Cat and moving house, help!

[MrsVLS]

Hi all,

Anyone else moved home with a cat. My husband and I are in our new home for first time tonight...

We have an outdoor cat so have set up his litter box and food in hallway, he ate and pooed so I was happy, we gone up to bed and as he sleeps with us I've let him be with us to try and minimise stress but he has just woken up at 2am must of panicked and pooed on new carpet! We cleared it up and put him all the way back downstairs new to litter box to try and get him to remember where it is.. It's not a big house by any means and in our old one he has never had any problem over night. Have I been too selfish by letting him have run of the house and now screwed everything up???

 

[Elaine143a]

Hi all,

Anyone else moved home with a cat. My husband and I are in our new home for first time tonight...

We have an outdoor cat so have set up his litter box and food in hallway, he ate and pooed so I was happy, we gone up to bed and as he sleeps with us I've let him be with us to try and minimise stress but he has just woken up at 2am must of panicked and pooed on new carpet! We cleared it up and put him all the way back downstairs new to litter box to try and get him to remember where it is.. It's not a big house by any means and in our old one he has never had any problem over night. Have I been too selfish by letting him have run of the house and now screwed everything up???

Don't stress, it's the cat's first night in the house too! From my limited experience with cats, they are far cleaner than dogs, so I would suggest moving the litter tray as far away from the feeding bowl as possible.

Keep him indoors for a week or so, then let him out gradually until he knows his surroundings, an hour or two at a time, then call him in for his food.

You will probably get better advice in the morning from "cat people" , but hope this helps in the meantime ................

 

[MissyMuffin]

Cats are territorial and he's been moved from his and has to establish a new one. He'll be looking for threats etc for a while.
Put the litter by the door and another maybe in the bathroom.
Get some Feliway which might calm him.
Make sure he can smell things from his old home - his blankets etc.
in my experience cats stressed easily but he will be fine really soon.
Don't be too upset, he will be back to himself in a week or so x

 

[KHS]

I agree with the others, I've always had cats and the do get out of their comfort zone when moving to a new home, the food and litter tray are far to close together, being clean animals once he's pooped in his tray he won't use it again until it's cleaned out
Keep him in for a week or 2 let him sit on upstairs window sills if he wants to, he will be searching his grounds looking for landmarks to get him home again for ehen he goes he outside so he doesn't get lost
He will be fine

 

[BonBon]

I agree with everything missymuffin said. I have moved house quite a lot with my previous mog and twice with my 2 rogues. I kept mine indoors for a minimum of 2 weeks. Gives them chance to get their scent everywhere. You'll be fine. Once your all settled he'll settle too.
Maria x

Sent from my HTC Sensation XE with Beats Audio Z715e using SalonGeek mobile app

 

[tonicj]

I have this ahead of me soon as we will be moving also. I was told recently to rub a cloth over my cat and then transfer his scent to different parts of the house to help reduce his stress. Has anyone ever tried this?

 

[TracyUK]

Some good advise but I would keep him in for 3 weeks and only let him out at first before he is fed. I would have only introduced him to one room at a time but I'm sure he will settle soon mine always have

 

[Nails<3]

My 2 have moved with us twice. They have been fine.

They have scented at our new house a couple of times. Caught them in the act. Its what they do. Cats are very territorial. My 2 don't really ever go in their cat litter as they go outside to do it, but as they have been trapped in I cant blame them.

It has been 3 weeks since we moved so they will be going out tomorrow. So sad as we have moved to a busy road, previously we lived on a quiet road and they would sunbathe in the day on the road it was that quiet. I don't want to let them out at all but they have been outdoor cats and It would be cruel.

I would advise min of 3 weeks of indoors to let cats get used to the house.

Sent from my GT-I9505 using SalonGeek mobile app

 

[evie168]

What everyone has said plus our breeder said to close sections of the house off for a while until they get used to the first environment before being introduced to the next room. When you do open that new room for them always supervise and show them where the litter tray is if they have accidents. Cats are particularly fussy with how clean they like their litter to be. If this is an outdoor cat, it may not be used to doing its business in a box with stuff there already so you just may need to clean it more regularly than you like.

I swear by feliway! Always works!

 

[MrsVLS]

Thanks everyone! Was very emotional last night! He is settling quickly like you said going to keep him in longer the better! He seems to be adapting well. X

 

[MissyMuffin]

Hope you and your family and lovely cat will be happy I'm your new home x

 

[Penny Vintage]

When I got my cat she was 10 and I was her third owner. I did as said and shut off rooms for her so she felt safe and got used to it. Especially as I have my dog, I thought it would make her safer if he couldnt get in. First thing she did was roll and rub her back and face all over the rug lol! As said before about the litter trey being emptied alot, I didnt realise how important this is as my previous cat was outdoor. They can be so picky and as its a new place they might be noticing it more.

 

[Annabel12]

My cats were adopted mature - I kept them both in for about 3 weeks since they arrived. Few months ago we moved abroad - they settled down really quick and were ready to go out in 2 weeks. Cat has to feel confident in new place before you let it out but you'll see it clearly, no worries

Sent from my GT-S7500 using SalonGeek mobile app

 

[Christy.]

I kept mine in for ages, a good 3 months I think. Leo did escape after about 12 hours of having him and came back I got them in December and the weather was quite bad. Looking back, I don't know how I contained Leo, he is a little bugger!