Just wondered if anyone has done this before?

I'll be moving a short way soon temporarily, until I have a house ready up in Yorkshire, then I'll be moving there permanently.  All my animals - fish too! - are coming with me, including my old cat - she'll be 20 in ten days!

So does anyone have any tips on how I can ease the transition each time? I've already got her on a probiotic/enzyme supplement to help her digestion which should help if she gets very stressed, and of course her bed and bowls will be coming as well.

When we've got our cats (both been rescues over 2 yrs old) we've done the following:-

We initially kept them in doors in their new house for approx. 4 weeks.  After that, on a cat harness, we took them out into the garden every day to get them used to their new outside surroundings too.  We did this for about another 4 weeks.  After that they were let out alone and gradually explored further afield (at first they just used to stay in the garden).  Then any exploration they did do they knew to come back to their 'new' home :)

With regards the move is there any way a family member or neighbour could look after you puddy for a few days whilst you are packing up your old house and moving into your new house?  This would be less stressful for all concerned as you'd know the cat was in a safe place and wouldn't get scared by what was going on around her :)

Hope this helps!

The keeping indoors thing isn't too much of an issue - old Smoke hasn't been outside in 3 years!!  But, it does help for my younger ("younger" meaning 9... :p) cat, thanks!

The only family member I could ask to look after the cats is my dad - but it's his OH's place we're all moving into first anyway!

What I think i'm going to try and do - when I do the final move up north - is move everything but the animals first, so it's all ready for them.  I'm going to have to do that to some degree anyway - no use moving fish without a tank set up...

Thanks for the tips!

My pleasure :)  Good luck with the move and hope you enjoy your new home here in the North - tis the best place to be afterall ;)

We moved two years ago with our cat,as she was eighteen then she had not been going out for a while,she settled almost straight away,our new house is much warmer so she loves it,she lives upstairs, her choice,so it is like having her own flat, I put a litter tray in the spare bedroom,she is as happy as Larry.Good luck with the move.

Sheila.x

what about the cat pheromone diffuser thing (the name escapes me) avbailable from vets - similar to the dog apeasment pheromone. My friend moved 700 miles with 2 cats and used 2 of the plug ins with no probs at all, either that or they were just super well adjusted cats!

FELIWAY - cat pheromone diffuser

Ah, that's a good idea!  Might help the 9 yr old as well - she has been constantly stressed as it is the past 2 and a half years with my brother's cats living here (she despises them), a diffuser might help ease the moves for her too.  Thanks!

Last Saturday I moved my 17 1/2 year old cat into a new flat.  It wasn't a terribly long journey, just to a different part of London, but nonetheless I hope it provides some reassurance when I say that he doesn't seem bothered in the slightest.

I have a (very unscientific) theory that many cats who attain such old age (I would consider 14+ as geriatric) owe their longevity to a chilled out attitude!  I was really worried about how Baggy would cope with the move but to be honest I'm not sure he's even noticed it's a different house!  He just had a quick sniff around then ate some food before going to sleep behind the television, so no change there.

I also moved a community tank of tropical fish which was possibly the most stressful thing I've ever done but I'm really pleased as I didn't lose a single fish, and they all seem to be doing really well.

Good luck

M-C

We moved 6 years ago with 2 cats from a first floor flat to a house............tried all the above but one snuck out and promptly got stuck up a tree on day 3! He now owns the entire street and everyone adores him luckily

Karen