How to move an anxiety-prone cat to new house?

electra

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Hi all, I'll be moving my cat to a new home, soon. It will have a yard and outdoor access (he is used to going in and out). I want it to be as stress-free as possible. He HATES being in the cat carrier. Meows like he's dying, whole time. It'll be an hour car trip (not so bad). But...Should I move him first, get him set up in a room with some of his things, litter box, etc, and then have movers bring the stuff? There won't be a ton of stuff moving in, but trying to figure out how to make Otto (cat) less stressed. I do have the possibility to move over a couple of days, though I'd have to pay extra. But I'll gladly do it! Thank you so much for any advice!
 

hannahe01

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Hi all, I'll be moving my cat to a new home, soon. It will have a yard and outdoor access (he is used to going in and out). I want it to be as stress-free as possible. He HATES being in the cat carrier. Meows like he's dying, whole time. It'll be an hour car trip (not so bad). But...Should I move him first, get him set up in a room with some of his things, litter box, etc, and then have movers bring the stuff? There won't be a ton of stuff moving in, but trying to figure out how to make Otto (cat) less stressed. I do have the possibility to move over a couple of days, though I'd have to pay extra. But I'll gladly do it! Thank you so much for any advice!
when we moved I had my cat stay with my mom in her bedroom while the movers brought stuff in. I then brought him “home” once all of our stuff was in the apartment. The movers going in and out of a new place he isn’t familiar with may stress him out even more. My cat was stressed for the first few weeks but after about a month he was totally fine
 

artiemom

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When I moved, with Geoffrey---cat with severe anxieties... I had an overlap with the apartments.

I had Feliway run-in in the new place. I had the new furniture and the movers come in before, I got Geoffrey.
His favorite scatter rug was taken, unwashed, another rug he likes, I took his dirty litter box.. Yes, filled with his litter (it had been scooped). I had the amount decreased before the move. I also took his litter rug---unwashed; and his favorite toys. His food place mat and water bowl were taken also.. I dumped the water, washed out the food bowl... refilled in the new place.

All I had to do, the late afternoon of the move, was get him, his litter box, litter genie, litter rug, into the new place. Oh, the movers took his cat tree, that morning.

I just let him go... It is a tiny one bedroom apartment and we share a bathroom.

Geoffrey hid under the bed for a while, but was, surprisingly, confident enough to come out, eat and sniff around...

For a large move, as in a house; I think I would do the sam, yet confine him to a couple of rooms.. try not to give him a cess to the entire house, at least in the beginning. You do not want to lose him in the house...

Just my thoughts....
 
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electra

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When I moved, with Geoffrey---cat with severe anxieties... I had an overlap with the apartments.

Ah, so get the new place ready/moved into, and then fetch the cat from the old place?


I had Feliway run-in in the new place. I had the new furniture and the movers come in before, I got Geoffrey.
His favorite scatter rug was taken, unwashed, another rug he likes, I took his dirty litter box.. Yes, filled with his litter (it had been scooped). I had the amount decreased before the move. I also took his litter rug---unwashed; and his favorite toys. His food place mat and water bowl were taken also.. I dumped the water, washed out the food bowl... refilled in the new place.

All I had to do, the late afternoon of the move, was get him, his litter box, litter genie, litter rug, into the new place. Oh, the movers took his cat tree, that morning.

I just let him go... It is a tiny one bedroom apartment and we share a bathroom.

Geoffrey hid under the bed for a while, but was, surprisingly, confident enough to come out, eat and sniff around...

For a large move, as in a house; I think I would do the sam, yet confine him to a couple of rooms.. try not to give him a cess to the entire house, at least in the beginning. You do not want to lose him in the house...

Just my thoughts....
 
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electra

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Sorry-- my question was: "Ah, so get the new place ready/moved into, and then fetch the cat from the old place?"
 

ObeseChess

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Sorry-- my question was: "Ah, so get the new place ready/moved into, and then fetch the cat from the old place?"
This is what I just did - my cat is pretty chill and this is my first time moving since adopting her, so take this with a grain of salt, but yes. I moved all my stuff in and spent a week unpacking (and building a catio, see other thread) then went to get her, her litter box, cat trees, toys, etc and moved everything in. I put her on my bed, with sheets that presumably still smell like her, and then set up the rest of her things. She was upset for a few hours but by the end of the day she was exploring and playing. "Okay, I have my litter box and it's got my poop in it. So that's mine. Okay. There's my cat tree. Hmm. Here's my stuffed squirrel. Interesting."

My thinking is that moving is a stressful enough experience, and that its best to move the cat into a space that isn't going to change much after they get there. Moving them into a box fort and then having strange people (movers) coming in and out, having stuff on the floor, etc seems like it would be more stressful. YMMV of course, again I am going on a sample size of one here. :)
 

susanm9006

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My preference is to move the cat last so that he spends as much time in a space he finds familiar and when he does get to the new place it is quiet and the strangers are gone so his first impression isnt a scary one. But in either case the most important thing is to have a large DO NOT ENTER! CAT INSIDE sign on the door to his room so movers or anyone else doesn’t open it. I went so far as to put a big X of masking tape across the door as well. You don’t want to open that door until you know doors to outside and any other room he can hide in like a basement are shut.
 
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electra

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That's very helpful....Thank you! Hopefully I can get into the place a day early, but I'm just not sure.
 

fionasmom

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My last move to this house was with 7 cats. The most anxiety prone we moved the night before and put her in one of the bathrooms with a litter box, food, water, etc with a big sign on the door which instructed the movers not to open the door. The other cats I moved later in the day once the move was done and the furniture was in place and boxes in rooms into which the contents would be arranged. It was pretty effortless. The one who moved first screamed the whole way, for about an hour, but made it in one piece. In retrospect, I would ask the vet for a tranquilizer of some sort since the cat would be in my possession the entire time and therefore safe.
 
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electra

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Thanks, everyone. So, just to clarify....I could leave cat behind for half a day, but it would be in a place (old, familiar place) with very little furniture (though of course he'd have litter box, food, favorite blanket etc...). Then I could move him into new place once everything else has gotten moved into it, and it's calm environment. Perhaps that's best?
Or, I could move cat in first, put him in room that is closed off, but I feel that the new place and the noise of moving stuff would make him very anxious...
 

ObeseChess

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Thanks, everyone. So, just to clarify....I could leave cat behind for half a day, but it would be in a place (old, familiar place) with very little furniture (though of course he'd have litter box, food, favorite blanket etc...). Then I could move him into new place once everything else has gotten moved into it, and it's calm environment. Perhaps that's best?
This is what I would do.
 
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