Keep Your Cats Safe After Moving House
When I was about six my parents and I moved from an apartment in Noe Valley to a house in the Haight-Ashbury. With us came our cat Pimpek (pictured above). In Noe Valley, Pimpek was an indoor/outdoor cat so when we got to our new home we naturally let him out right away. Unfortunately, we didn’t know the rules of moving with cats and Pimpek disappeared shortly after. I like to pretend he didn’t leave because he was tired of getting the bejesus squeezed out of him.
Cats, like pigeons, tend to want to return to their old territory. If you let them out too soon after a move, they may attempt to find their way back to what they consider home. Doing some research for my own move, I discovered that most folks recommend keeping indoor/outdoor cats inside for at least a month before letting them check out their outdoor surroundings and even after that you should supervise fun in the sun until they are fully comfortable.
While Bruce and I have decided our cats’ outdoor lives has come to an end due to the high traffic outside our new home, here are some more tips if you decide to let you cat outdoors after a move:
- Microchip your cat. If your pal is already chipped, update your info with the microchip company so they can reach you if someone finds your pet.
- Keep up with your cat’s vaccinations. Felines that venture outdoors come into contact with tons of diseases so keeping their shots updated is key to a long and healthy life.
- If you can, harness your cat and walk it around the yard on a leash so they can check things out and mark their territory under your supervision.
- Open the door to your garden and let your cat decide whether or not they are ready to head out. Keep the door open while they are outside so they can quickly retreat to safety if they find any trouble.
- If you hear a fight in the yard get your cat’s back. They’ll need all the help they can get in establishing their new territory.
- If you moved locally, email photos of your pets to the new tenants at your old place so if your cat returns they’ll spot them and be able to tell you.
- Locate the closest 24-hour emergency vet in case something happens that requires immediate care.
Do you have any post move tips for pet owners?
Image: Sonia Zjawinski
8 Responses to “Keep Your Cats Safe After Moving House”
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i don’t have any suggestions as i’ve always had indoor cats since moving, but i just wanted to say that photograph is tops.
I could not agree more. Both of your expressions are AMAZING.
bliss vs. terror
Good and smart post.
Plus, I want to hug that picture. Squeeze it and squeeze it!
I just wanted to pipe in with my agreement that the picture is amazing!
I had to laugh out loud when I read this…how the heck did you come up with that cat’s name?? Being a native Croatian speaker, I have to tell you that “Pimpek” is another word for a certain…ahem…male organ. I have honestly never in my life come across a funnier pet name! But I have to admit, that cat is so freaking cute one can’t help but squeeze the heck out of his furry little orange body. I have two cats, and both are strictly indoors, mostly because one of them is too curious for his own good and ridiculously fast…he’d be gone in a flash if I let my guard down even a little. The other cat couldn’t care less, but really, how can you let one of them outside and not the other?
But definitely, microchip/tattoo your pet…and licence the animal (here in Alberta, Canada, it is illegal to have a cat over the age of 6 months without a city license. Doesn’t matter if they are indor or outdoor). This way, if your little friend ever wanders away, they are easily and quickly identified if found (plus, it saves them from being treated as a feral cat and euthanised in error).
Help!
I have 3 indoor/outdoor male nuetered cats. I have recently made a move locally, only about 5 blocks but have a pretty busy street between. 2 of my cats are fine with the move, they stay close to the new house and yard. One, the eldest, has ventured 5 times to the old house. I have had to go retrieve him and then have kept him inside a few days, but then he takes off again. This morning I was out walking the dogs at the park across the street and Cheddar somehow got out of the house and caught up with us. I seriously felt like I was in a homeward bound movie because Cheddar actually led the dogs BACK TO THE OLD HOUSE!!!!! Me following and trying to coax him back to me the entire time. So then I had to carry Cheddar and lead two dogs back a mile to the new house! I am perplexed as to how to keep him from going back short of keeping him inside forever. It doesn’t seem fair because the other two are fine with the new territory.
Can anyone help? Thanks in advance for any feedback!
First of all, how frustrating! Second of all, I would have paid good money to see video of you, two dogs, and a cat in your arms.
My only advice is that maybe Cheddar needs to be indoor only for a few months. He maybe hasn’t had enough time in the new place to really claim it as his own, so he continues to see the old house as his territory. And since you moved so close to the old place, he can probably smell it (or at least recognize some of his old hangouts) so it only makes sense to him to return to his old abode rather than his new pad.