Moving house with a cat
Discussion
Hi all, we will likely be moving house in 6 months or so, and depending on how house sales go, we may move soon, then move again in 6 months when our new house is finished.
We have a 10 year old cat, who came to us as a stray kitten and never moved out. We had him neutered when we got him. He is quite lively, friendly, and reasonably independent. He has a cat flap and just comes and goes day/night as he wants. We just leave him at home on his own when we go on holiday and he’s fine.
I’m just a bit worried about moving house with him. I’m convinced that as soon as we move, he will run away and never be seen again. But people tell me it’s usually fine.
Anyone had any experience of moving with a cat? Any tips?
Thanks
We have a 10 year old cat, who came to us as a stray kitten and never moved out. We had him neutered when we got him. He is quite lively, friendly, and reasonably independent. He has a cat flap and just comes and goes day/night as he wants. We just leave him at home on his own when we go on holiday and he’s fine.
I’m just a bit worried about moving house with him. I’m convinced that as soon as we move, he will run away and never be seen again. But people tell me it’s usually fine.
Anyone had any experience of moving with a cat? Any tips?
Thanks
He’ll be fine, I’ve done it twice with a similar aged cat with the same temperament.
It’s a bit traumatic for them and moving day is obviously chaotic, last time I did it I cleared the house and got the cat last. Let him have a couple of days to get used to the new house then let him out in the garden. He probably won’t go far until he’s scoped out the territory.
Some people say a week or 2 before letting him out, whatever you’re comfortable with. Mine is an outdoors cat and he was itching to get out.
It’s a bit traumatic for them and moving day is obviously chaotic, last time I did it I cleared the house and got the cat last. Let him have a couple of days to get used to the new house then let him out in the garden. He probably won’t go far until he’s scoped out the territory.
Some people say a week or 2 before letting him out, whatever you’re comfortable with. Mine is an outdoors cat and he was itching to get out.
matt666 said:
He’ll be fine, I’ve done it twice with a similar aged cat with the same temperament.
It’s a bit traumatic for them and moving day is obviously chaotic, last time I did it I cleared the house and got the cat last. Let him have a couple of days to get used to the new house then let him out in the garden. He probably won’t go far until he’s scoped out the territory.
Some people say a week or 2 before letting him out, whatever you’re comfortable with. Mine is an outdoors cat and he was itching to get out.
Thanks for that.It’s a bit traumatic for them and moving day is obviously chaotic, last time I did it I cleared the house and got the cat last. Let him have a couple of days to get used to the new house then let him out in the garden. He probably won’t go far until he’s scoped out the territory.
Some people say a week or 2 before letting him out, whatever you’re comfortable with. Mine is an outdoors cat and he was itching to get out.
My plan was the same. Move everything and take the cat last.
I think he will be the same as yours, probably desperate to get outside as he spends 50% of his time outside anyway.
We did it with no issues, we did follow the approach of keep inside for 2 weeks to get familiar but did take her outside on a lead to get familiar with (and use) the garden during that time. We did the 2 week thing when she moved into our first house too (she was a rescue cat). Main issue for us when moving and keeping inside was she was no longer used to having a litter tray and wouldn't use one so we had to go out on the lead to use "the facilities". The first time they go out can be a bit nerve wracking but we just stayed in the garden and made sure we could be heared incase she lost her bearings she could follow our voices home.
Roboticarm said:
We did it with no issues, we did follow the approach of keep inside for 2 weeks to get familiar but did take her outside on a lead to get familiar with (and use) the garden during that time. We did the 2 week thing when she moved into our first house too (she was a rescue cat). Main issue for us when moving and keeping inside was she was no longer used to having a litter tray and wouldn't use one so we had to go out on the lead to use "the facilities". The first time they go out can be a bit nerve wracking but we just stayed in the garden and made sure we could be heared incase she lost her bearings she could follow our voices home.
It’s a nice idea, but if tried to put ours on a lead, I would end up bleeding profusely, then have the lead wrapped round my neck and pulled tight 
Our cat is very ‘clear’ on what he likes and doesn’t like. I once watched him attack a fully grown Labrador because it walked too close to the end of our driveway.
Just moved with our 4 year old cat who is a very outdoorsy cat. Spent the first 10 days in the house, we planned for 2 weeks but he was desperate to get out. Just spent the last week going out with him a few times a day and he isn't going very far at all. At some point next week we will let him out by himself.
We moved with a similar aged cat with a similar temperament and next time I would probably put her in a cattery for a day while moving. We grabbed her last but she seemed to find the old house being emptied quite traumatic and went from being very bold, in charge and very assertive to hiding in a bedroom at the new house for a couple of days. We did get our bedroom set up straight away so she could sleep on the bed with the familiar fart smells.
She spent most of her life outside mutilating the local cats/dogs/small children/wildlife at our old house but it took weeks before she actually wanted to go out after we moved. 6 months down the line she was ok and two years later lives outside most of the time but it took longer for her to settle than I had expected. What she didn't do was run away and became even more clingy instead!
She spent most of her life outside mutilating the local cats/dogs/small children/wildlife at our old house but it took weeks before she actually wanted to go out after we moved. 6 months down the line she was ok and two years later lives outside most of the time but it took longer for her to settle than I had expected. What she didn't do was run away and became even more clingy instead!
StoatInACoat said:
We moved with a similar aged cat with a similar temperament and next time I would probably put her in a cattery for a day while moving. We grabbed her last but she seemed to find the old house being emptied quite traumatic and went from being very bold, in charge and very assertive to hiding in a bedroom at the new house for a couple of days. We did get our bedroom set up straight away so she could sleep on the bed with the familiar fart smells.
She spent most of her life outside mutilating the local cats/dogs/small children/wildlife at our old house but it took weeks before she actually wanted to go out after we moved. 6 months down the line she was ok and two years later lives outside most of the time but it took longer for her to settle than I had expected. What she didn't do was run away and became even more clingy instead!
Interesting.She spent most of her life outside mutilating the local cats/dogs/small children/wildlife at our old house but it took weeks before she actually wanted to go out after we moved. 6 months down the line she was ok and two years later lives outside most of the time but it took longer for her to settle than I had expected. What she didn't do was run away and became even more clingy instead!
To be honest, I would be fine if he became clingy and a bit wary of going outside simply because that would be preferable to him going outside, and running off to try to ‘get home‘ to our old house.
Thankfully, these replies are telling me that it’s not actually that common for a cat to try to run away when you move house.
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