Moving home is a stressful experience, and can be made even more so when you have a cat that point blank does not want to go. Cats are a highly territorial species and become very attached to the place in which they live, which can make moving with them a cat-astrophe. There are, however, ways to make the transition as smooth as possible, for all parties involved. If you follow the hints and tips below, you should be able to escape the whole experience relatively stress and scratch free.
First of all, you should aim to keep your cat as calm as possible and away from the hustle bustle involved with the move as much as possible. Before the movers arrive ready to take all your worldly belongings to your new little world, you should place your cat in a small, secluded room with their bed, food and water bowls (preferably with food and water in them) and their litter tray. Once everything is packed away and you’re ready to make a move, only then should you aim to get your cat ready. Travelling with your cat can be troublesome as they don’t make for particularly happy travellers, so you should let them travel with you, rather than in your boot or in the removal van.
Once you’ve relocated to your new dream home, the work doesn’t stop in making sure both you and your feline friend remain comfortable in your new surroundings. If your cat settles in and does in fact feel a bond with the new location, going back to their territorial tendencies, then they are likely to begin leaving their mark on it. Cats mark their territory in a number of ways: they scratch things, spray things, rub things and soil on things. Because of this, you should invest in a number of items, especially if you have recently invested in new furniture and don’t want them ruined. These include a scratching post to act as a focus for their scratching needs, citrus spray so that you can spray it on all the places you want to remain scratch-free (cats hate citrus) or even Soft Paws which are vinyl nail covers that stop cats having to go through the agony of declawing whilst still making their claws less effective.
And if they don’t settle into the new home, then you have to be aware that your cat may attempt to return to their former stomping ground. You can prevent your pet from doing so by not giving up easily when it comes to helping them settle in. A few ways to do so include: keeping your cat indoors for two weeks, providing them with frequent feeding times and by using a synthetic feline facial pheromone diffuser, such as Feliway, to calm them down. You should also let your new neighbours know what it looks like so that if they do ever see it looking a bit lost, they can return it home to you. Also, if your recent relocation wasn’t very far, then your cat will probably try to make it’s own way back by using familiar routes it remembers. Because of this, it is advisable to let the new occupiers of your old home also know that if they ever see your confused little cat wandering in their garden, to return it to you as quickly as possible to save the cat, and you, any more distress.
Once they’re settled in, if you keep providing them with all the essentials that they needs, your cat will only grow to love their new home, and they’ll only grow to love you even more!
*this is a collaborative post*
Last year we moved house with our six months old raggie. Just like what you said in the post, we did put her in a secluded room from the hustle of the move. Once we moved her, we could tell she was stressed out. She didn’t eat for like two days. We did buy Feliway to help calm her. We left it on during the night when we are asleep but switch it off during the day as we are around for her.