Moving house with cats

[Sew109]

Originally Posted by riversider2014

They’ve never been to a cattery so won’t be using that option unfortunately.

They are both microchipped so if they do go walkabout they can be traced

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You do know that microchips can come out over time, well worth getting this checked before you move.

[Claudette]

Originally Posted by riversider2014

They’ve never been to a cattery so won’t be using that option unfortunately.

They are both microchipped so if they do go walkabout they can be traced

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If I were moving a relatively short distance, I would definitely use the cattery for the day. Whether they have been in one before or not, at least they are safe and you know where they are.

Anyway that aside, no I don’t think you need to keep them in for three weeks. I would start with a couple of days inside and then some supervised outdoor time. Unless you are very unlucky they won’t go far and will start by exploring the immediate vicinity before gradually venturing further.

[Lumpy]

never managed to keep any of mine in for more than 24 hours and never lost one. That includes the time we moved and had 10 cats, now that was a feat of logistics.

[boo2]

We have moved twice with cats. This was the first time for these two. We kept them in a dog crate on the day of the move so that they didn’t run away. Took them to the new house and kept them in one room with cat litter, food, water and cat tree until the removal firm had left.
They sound similar to yours, one is very much an indoors cat the other is outside in all weathers.
We kept them both in until we got the cat flap fitted (less then a week) and they were both fine.

[storm]

One of ours was a cat flap wrecker. We just let him out but made sure it was before he was fed & very tasty treats given on his return.
Initially went into the garden with him, hang dirty laundry on your line so your home scent travels in the air to aid his return.
Update microchip details, make sure your new neighbours know what he looks like so they don't try to grab him as a stray. Ours did return to our old home several times ( we only moved a mile) broke into the closed up cat flat & was found asleep on the new home owners bed. They kindly called us & we promptly collected him.
His sister didn't notice the move ( she's not a lover of the out doors).

[mouskevik]

We moved recently with a 10 year old cat and kept her in for 2 weeks. She was desperate to get out and when we finally let her out she looked round, realised it wasn't our old garden and village and came straight back in!

She's going out a bit now but not far, I think she's a bit too old to be establishing a new territory.

She was quite stressed by the whole thing and it took her a few months to settle. A familiar bed in a part of the house where they feel safe helps. For our it was under my bedside shelf - still is!

[Lucky's Mum]

Advice from Cats Protection - cats.uk/help-and-adv...-with-your-cat

[ScoopsAhoy]

Originally Posted by Claudette

If I were moving a relatively short distance, I would definitely use the cattery for the day. Whether they have been in one before or not, at least they are safe and you know where they are.

Anyway that aside, no I don’t think you need to keep them in for three weeks. I would start with a couple of days inside and then some supervised outdoor time. Unless you are very unlucky they won’t go far and will start by exploring the immediate vicinity before gradually venturing further.

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Sorry but personally don’t think 3 days is enough and that’s not great advice considering every cat charity recommends 2 weeks for a reason.
The cat will survive being locked in for a couple of weeks but may not if its too soon and they try and find their way to their old house.

[riversider2014]

So, an update on this. Kept them in a week and max was getting thoroughly depressed so made the decision to let them out.

As expected molly has been fine and hardly leaves the house and when she does is not far and not for long.

Max on the other hand is ‘technically’ missing in that we haven’t seen him since Thursday.

However, lots of cat biscuits were being eaten overnight so set the GoPro up and sure enough he’s coming in around 12.30 at night, having a bit to eat and leaving 5 minutes later not to be seen again till the following night.

Any ideas how to encourage him to hang about? He’s certainly not eating as much as he usually does so perhaps he’s getting fed elsewhere as he’ll be a new cat in the area and someone might think he’s a stray - we have put a post on Facebook saying he’s ‘missing’ but no one has replied with a sighting yet.

Ordinarily we’d set catflap to lock on entry but we know he’ll get stressed out about that and will pretty much destroy it to get back out.

We are going to lock molly in another room overnight and put lots of tasty food down so that might help..

[duchy]

I’d put a paper collar on him as it deffo sounds like someone is feeding him.