Shifting houses is one of the most taxing and time taking activities in the world. Moving from one place to another along with all the belongings that you have accrued through the years is a tough and stressful job. House shifting is likewise stressful if you are moving solo or with your family or with family members that are not humans.
If you have a pet cat that helps you with your daily dose of oxytocin and live stress-free, moving with the pet won’t be a stress-free affair. In this piece of writing, I will tell you about the best tried and tested tips to shift houses with cats.
Cats, unlike dogs, are unpredictable creatures and do not want to get accustomed to changes in their surroundings. They like to be in their routine territory and do not welcome change in their habitat. Cats even oppose and act aggressively when they are forced to accept ambient change.
But we can’t help them stay in an unchanging habitat when we shift our house from one place to another. Our pets are like family members and we can’t leave them behind as we move our house. So how do we settle the situation between us and our pet kitty? Read on to know-how.
Here are the best tried and tested tips to shift houses with cats in the following pointers:
Prepare your cat
As you are preparing for the house shifting, you need to prepare your cat for the upcoming change in life. Try to spend some considerable time with your kitty and study its behaviour.
If you see that there are some signs of physical discomfort, talk to your vet. If you find some signs of stress, address them. Cats do not like to interact with unfamiliar faces so try to resolve the issues by yourself as much as possible.
Introduce a carrier
During the shifting process, you will have to move your cat in a carrier. Your cat is not some grocery supply that you can plop into a container. You need to train your cat to get into the carrier by itself. So, first, introduce the carrier to your cat at least a month in advance.
You can keep some of your favourite toys near the gate of the carrier. Keep the food bowl near the carrier. After 5 to 6 days keep the toys and food bowl inside the carrier so that it has to step inside to get hold of them.
With every passing day, push the food bowl more towards the inner end of the carrier. Your cat will be accustomed to getting inside the carrier by itself and will spend substantial time inside. This you can introduce your cat to its carrier.
Introduce dummy boxes
House shifting will involve piling up a lot many packing boxes in the house. If your pet sees too many boxes all of a sudden, it is natural for it to feel stressed out. The wisest thing that you should do is to introduce dummy boxes to your cat. Get some free cardboard boxes from the nearest supermarket or medicine store. Make sure that the box doesn’t smell stale vegetables or medicines as cats despise these smells.
Bring the dummy boxes and lay them out randomly in the drawing-room of your house. Hide their favourite toys inside the boxes and let your pet loose to find their treasure. Treat them as if they succeed. This treasure hunt game will make them feel positive about packing boxes. You can drive away stress related to packing boxes in this way.
Maintain a regime
Now you got a pet that doesn’t like a change in regime. Why think of it as a good aspect rather than a drawback. Let your kitty do what it loves and you should help it maintain a regime even when you are busy preparing for your relocation.
Feed your cat exactly at the same time every day and spend play time and cuddle time for a fixed span each day. You will find your cat in good physical and emotional health if you maintain a proper regime.
Read: How do you save money on your next move
Visit a vet
Cats are impulsive and their dispositions change in seconds. You cannot predict their next move even if you are very close to your pet. With the slightest change around them, they can exhibit signs of anxiety and aggression. If you find drastic behavioural changes in your pet as the day of the move arrives, visit a vet.
Your cat will not like to face the vet for sure but if that is the need of the moment, you have to go for it. The vet can check your cat and prescribe medicines accordingly. There are many tranquilising medicines for cats. It is always better to look for a cure when things are in the initial stage.
Feed less than usual
We as pet parents like to feed our kiddos as much as we can. They should never feel hungry; be it for food or love. But again, going by the need of the moment, you have to feed them less in the preparatory days than you do on usual. This will prevent the kitty from getting an upset stomach resulting in vomiting and too much pooping.
Keep it isolated
On the day of the move, keep your kitty isolated in a separate room where there are not many things to pack. If you do not have a spare room, keep your kitty inside the carrier. Provide them with food and their toys inside the carrier.
Don’t let your kitty move around freely amongst the team of packers and movers while they are busy with their job. Otherwise, they will be stressed and may get aggressive seeing so many unfamiliar faces. Moreover, they can get injured if any heavy furniture hits them in the moving process.
Check temperament
After you arrive at your new house, take the carrier out inside the house but let your cat loose only after you have settled the boxes in their respective rooms. Once you open the gates of the carrier, your cat will act strange for some time as is expected. Let your pet look around and explore the new house all by itself.
Set a litter box
You need to set up a litter box for your kitty to poop in the new house. If your kitty is litter trained, you cannot afford to go without a litter box even for a single day. Your cat will not poop anywhere else unless it finds a litter box. It will roam around in discomfort showing aggression. Set it up in a corner where it is going to be convenient for you to clean and it should be away from the reach of your kids if you are a parent.
Give your time
After you settle down in your new home, let your pet settle down as well. You need to give it some time for that. Don’t stop your cat from exploring the new house by itself. Don’t keep the gates of your house open. If it escapes from the main door open in the neighbourhood, it will get lost in the new locale. Be patient with your cat as much as possible.
Winding Up
House shifting with the pets is a challenging task; especially if it is a cat. Cats are not receptive, adaptable, and tolerant. They snap all the time whenever they find things not happening their way. In brief, they are cute but bossy creatures.
They cannot tolerate anybody messing with them. Therefore, you cannot expect things to be smooth as you shift your house with your kitty. But follow the above-mentioned 10 tried and tested tips to shift houses with cats to make it an easier experience. Have a meow-villous move friends!
