Moving Distance RE Indoor/Outdoor Cat

Adam22

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Hi Everyone, this is my first post here and I'm looking for advice.

Almost ten years ago I adopted a stray cat (not feral) which was spending time in my garden - I live in a ground floor apartment.
She became a very well-adjusted indoor/outdoor cat, I think because she was comfortable to stay with access to the area she grew up in outdoors. It was all on her terms.
Last year she was diagnosed with stage 3 kidney disease, but happily has been able to tolerate sub-Q fluids and medicine daily while staying healthy enough to enjoy her usual lifestyle, just with a different diet. She might well live for another year or even 2 or 3.
Due to circumstances beyond my control I have to leave my apartment now, but I am free to choose where to live next. Leaving her with the new owner is not going to be an option.
I really wanted to let my cat live out the rest of her days in her territory she's been in her whole life, and I'll certainly never make her a fully indoor cat. At her age and condition, and having been outdoors her whole life, it would depress her. This means transitioning her to indoor/outdoor life at my next place.
I'm very aware of the routine you should go through with moving an outdoor cat, but I've been wondering if it is better for the cat to be quite far away from their old territory - is it more likely that a cat say 1 mile from their old territory will run away, than a cat that is say 10 miles away?
I'd be happy to get a new place in roughly the same neighbourhood I am in now, but it worries me that this might put her more at risk of running and getting hurt. If she wasn't sick she could probably survive for a few days, but I don't think she could now. Although I guess if I was relatively close to the old place, shed have a better chance of making it to her old territory where I might be able to find her.

If anyone has any insights on how cats tend to react to different distances of relocation I'd love to hear it. Or if its all the same, that would also be good to know.

Thanks
Adam
 

ArtNJ

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There are a lot of posts on this site from people that have moved less than a mile and they are having problems where the cat goes to the old house. Most indoor/outdoor cats don't even roam a quarter of a mile, so anything beyond roaming distance they likely have to get some sort of scent clues, but I don't think the range on that sort of thing is typically very far and it could certainly mislead them at times. A cat leaves the new house that is several miles away, probably better odds you don't see the cat again then that it finds the old house.
 

FeebysOwner

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Hi. I don't know what your current outdoor area is like, but have you considered making or buying a catio/cat enclosure for the new home? It can be as big and elaborate as your brain will allow you to imagine (and your pocketbook will enable you to). All About Catios & Cat Enclosures - Catio Spaces
This would give her outdoor time/space but not give her the chance to try to leave and make it back to her old home. Given her age and health, it would be best to try to prevent that in whatever way you can.
 
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Adam22

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There are a lot of posts on this site from people that have moved less than a mile and they are having problems where the cat goes to the old house. Most indoor/outdoor cats don't even roam a quarter of a mile, so anything beyond roaming distance they likely have to get some sort of scent clues, but I don't think the range on that sort of thing is typically very far and it could certainly mislead them at times. A cat leaves the new house that is several miles away, probably better odds you don't see the cat again then that it finds the old house.
Thanks, that makes sense.
 
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Adam22

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Hi. I don't know what your current outdoor area is like, but have you considered making or buying a catio/cat enclosure for the new home? It can be as big and elaborate as your brain will allow you to imagine (and your pocketbook will enable you to). All About Catios & Cat Enclosures - Catio Spaces
This would give her outdoor time/space but not give her the chance to try to leave and make it back to her old home. Given her age and health, it would be best to try to prevent that in whatever way you can.
Thanks, yes, I have thought about this as a possible solution. Appreciate the link.
 
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