New Roof Going On House, Should I Stay Home With Kitties

[RufusGizmo]

this might not be an actual behavior question, but i'm getting a new roof on my house in a couple days, and am trying to decide if I need to stay home with my cats, cause, of course, they hate noise. my husband is going to be home, but i'm trying to decide if I should stay home for added comfort to the kitties. not sure how loud it is, has anyone got a new roof with their cats home, and did they react real frightened? we just put in a new heater/air system and they freaked.

 

[Kieka]

We replaced our roof about a year and a half ago. We stayed home the whole time (my parents are retired so they were actually in the house all day while I usually was gone while work was being done). None of our three cats had any major problem with the work or workers. If the noise bothered them, no one showed it. Our guys do have outside access and apparently my girl took to hiding nearby and watching the guys work.

 

[RufusGizmo]

thanks! thinking i'll just leave my husband there then. we have a big basement they can go to, and since the workers stay outside, i assume, it might not be as bad as when they were doing the air conditioner/new heater in basement work. If anyone else has any suggestions feel free to add! my cats are total indoor cats.

 

[bodester413]

thanks! thinking i'll just leave my husband there then. we have a big basement they can go to, and since the workers stay outside, i assume, it might not be as bad as when they were doing the air conditioner/new heater in basement work. If anyone else has any suggestions feel free to add! my cats are total indoor cats.

You could try that Feliway cat pheromone plugin if your cats get upset. A few years back they redid the streets in my neighborhood and my cat was kind of freaking out with all the noise and vibrations. He seemed to calm down a bit when I bought one and plugged it in downstairs.

 

[Desertmouse]

Hmm...well how do your cats usually react to loud noises? It can bother some cats more then others. Do they jump if, for example, you were to drop a heavy box in the same room as them? I agree with the plugin idea though either way, worse case it won’t work or they won’t need it, no harm done. The other question is how do you do with things like this? While it shows how much you love your fur babies, you need to take yourself into consideration to!

 

[susanm9006]

I wouldn’t stay home. If they hear noise and get frightened they probably will want to hide more than being comforted. They will find a dark safe place and take a nap until it is over.

 

[danteshuman]

I would add running a fan. We recently had construction done (installing new windows/tearing down walls to make room for larger windows) except for when my bedroom windows were being installed my boys were content to stay in my room. The 2 days where my windows were being installed, my boys hung out with me downstairs in the living room (territory they are familiar with.) I ran the fan for them in my room during the construction days. So your cats may be more comfortable in the living room if your house is 2 stories tall.

 

[RufusGizmo]

yes, I was thinking this would not be a great day for me! we actually do already have feliway plugged in around the house, as two of the kitties are relatively new kittens, and we just brought them into our house with our two older resident cats. (who were not actually resident cats as we moved homes at the same time). I suppose if they all can survive moving into a new home together they can survive this. They are ok with sounds, a little nervous but not overly so. thanks for all the replies, i think i'll probably go into work and maybe just call my husband after a few hours and see if i should come home early if they are freaking out too bad. thanks!

 

[RufusGizmo]

good idea on the fans too! our house is kind of a step up ranch, so its technically not two stories but there is the basement. bad thing is the older cats don't go in the basement too much, as they still consider that the "kitten" territory. but I think they might make an exception if it gets too noisy.