How to Move to a New Home With a Cat

Moving your cat to a new home can be a smooth transition for you and your pet. You can prevent your cat from running away if you take time to acclimate her.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Cat Beds
• Cat Carriers
• Cat Foods
• Cat Leashes
• Cat Toys
• Pet Carriers

Before the Move

1. Obtain a copy of your cat's veterinary records to give to the vet in the new area.

2. Call the state veterinarian in the capital of the state you're moving to. Find out if you need to provide any paperwork to bring your cat into the state.

3. Call the town or village hall in the new locale. Ask about licensing requirements.

4. Make arrangements for your cat to travel with you in a car or by air. Cats are not permitted on trains or buses.

When You Move

5. Feed your cat five to six hours before you move. Let her drink two hours before you leave the house. Give the cat medication if she gets overly excited or nervous while traveling.

6. Bring food and water. Make frequent stops to exercise your cat and let her drink.

7. Keep your cat confined while you move in. Release her when all doors and windows are closed so she can't escape. Take time to help her become used to the new house.

8. Use the same food and water bowls, bedding, litter box and toys, and put them in a location similar to where they used to be.

9. Take your cat out on a leash until she's familiar with the yard and neighborhood.

10. Maintain your cat's regular schedule in the days after the move.

11. Make an appointment with a local vet and take in your cat's records.

Tips & Warnings

• Talk to your vet before you move about medication to calm the cat.
• After your cat is used to the area, release her for short periods of time and call her and reward her with a treat when she comes. This will teach your cat not to run away.
• Confine your cat to the house if she roams for too long.
• Take time to reassure and love your cat. The move may cause some depression or nervousness.

Who Can Help Sponsored

[thewhisperer]

on 6/6/2009 Take the cat's own dishes, litterpan, bed, toys, etc with you when you transport the cat to the new place. Then you can provide the cat with his own items with his own scent on them when you let him out of the carrier. Keep him confined to a small room such as the bathroom until the moving is fully completed and you're sure that the house is escapeproof.

[thewhisperer]

on 6/6/2009 ALWAYS transport a cat ANYWHERE in a secure pet carrier. THIS IS THE ONLY SAFE WAY TO TRANSPORT A CAT. NEVER try to transport a cat by doing such things as holding it in your lap in a car. At the new home, put the cat in the carrier in the bathroom or other small room with a door that can be shut, shut the door, then finish with that day's moving work. Let the cat out of the carrier when things settle down, return him to the carrier if more moving is to be done...to prevent him escaping if someone opens the bathroom door.

on 11/22/2005 It is a medically known fact that a cat's life expectancy is REDUCED by more than 50% if it is allowed to roam outdoors. They can be subjected to fights, disease from animals they catch, feline AIDS from mating with strays, feline leukemia from coming in contact with other cats, and rabies. Other awful factors can also occur, such as getting hit by a car, getting caught and harassed by kids who are cruel, ingesting rodent and pesticide poisons, and starvation. Declawed cats (even if they're completely healed) or cats that have undergone any kind of recent surgery have little or no defense against other predators, cats, or dangers. Coyotes have been known to hunt and kill small dogs. Cats are no different a meal to them.

on 11/22/2005 Okay, this is going to sound a bit nasty, but it really helps! It will help to adjust a cat to a new home and a new litter-box location. Before your move, save a plastic bag full of some used kitty litter (it doesn't have to have feces) and bring that with you when you arrange the new litter box location. Mix it in with the new litter and acquaint your cat with the litter box as soon as she feels a bit more settled. The scent of her own urine in the litterbox will help her know that it is hers and may keep her from marking in your new house! Also, it's never a good idea to bring an unneutered male adult into a new home. Males LOVE to mark. It cuts the spraying down a bit more if they're neutered.

on 11/22/2005 Get a small face cloth and wipe it gently on the scent glands on the face of your cat (this may take some work because they don't like it much). Before you bring your cat into the new house, wipe the cloth coated with your cat's scent markings on corners in rooms where your cat may naturally mark. Because your furniture is already previously marked by your cat, it may help the adjustment if they feel like they're "king or queen of the castle" before they walk in the door. Also - NEVER tranquilize or medicate your cat with ANY human medications! Even Ibuprofen and asprin can KILL your cat!!