands every word I say to him, he usually chooses to ignore them....
i have done exactly the same as Jalopeno when we moved our two cats from London to Reading last year. I have one rly stupid cat who doesn't know how to be scared and the other one was soooo timid she wouldn't even come over for a cuddle for more than a few seconds.
Obviously the silly one was fine and had his face stuck in everything the minute he was allowed out of the wee room. The other one on the other hand hid under a pillow in the corner of our room (flat against the floor) panting and sweating for 3 days before she venture around that one room... she didn't even eat which scared the life out of me. It took me 3 weeks to get her downstairs and another week for her to look around the garden.
It's never easy moving cats, esp. the timid ones (I've moved them 3 times now...) but the actual 'moving' part wasn't the bad part, its getting them to settle in that can be difficult so i didn't have the option of sedating her for 4 weeks! i just unpacked all her things first and was overly nice to her to coax her out.
... and if its any consolation, she's never been happier and has even started sitting on my lap!!
We moved 5 cats from Cheshire to the Hebrides, one of these is a very nervy oriental. We obtained some sedatives from the vets but a trial run at home had no effect. We were then advised to make the travel cage as familiar as possible so for a week before the cage was left set up with bedding etc. He actually slept in the cage for a night or too and the move ended up quite stressfree for him ( except for sea sickness on the ferry) Also the americans have pheramone sprays which de0stress cats allegedly may be on e-bay???
Now listen here, listen to me, don't you run away now I am a friend, I'd really like to play with you.
Feliway is really good - I used it round the house when we got a 'new' cat, to reassure the others. It would probably help to spray their travelling baskets with it too (I never remember to do that).
I have heard advice before that you should get the cat used to its travelling basket. But mine all head straight under the bed when the baskets are produced - they know it means vet/cattery, and I wonder if leaving the baskets casually lying around would make them forget that, it would probably just make them a constant bundle of nerves!
Susie you're right, they do recommend two weeks, but let's be honest, ain't going to happen for the reasons you say.
I would use rescue remedy (you can get this from any good health food store) EITHER put a few drops in water OR put a few drops on cats ears. Feliway is good too - and I would recommend the plug in for the new home.
The rescue remedy will relax and destress the cat - also, cover the cat carrier in the car so it is nice and dark.
I recently took a nervous cat to its new home 80 miles away. The cat had rescue remedy on its ears and was absolutely fine.
Good luck and try and keep your cat in for 2 weeks once you move
We got Feliway from the vet too but it didn't make a blind bit of difference. In fact we sprayed her basket with it and it's only just recently (8 months after the move) that she's started using it again!!
I have a 12 year old rescue cat, very nervous and timid. She has moved house 3 times in the last 2 years and has coped beautifully. I just move all the furniture and then bring her once it is all in place. Takes a while and she hid upstairs for 3 days only coming down at night to eat or when we brought her for a cuddle. Its always scary letting them out, ig she has lived in one placve a lng time i would say 2 weeks inside- or until she is really confortable. I kept mine in for 10 days and she's been fine. The only problem now is stopping the other cats in the nighbourhood coming in through the catflap....
The suggestions about putting the cat into an empty room while the rest of the house is packed up is a good one. But if your cat is nervous the noise may still upset him/her. We always book our cat into a cattery for the duration, that way we know he is safe and it is one less thing for us to worry about. He actually uses his pet carrier as his bed at night, so we have no problems getting him into it if we have to take him to the vet or the cattery.
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STILL A LONG WAY TO GO TO GET ANOTHER GOLD STAR!!!
Oh carol2 you are so lucky that your cat is on such friendly terms with his pet carrier. Mine catches the merest glimpse of it and starts tunnelling towards Australia. I can grab him and coax him into his 'transport' and will be able to see the tramlines in my carpet from his reluctant paws for many months thereafter. Once at the vee-ee-tee the despised carrier becomes a place of sanctuary as the Giant Furry One tries to squeeze his immense bulk back in through the tiny latticework front. Fat chance fat boy! But on the theme of the original thread, he's only bothered by the whole moving house process because he is separated from a food supply for more than 25 seconds. Apart from that he's cool and simply wants to know which is his bedroom.
I'm afraid I chickened out with my mog - I put her into a cattery which collected and delivered her. So she was picked up from old place the day before and delivered the day after the move. Less stressful for me and her as I didn't have to worry about where she was. Two days later she was desperate to get out so I let her outside and no probs. I sympathise about your cat hating going to the vet - one of mine put up a terrific fight every time and howled loudly all the way there. There's been some good suggestions on this thread which I will certainly bear in mind - Good luck!
Only one of them?? I've never had a cat which didn't give its lungs a good work out the whole time it was in the car! It's worse if they're oriental, they can get to volumes you never dreamt of!
Susie that description of cat carrier behaviour describes all my cats to a t.
