OK pet owners out there. We are moving to our new home and need some advice. Although we explained to Ziggy that we're moving and I'm sure he figured out that something is up with all of the boxes throughout our place (he's a huge fan of jumping in said boxes), he has no idea what's going to happen in just a few days. We're taking him from our current home on Monday morning to the Pet Hotel. Then, we'll pick him up Monday evening and go straight to our new home.
So my question is how do you introduce a cat/kitten into a new environment? I'm not sure if this factors into the response but the new home is bigger than where we currently live, plus, he's never experienced stairs and hardwood floors. Personally, envisioning him slide across the hardwood floors chasing his toy mice makes me laugh.
Thanks in advance for your advice.
Friday, January 08, 2010
Question for Pet Owners
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6 comments:
With 3 cats myself, I understand your concern. Each time we move, it is a different experience. I usually make sure their litter boxes and food areas are set up 1st, before I take them out of their carriers. Then I take each one individually to visit their litter box first so they know where it is. After that, there is not much to do but let them freak out and wander for a bit. Much meowing may ensue and hiding is common for the 1st day. After that, they are fine and claim their new hangouts. Good luck!
Ditto what Christine said about the food and the litter. Jack has now lived in 5 different places. The adjustment takes a day or too and he's more skittish than usual the first few weeks until he is fully acclimated to the new place.
This was Kate's first move. Since she's way nosier than Jack, she was all over the place exploring right away.
I did take the opportunity with the move to make a change. I used to let them go in and out of my closet whenever they wanted (resulting in many cat hairs on the hems of my pants). I decided I didn't want them in there anymore, so I keep the door closed all the time now, instead of open. Since that door has always been closed since I moved, they don't try to claw or scratch at the door wanting to be let in.
If there are parts of the new place that you want Ziggy to stay out of, now is the time to implement that.
When I moved with a cat, I put the cat, the litter, the food bowl, and the water bowl all in one room and closed off the rest of the place until the cat seemed okay. Then, I let it explore. This seemed to work well for the cat and also let me get a fix on some of the cat's new hiding place opportunities.
Thanks for the wonderful advice! Lacochran, I'm not sure if confining Ziggy in one room will work for him. He almost always needs to be in the same room or at least be able to see one of us.
Nichole - We're definitely not letting Ziggy into the garage! My wife says no to kitchen counters but that seems hard to enforce especially when we're not there. (I can see his new go-to place being on top of the refrigerator.)
There are ways to train cats to not jump on counters. I've never had an aversion to the cats being on the counters because they don't stay there - it's just a step on the way to the top of the fridge or cabinets and I really don't care if they are up there.
But if you don't want Ziggy to jump on the counters, you can lay sheets of aluminum foil on the counter when they aren't in use. Cats hate the noise of aluminum foil rattling. After a few attempts at trying to get on the counter, he should stop.
Confine Ziggy to a room with his food, litter box, toys, etc. for a day or so. Then let him explore. That is what I have done with my cats. He will get acclimated to the new place quickly.
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