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- Jul 5, 2018
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My husband and I are moving to a place about 30 minutes away (when the traffic is good). I am strangely worried about how Marple (neutered female DSH torby, ~5 years old) will adjust to the new digs, particularly because this will be our new long term home. Marple is very shy in new situations. The last time we moved about two years ago, it took her a good week before she started openly coming out of the closet she had hidden herself in, and even then it was only at night while we were eating dinner. I think it took at least two weeks before she started acting normally again. She also gets stress constipation. She still eats--she just won't poop for a few days when she's stressed by new things.
The layout of the new place is different from anything she's known while she's been with us--we're moving from an apartment to a split level townhouse (I'm absurdly mildly worried about how she'll deal with stairs, but I'm sure she'll have fun running up and down them once she's figured them out). And we've got a wild card that wasn't around for the last move, too: Radish (neutered male DMH tabby, 1.25 years old). I'm not worried about how Radish will adjust because he has always been very curious in new places and likes meeting strangers (Marple is the opposite). I think he'll adjust quickly, but once he does he's going to want to play with the love of his life, Marple, and I don't want her to have to deal with Radish jumping all over her on top of adjusting to a new place. Also, since Marple came first and she's smaller than Radish, we try to make sure she stays confident and willing to show Radish who's the boss. I'm worried her confidence will be affected if she has to deal with two giant stressors at the same time.
We'll be making the move over the course of ~1 month, so our current plan is moving Marple out there first, giving her a week or two to adjust, explore, and gain confidence, and then moving Radish and the rest of our big furniture in. The thing is that although we'll visit her everyday to feed and play with her and such, she'll still be alone in a mostly empty, new to her place for most of the time until we all move in (including my husband, me, Radish, and the bird). Will she be lonely? We're going to bring her favorite toys and bedding over with her, but is there something else we can do to keep her feeling somewhat OK? Or is there a better way to transition the two cats over without affecting Marple's confidence? The other thought I had was to move everyone out at once and keep Radish in a separate bedroom while Marple explores, but Radish goes nuts in enclosed spaces and he'd have to stay there until Marple gets comfortable, and when we've had to separate them before they just ended up playing footsie with each other under the door. We also are considering Feliway but I don't think it really affected her the last time we used it when Radish arrived.
Open to suggestions and thoughts! Radish is our super loving and lovable sweet boy, but poor scaredy cat Marple is my secret spirit animal because she loves bags, eating, and relaxing by lolling around on her back. So I'm probably more worried about her because I'm projecting. But also...I just want her to be OK!
The lady in question!
And bonus picture of Radish (back) hugging/probably in the middle of bunny kicking Marple. (She is very tolerant of his antics.)
The layout of the new place is different from anything she's known while she's been with us--we're moving from an apartment to a split level townhouse (I'm absurdly mildly worried about how she'll deal with stairs, but I'm sure she'll have fun running up and down them once she's figured them out). And we've got a wild card that wasn't around for the last move, too: Radish (neutered male DMH tabby, 1.25 years old). I'm not worried about how Radish will adjust because he has always been very curious in new places and likes meeting strangers (Marple is the opposite). I think he'll adjust quickly, but once he does he's going to want to play with the love of his life, Marple, and I don't want her to have to deal with Radish jumping all over her on top of adjusting to a new place. Also, since Marple came first and she's smaller than Radish, we try to make sure she stays confident and willing to show Radish who's the boss. I'm worried her confidence will be affected if she has to deal with two giant stressors at the same time.
We'll be making the move over the course of ~1 month, so our current plan is moving Marple out there first, giving her a week or two to adjust, explore, and gain confidence, and then moving Radish and the rest of our big furniture in. The thing is that although we'll visit her everyday to feed and play with her and such, she'll still be alone in a mostly empty, new to her place for most of the time until we all move in (including my husband, me, Radish, and the bird). Will she be lonely? We're going to bring her favorite toys and bedding over with her, but is there something else we can do to keep her feeling somewhat OK? Or is there a better way to transition the two cats over without affecting Marple's confidence? The other thought I had was to move everyone out at once and keep Radish in a separate bedroom while Marple explores, but Radish goes nuts in enclosed spaces and he'd have to stay there until Marple gets comfortable, and when we've had to separate them before they just ended up playing footsie with each other under the door. We also are considering Feliway but I don't think it really affected her the last time we used it when Radish arrived.
Open to suggestions and thoughts! Radish is our super loving and lovable sweet boy, but poor scaredy cat Marple is my secret spirit animal because she loves bags, eating, and relaxing by lolling around on her back. So I'm probably more worried about her because I'm projecting. But also...I just want her to be OK!
The lady in question!
And bonus picture of Radish (back) hugging/probably in the middle of bunny kicking Marple. (She is very tolerant of his antics.)
