MOVING HOUSE WITH CATS
by Ruth
(England)
Cats don’t like changes, they like their familiar surroundings best and moving house can be a stressful time for them.
The main thing is to stay as calm as possible around them as moving day approaches and to keep to their usual routine and pay them their usual attention, even while busy packing boxes etc.
Poster by Ruth AKA Kattaddorra. This is a thumbnail. Please click on it for the full sized image.
Put a blanket in the cat basket the cat will be transported in on moving day and leave the basket with the door open, somewhere handy so that he can sit in there if he wants to while preparations for the move are undwerway. He will then feel it’s familiar and safe when he has to be shut in to be taken to your new home.
On the day of the move, ensure the cat is in a room already emptied of the furniture you are taking, with the door closed, along with his bed, scratching post, food, water, toys and litter tray, before the removal men are due to arrive.
To be extra sure he will be safe, put a DO NOT OPEN notice on the outside of the door as well as telling the men that under no circumstances are they to open that door.
Never send a pet in the removal van.
Drive, or get a familiar person to him, to drive him and his posessions to the new house and to put him with them in a room, open the cat basket door and leave him safely closed in, again with a DO NOT OPEN notice on the outside of the door.
Leave the cat undisturbed until all the furniture is in place, the removal men have gone and the outer doors are closed and locked.
He can then come out when he’s ready to and safely explore his new home.
