Moving Cat to New Home

[Turtle]

We're looking to move to a new home about 450 miles away. We have a mostly outdoor cat and we're wondering how to pull off the move. He's about 5 years old and has never used a litter box. He's very independent, has a cat door and spends most of his time outside regardless of the weather, though he spends a few moments on our bed each night. We'd appreciate comments on how best to make the actual move and what we can expect. Thanks, Jamie

[cameront120]

Have you considered keeping him as an indoor cat? They adapt very well and will learn the litterbox very quickly.

[wheel interested]

Pretty cat!

I looked up two links for moving with cats. The first is very comprehensive description on how to acclimate your cat and avoid trama and confusion.

Moving With Your Cat ~ Pawprints and Purrs, Inc.

The other is quite brief but gives a good tip on how and when you should let kitty out to roam.

Moving a cat to a new home

We have never had a cat before last year, we have dogs but he while being an outdoor/indoor cat adapted well to traveling in the truck and camping in the Airstream. Though he runs loose at home, when we camp I use a halter and lead outside. I know Michelle (thecatsandi) lets Sarah run free and Sarah stays close. But our Kee Kee does not and we had become tired of chasing him and worrying about animal attacks, like gators in particular, um...not in Michigan.

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Hi, I'm not a cat person, but my brother is; He moved from Southern California to Arizona with two cats. One of his cats suddenly disappeared and the other one was very shaken. My brother believes a wild animal [coyote?] or bird [hawk, Owl?] took his cat. Something to think about. His surviving cat stays in the house or motorhome about 99% of the time now.

[dreadydreame]

We moved our cat 800 miles with us, he hated the ride. We brought a litter box in the car with us. It worked fine. As for making him learn how to use the box. I would bring him inside your house before. Put him in your bathroom (small space) and keep him in there with the litter box. When he has to go, he will find the best place to go is in that box, and so will know where to go on your trip. Taking ours outside on leash did not work at all, he hated that.

As for when you get there, this old wives tale worked for us so well.
As soon as you get to the new house take some softened butter (real butter) and put it on all 4 of his feet. Then put him outside He will lick the butter and find that this new place is the best place ever. Our cat never left our yard, and it's been 6yrs.

[Turtle]

Thanks for the information. I like the butter on the feet idea. I might just do that here to see if he likes it and will maybe stay inside with us a little longer. Or will he take off for a new home because he thinks we've gone nutty on him... Is it better to have a long and confined life or a short and free life? Jamie

[eubank]

When we moved up here, we brought the two middle-aged cats with us.

1. We went to the vet and got some tranquilizers for the trip itself. It helped.

2. On arrival, we locked the cats into a bathroom with litter, food water. We then slowly introduced them to their new house, letting them roam and sniff on supervised visits. After several days of this, they were at home enough to release them into the house. We moved the litter and food to a new location about a week later.

3. We can't let the cats outside at all here. There are too many wild critters here EITHER that would make the cats into dinner OR that the cats themselves would make into dinner. They're now house cats. And now, eight years later, also geriatric cats.


Lynn

[Wabbiteer]

Male cats get locked into routines, and remember the Alpha male will ignore its subordinates forcing them to be the ones to initiate friend or foe interaction. It's up to you to make the vehicle and/or trailer part of your cats territory. You want the vehicles to be the remembered safe zone; don't let the cat think normalcy exists anywhere but inside that vehicle until you arrive at the new home - a cat that bolts from a vehicle in a panic is usually history.

I'd try to start a new tradition - throw a camper or tow-vehicle picnic, not only with the pets food but you and the family eating and having fun, ignoring the cat if it is upset since you don't want to reinforce the frantic behavior.

This picture taken in Montana after 3,000 miles driving, we went to Oregon and back as non-stop as I could manage to pick up propane backup generators. I guarantee you tomcat here looked better than I did after three days steady driving.

[safari57]

Originally Posted by dreadydreame

We moved our cat 800 miles with us, he hated the ride. We brought a litter box in the car with us. It worked fine. As for making him learn how to use the box. I would bring him inside your house before. Put him in your bathroom (small space) and keep him in there with the litter box. When he has to go, he will find the best place to go is in that box, and so will know where to go on your trip. Taking ours outside on leash did not work at all, he hated that.

As for when you get there, this old wives tale worked for us so well.
As soon as you get to the new house take some softened butter (real butter) and put it on all 4 of his feet. Then put him outside He will lick the butter and find that this new place is the best place ever. Our cat never left our yard, and it's been 6yrs.

We have used the butter on the paws thing and not just once but a few times at the new place. It worked well for us. The bigger issue we had in the past was new predators that the old cat didn't know about and an expensive vet bill. Our cat is now only out when we are with him, we do a tour around the yard and then he is content to come back in but he sure does enjoy those walks.

Barry

[jking09]

Hey Wabbiteer, that picture made me laugh!

[Crusty]

I moved to a new location that is out in the country where predators are a hazard that my cats never had to deal with in the city. I built a large sturdy fully enclosed pen for my cats to stay in during the day while I was away at work and they were able to have some safe exposure to the predators as they passed through. This got my cats' attention and has made them more wary and cautious. I let them roam during the day when I'm here. They also must stay inside overnight now but I don't get any grief from them because they now know what's out there at night.

The pen has to be a good one because most predators are very determined to get inside.

[Turtle]

Some of you have said you let your cats out during the day but they have to be in at night. Sounds good. I'd like to hear what you do with them when you're on the road with the Airstream? We have a professional pet care guy come in to feed Pyewacket when we're gone. How do you solve the problem of getting your pet in at night? Jamie