Help with moving cats

[margotb822]

I am moving (within the same city) and would like tips for moving cats and helping them get acquainted to their new surroundings.

[dawgmom]

1. Well, first, you need the right sized suitcase...

[margotb822]

3. Hahaha

I think you may need to pay extra for that!

[BrklynLiberal]

8. That is soooo cute!!! and so typical of cats...

[1]

18. stuff flew out of my nose. i am still laughing. thank you... n/t.

[LynneSin]

24. My cats love sleeping in suitcased

the wheels busted off of one of my smaller cases and for ages it was a cat bed

[Bossy Monkey]

2. Somebody here said that feliway helps calm cats in stressful situations

I bought a diffuser because the cat who thinks I'm her mother is very keyed up to start with and the new kitten is only likely to heighten that. However, it hasn't been quite a week yet and I can't say with confidence whether it's helping. Also it's insanely expensive: the diffuser is $50 and the spray (more useful for a move) is I think $30. I'll give you a link momentarily to a post by somebody better informed on the product.

[margotb822]

4. Ok

I had a peeing problem with one of my cats when he was a kitten (not spray, just peeing in the wrong areas), and I'm nervous about that happening in another stressful situation.

[Bossy Monkey]

11. Here you go (link)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=105&topic_id=8083961&mesg_id=8085429
The diffuser comes with a 4-week supply and a note saying don't expect it to take effect for 4 weeks, which I thought was funny. Early returns indicate that it takes nowhere near that long (a day or so). The spray (for a cat carrier, say, not for the cat) should work almost instantaneously or there would be no point to it, but I have no experience with it (yet).

[bicentennial_baby]

6. On Amazon, the Diffuser is only $27

http://www.amazon.com/Farnam-Electric-48-Milliliters-Imitation-Pheromone/dp/B000FH708I

[Bossy Monkey]

12. Whoops! That'll be the very last time I trust PetSmart nt

[margotb822]

13. Interesting,

I'll look into it

[LisaL]

5. I flew with mine. One was in cargo.

They were really freaked out at first, but now they are o'key. It should be a piece of cake moving in the same city.

[margotb822]

7. I do have to fly with them when I move next year

They wouldn't let you take both in the cabin? I haven't looked into this yet, but I was hoping to put both of them in the same carrier and take them in the cabin. Did you sedate them?

[LisaL]

10. No way no how.

You will not be able to put both cats in the same carrier. First of all a carrier you take into the cabin has to be really small to fit under the seat in front of you. Second of all the rules forbid having two cats in one carrier. The airline I flew on only allows one pet per person in cabin. So one cat had to fly cargo. I did sedate the one with me. He was totally zonked out ( I got the meds from the vet specifically for flying). You are not supposed to sedate the one in cargo so I did not. Both cats looked really loopy when they arrived. One of them did not eat, drink, or go to the bathroom for 2 days afterwords but he got over it. He is kind of a freaky one so most cats probably would be better off than he was.

[margotb822]

14. Thanks for the heads up

My cats hate the car, so I'm sure the plane will really mess them up. This is their first move, so I guess I'll know more about how they react and make improvements for the big one next year.

[LisaL]

15. I got this carrier for the one in cabin:

Teafco Argo Aero-Pet Airline Approved Carrier Large, Black.
It worked pretty well for him.

[LisaL]

16. I got this carrier for the one in cabin:

Teafco Argo Aero-Pet Airline Approved Carrier Large, Black.
It worked pretty well for him.

[City of Mills]

9. Put them in the carriers butt first

It's way easier than trying to coax them into a carrier headfirst.

Ignore their pitiful wailing and yowling all the way to the new destination.

Once you get there, let them out of the cage into the least used room (spare bedroom with a bed preferably) with the door closed. Leave them alone for awhile. Eventually if the house is calm (no banging and moving of furniture, dishes etc) open the door and let them wander out at their own pace. Don't forget to provide them with litter and food/water during this process! The cats may explore on their own if you leave them in the house by themselves. Depending on the cat or cats, it may take a day or a few weeks for them to become comfortable.

[harmonicon]

17. usually...

I pick them up by placing one hand under their tummy, and then bringing the other hand underneath them as I lift. I then have one hand kind of on top of them, holding them to my chest, resting on my other arm like a sort of shelf. Then I take them wherever I'd like to and set them down - somewhere soft, if I can find it, but anywhere will do.

[applegrove]

19. LOL!

[dixiegrrrrl]

20. I can tell you how NOT to move a cat

Do not let the boyfriend who has never had a pet be the one who drives the car with the cat in it.

Do not skimp and get one of those cardboard carriers.

When you give the boyfriend the bottle of cat tranquilizers,
do not say " Use these if there are any problems with the cat"


Or else you get the following results:

Car arrives, door opens, cat runs out and hides under neighbor's house.

Inside the car is one completely shredded and half eaten cardboard carrier.

Plus one very dazed glassy eyed boyfriend who asks with a thick tongue..

"wow...got any more of those pills?"

[margotb822]

21. Haha,

I never considered using the tranquilizers on myself, but that may be a good idea!

T

[Jamastiene]

22. I don't know. We Democrats should be EXPERTS at herding cats

by now though. They say that's what we always try to do. :shrug:

ByTheRiver explained it almost exactly* how I've done it, successfully, in the past:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=105&topic_id=8183172&mesg_id=8183365

*the only difference is that I open the door to the pet carriers and let curiosity take over. Once the cats work out who gets which carrier and they are both in, I close both doors at once and go for it. Believe it or not, my cats voluntarily go into their pet carriers. One I used to have refused to let you put her in, because she wanted to do it herself. In other words, all you had to do was say, "Come on, Domino, get in your pet porter," and she'd do it.

[Sanity Claws]

23. Will the new place be set up? Or will you be moving

furniture?
If you are moving furniture at the same time you are moving the kitties, best thing is to leave them in their carriers until you have a room set up that you can put them in and close the door. Put their food and litter box in the same room and sit with them a while and talk calmly to them. Maybe eat your lunch with them so they can acclimated. After an hour or two, you can probably go about setting up the rest of the place but leave the cats in their room, for their safety and comfort.

If everything is already set up, chose a room or two, and close all doors so the kitties can't run around the place and hide. Once you have them limited into a relatively small space, make sure you let them know where their food and litter box are. Make a big production about it, like loudly pour their food for them, and use the scooper to move the litter around in the box.
Then sit back for a while, eat or drink something, while calmly talking to them and telling them how much they'll love their new home.

BTW, I moved with my two kitties last year, only it was cross country, not cross-town.

[LynneSin]

25. I moved (with my cats) across town

they adjusted in about 5 minutes but I did keep them closed in the kitchen til they figured out where the litter box was hidden.

[mnhtnbb]

26. We just moved with our two cats. I sent them to get baths at their usual

place the day the movers packed the truck. I boarded them overnight with a tee shirt I'd slept in--together in the same cage since they are great buddies--and we brought them home after the movers had brought everything into the new house.

They did fine. Our cats normally go out at night, and we kept them in for about a week. I went
out with them during the daytime once they wanted to, and walked around with them while they explored.

I should also say that we're only about 50 yards away from the house that burned down last summer.
I don't know if the cats have figured that out yet, since they are always right at the front door
in the morning wanting to come in.

As annoying as it was, we let them have the run of the house for the first five days, even at night.
Both of them were sleeping in our bed with us at night, and wanting to get up to go eat about 4 a.m.

I am so glad they've adapted and are now back to their routine of going out at night.

On edit: I also put their litter boxes (they are BIG cats) and food in the same place--laundry room.
There have been no accidents.