Moving overseas with cat and more

[lucentstreak]

Dear all,

Thank you for all your advice over the years and it has been key to my education of bringing Hugo as my first cat who has just crossed 2 years of age.

Now the time has come that I leave my job and move back home (international air flight within Asia - 4 hours, pets not allowed in cabin) and because I am moving back home, I anticipate a stay with my parents for a bit until I find a place to stay by myself with Hugo. My parents are quite apprehensive about cats, my dad is quite anti pets (he seems to have developed an OCD about hair and dust - two things that are quite normal for any cats running around). And I'm wondering if there might be an advice as to how I can deal with it.  I think I can fly him as checked in but I'm wondering if putting him in a cat boarding or hotel after will be traumatising since Hugo has never been boarded in his life and that I am not sure how long it will take for me to find a place. Another factor will be that we will be moving from four seasons to a strictly equatorial climate as well.

Keeping him with friends before the move is not quite an option since I have no friends who can take him in (those who can stay with their parents or have cats of their own already).

Any advice?

Thank you.

 

[tulosai]

It honestly depends on the individual cat how traumatizing things are.  While the VAST majority of cats don't like change much, how long and how seriously they are upset by change, as well as how much change it takes to really upset them (for example some cats can be pretty seriously upset if a piece of furniture is moved; others are totally unaffected by this) is really going to vary a lot cat to cat. So unfortunately I don't' think we're going to be able to give you a real estimate of how much this will upset him.

With that said you really just have to think things through and do what you think is the best you can do with your own circumstances for your cat.  If you have to move and there is really nowhere else to keep your cat, boarding might be the best option you have to work with.  While it's hard to always know what a boarding place will really be like without seeing it in person (which I'm not sure is possible in your case), not all boarding places are created equal and you should do your best to find a reputable one where your cat will be as comfortable as possible.  This article gives some ideas about what to look for: http://www.thecatsite.com/a/cat-boarding-guide

If you have more questions as you get ready to move let us know. Good luck with your move.