Moving with two cats

MonaLyssa33

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I plan on buying a house sometime this year. I currently live in a studio apartment that has been the only place I have lived with my two cats for the last two years. When it comes time to move, I want to make it as easy and stress free as I can.

Since I don't know when I'll be moving or what my house will actually look like, I have a generic plan of moving a few familiar items from my apartment (one armchair in particular because it's scratched up and offers a good hiding spot) to one room in the house (with a litter box, food and water) and then moving my cats to that room while I move everything else. Then checking on them often until the moving is done where I'd then shut myself in the room with them for awhile before I actually open the door.

I feel it's going to be harder because I'll be moving from one room to a home with many rooms. I have no place to lock my cats away in my apartment, so it makes the most sense to move them in sooner.

Both cats are fearful of strangers and new situations, Maisie more so, because she is semi-feral. I have a larger kennel that I'd hopefully be able to put them both in so they'd at least be together, if they cooperate with me that is.

Are there other things I should be considering? Should I keep them in the new room for longer than that one day even if that room won't be my bedroom? Should I go more slowly with introducing them to the whole house? I plan on also shutting off areas of the house where they could hide but I wouldn't be able to access them.
 

Furballsmom

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How exciting!

(one armchair in particular because it's scratched up and offers a good hiding spot) to one room in the house (with a litter box, food and water) and then moving my cats to that room while I move everything else.
This is a great plan - along with a big sign on the door so the movers or anybody helping you doesn't accidentally open that door.

There's this article, and there might be some calming products to help
How To Move With Your Cat To A New Home In A Safe Way – Cat Articles
 

kittyluv387

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I recommend the feliway plugins. Really helped my 3 cats settle down and sleep once I finally plugged an old one in. Before that they were restless , pacing and cranky with one another.

Congratulations on the new house! If your cats are easily scared and would rather hide, then it's best to let them stay in one room and give them more access as they settle down. But I didn't do that with my cats because they absolutely hate being locked up. They prefer to be around us humans. One in particular gets destructive when locked up. So it just depends!
 

Lisannez

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We actually moved in June from a one bedroom condo to a three bedroom three level house with two cats both 12 at the time. I will say our cats are used to moving and new things, we moved them from Los Angeles to Washington DC in a moving truck cross Country but our ragdoll has a harder time with adjusting while our Tuxie loves new experiences. We were blessed because we have an overlap on our lease and the new home closing and could afford to float both for a few months, so we would take both cats over on the weekends and allow them to explore on their own. The Ragdoll as is her usual nature would hiss at her sister and growl for the first few days but after awhile she adjusted. We showed them where their litter boxes were immediately. Another thing I did is I let them go into every single room and closet, with the ragdoll I took her there. I even opened the drawers and cabinets and let them see. For the first full week of living there, the tuxie would meow sometimes mostly because she was not used to not seeing us and did not know where we were. She got used to it. Same with the ragdoll. Honestly now they love it. They have their own space.
 

duncanmac

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<<snip>>
This is a great plan - along with a big sign on the door so the movers or anybody helping you doesn't accidentally open that door.
<<snip>>
We moved 2 cats not quite two years ago. The plan was to move the boys the night before the movers came and keep them locked in a room NO ONE was allowed in, not even us, while moving was happening. We didn't have the foresight to move "comfort items" into their new safe room except for our bedding. We slept with them the first two nights while moving was going on and then really just let them loose in the new house.

I would worry about getting them to the new place more than them settling in: How will you get them into the carriers? Can you transport two carriers/the large crate? Can you get into the new place before the big move?

Moving and packing made our cats uncomfortable - its a big change in their space. It took us a month to pack all the junk we had squirreled away in the house, so that was a month of cats being on edge, with boxes all over the living room.

Our main concern was that our former feral did not like to be picked up. I had been working with him for months to be able to pick him up and put him on the bed. The plan was to fake him out and put him in the carrier instead of on the bed. I had one shot at this, otherwise I wouldn't be able to touch him for a week. This really destroyed his trust in me for a while, but we are both over that now.
 
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