10 Best Tips On Moving an Outdoor Cat to a New Home – Moving with an Outdoor Cat
15th November, 2019
Moving house is a stressful enough experience even when you’re fully aware of everything that’s going on. For pets, and especially homebodies like cats, moving can come as quite a shock. Moving with an outdoor cat is difficult for a number of reasons. Wondering how to move a cat to a new house? Here’s a step-by-step guide for moving an outdoor cat to a new home while minimising stress.
Moving an Outdoor Cat to a New Home
Step 1: Choose one cat room
Step 2: Prepare food, water, and kitty litter before the cat arrives
Step 3: Move cat in a cat carrier
Step 4: Let the cat out in a closed room
Step 5: Comfort and feed the cat
Step 6: Keep the cat in one room for 3 days
Step 7: Keep the cat inside the house for 2 weeks
Step 8: Register the cat
Step 9: Supervise cat outside at designated play time
Step 10: Slowly increase play time
Step 1: Choose One Cat Room
You shouldn’t take your cat with you into an empty house when moving with an outdoor cat. After unpacking your heavy furniture and when you’re ready to actively live in the new house, it’s the right time to be moving an outdoor cat to a new home. Select one small room for your cat to stay in. This room shouldn’t have any outside doors, or be used regularly. The laundry, bathroom, or a bedroom are good choices.
Step 2: Prepare Food, Water, and Kitty Litter Before the Cat Arrives
When moving with an outdoor cat, get your cat’s food, water, and kitty litter set up neatly in a sheltered corner. Your cat won’t feel comfortable enough to eat in a foreign empty space, so try to make it as homely as possible, but still give your cat the space to make a quick escape – don’t leave only one avenue to and from the food and water. Have this organised well before you move your cat.
Step 3: Move Cat in Cat Carrier
The first step for actually moving an outdoor cat to a new home is to choose a cat carrier that’s safe and an appropriate size for your cat. If you’re driving, make sure the car is a pleasant room temperature, and buckle the cat carrier into the back seat. Drive carefully, and minimise stops on the way – this journey will be stressful for your cat, so don’t draw it out.
Step 4: Let The Cat Out in a Closed Room
When you arrive at your new home after moving with an outdoor cat, let it out in the room you chose earlier. Keep the doors closed, but stay in the room with your cat. Depending on your cat, it may sniff around the new room for a while and then try to explore the rest of the house. It’s important that you don’t let the cat leave the room yet. It can be difficult to contain an outdoor cat, but when moving an outdoor cat to a new home, it’s paramount that the cat is safe and secure.
Step 5: Comfort and Feed the Cat
When it comes to how to settle a cat into a new home, food and cuddles are the best way to make the cat feel at home. Don’t smother it, but show your pet that you are dependable and present. Offer physical contact, but don’t force it. Show the cat to its food, water, and kitty litter. When it seems settled, you can go about the rest of your day knowing your cat is safe and sheltered in this room.
Step 6: Keep the Cat in One Room for 3 Days
It’s important for cats to acclimatise slowly. The best moving house with cats advice agrees that the cat needs to get used to a new home a little bit at a time. Moving an outdoor cat to a new home offers the complication of convincing a free spirit to stay in an enclosed space for several days, but your cat will be safer and happier in the long run if you keep it in the one designated cat room for 3 days. For how to settle a cat into a new home, continue to provide food and water, and keep an eye on your cat to make sure it is getting more comfortable. But don’t leave it alone in the room – visit every few hours at minimum.
Step 7: Keep the Cat Inside for 2 Weeks
After your cat is well and truly used to the new room, it’s time to let it see the rest of the house. When moving with an outdoor cat, it’s important to let it explore at its own rate, but ensure there are no windows or doors open for your cat to escape outside. The most common time to lose a cat is when moving house with outdoor cats, so keeping it inside for 2 weeks is the best way to keep it safe. Leave the food and water in the same place for now, but if you have a better spot in mind for the cat supplies, during this 2 week period is a good time to move them.
Step 8: Register the Cat
Before you re-introduce your cat to the outside world, make sure your cat is registered with the local council. Get a collar and a tag with your address printed on it. If your cat isn’t microchipped, now is the time to get it done. That way, even if your cat does get lost, between a microchip and a collar, it won’t stay lost for long. When moving an outdoor cat to a new home, you should also prepare your cat for the outside world by making sure its vaccinations and flea and worm treatments are up to date.
Step 9: Supervise Cat Outside
The first time you let your cat outside the new house, it will have been raring to go for weeks, so be careful not to let it stray too far. When moving an outdoor cat to a new home, go outside with your cat and show it around the new backyard. When it looks like it might stray too far or your nerves can’t take anymore, get the cat back inside. It’s okay to pick it up if it won’t come back in. You have to remind your cat of the outside and inside procedure by assigning a schedule.
Step 10: Slowly Increase Play Time
The more times you go outside with your cat, the further it will stray. If it jumps over fences, just try to stay nearby and call out occasionally so it won’t stray too far. Soon, you’ll be able to let your cat out unsupervised, with the knowledge that it will come back at dinner time. To that end, designated meal times will help your cat settle into the new place.
When moving with an outdoor cat, the risk of losing the cat is high, but if you follow these tips and tricks, in no time flat your cat will settle into the new house like it’s lived there it’s whole life. Eliminate the stress of moving for you and your pets; follow our moving house with cats advice and check out Kent’s other blogs for more moving tips!
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10 Best Tips On How To Move Outdoor Cat To A New Home
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