Six days until moving day, wondering what to do with Lola

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  • 23 August, 2014 at 8:02 am #816522
    cheyanne may
    Participant

    Hello everyone, it is currently almost 3 am where I live and I’m wide awake and stressing about moving. So here I am, seeking advice from the experts.
    As few of you may know, I live in a basement apartment, and Lola is very curious of the outdoors and will dart outside first chance she gets. With moving furniture outside the door will constantly be open and with everything that will be going on I won’t have time to keep an eye on her. I was thinking about bringing her to the new place first, but she could even escape there. so I was thinking about maybe putting her in our laundry room before we start bringing furniture out, I’m hoping this will help her feel less stressed out, because she won’t be able to see what’s going on. Also, I’m wondering if when we bring her to the new place if we should introduce her to the whole place all at once, or do it gradually. She’s never been to a new environment before and I just want her to feel comfortable. When I lived with my parents we had a cat and we moved a few times, and every time our cat would hide somewhere during the moving process and after we moved in. She would also kind of ignore us a few days after, I feel like maybe she thought we were going to leave her behind. I’m pretty sure her previous owners had dumped her outside when they moved, we found her in our backyard, just skin and bone. She was fixed and declawed when we found her. So to her moving was probably terrifying. I don’t want to traumatize Lola and I obviously want everything to go smoothly. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

    23 August, 2014 at 9:38 am #816523
    ecbrown
    Participant

    Hi, just been through this myself. Yes, a safe room like a laundry room is the way to go. I had four cats (and 2 litter boxes)in a master closet when we were moving out of our last house….and a big sign that said CATS…DO NOT ENTER. Moving into this house I used bathrooms to keep them safe…also with signs. I also spoke with the movers both times to make sure they understood the signs. Good to be super cautious. You read stories of cats getting lost on moving day all the time. (I actually read one moments before reading your post.)

    It depends on the personality of the cat for whether to expose them to the new place all at once. If there is any question, I’d start with just one room and go from there. And, yes they are often not themselves for a few days. My Emily hid a lot for a few days. But she came around and loves the new place. One walked around like he owned the place as soon as we released him from the crate. And one had a reaction between the two extremes.

    Good luck. I know what those sleepless nights are like. Worrying about the cats and the move kept me up for endless hours.

    23 August, 2014 at 2:07 pm #816543
    Kittyzee
    Participant

    Great idea ECB to mark the doors with a sign, hadn’t thought of that! Good advice cheyenne from ECB. I don’t have much advice on moving since I’ve only moved once, LOL, and keep bringing cats home, BUT they are all going to react differently to the move. Lola will adjust and will probably act *slinky* for a while, but the furniture and things you bring in will still smell the same, YOU are the same so these are the constants in her life. She will be fine. Let us know how you all do getting through the move and good luck!

    23 August, 2014 at 2:57 pm #816550
    AV
    Participant

    EC gave good advise! …. I myself have moved 3 times in the past 6 years (with 2 cats) ….. I definitely agree, confine her to a ‘safe’ room while moving out, and then start slow with the introduction to the new place – the first and most important thing, decide up front where you want the litter box to go, and make sure that’s the first thing you show her ….. also, if you have a carrier, or crate, set that on the floor, usually in the same room where you put the litter box, altho not directly next to it (they don’t like that), and just open it so she can get out when she’s ready ….. remember, the carrier is ‘hers’ and will have her smells on it, so it’s a safe place ….. when I traveled with Abby from Tampa to NC to the mountain house the first time, she slowly came out of her carrier and sniffed around …. found the litter box (which I had put clean litter in, but brough a baggie of ‘used’ litter and sprinkled on top (that way she knew it was hers) …. but when she got nervous, she would get back in her carrier and go to sleep ….. (it had her favorite donut bed in it) …. eventually she exployed everything, and got the ‘lay of the land’ down, but oft times I would go upstairs, and there she was curled up in her carrier fast asleep ….. it usually only takes a few days for them to get used to the new place, and if you’re there and enjoying it, she will become more comfortable, once she sees you making it your home too …. best of luck, keep us updated!

    23 August, 2014 at 3:47 pm #816555
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    CM,
    I’ve moved my babies across continents and with all the confusion going on, Miss Lola will be scared and try to get out of the laundry room. All it takes is one good pull with a paw under the door…Please secure the door with a bungee cord. The signs are so important, too. Have the movers do your bedroom last so that it’s the first room to come off the van. Once you get your bedroom set up, put Miss Lola (while in her carrier) in your bedroom. The logic (of mine) is that if the first room she’s stays in smells familiar, than she’ll be a bit more relaxed. I always do the used litter box trick. If the litterbox smells like “her” litterbox, she’ll use it. Some cats will be all over the new place within in hours, others take their time. Let Miss Lola decide what she wants to do and always keep her carrier open so she has a place to retreat. Remember this is traumatic for your whole family so you need to stay relaxed and give Miss Lola lots of comfort and love. Good Luck and let use know how you’re doing.
    P.S. you could get some Rescue Remedy for pets (and maybe some for people).

    23 August, 2014 at 8:08 pm #816558
    cheyanne may
    Participant

    Thank you very much everyone! I’m going to put a sign on the laundry room so nobody goes in. We don’t have anything in there to move anyways. We are getting friends to help us, so they already know about the cat. However we aren’t bringing our bedroom stuff, we have a new bedroom set at the new place already and we are getting rid of our bed. We’re going to bring Lola, and our rabbit last. That way all our stuff will already be at the new place so everything will still smell the same. Thanks again everybody!

    24 August, 2014 at 1:49 am #816569
    katzenjammer
    Participant

    Hi CM,
    Here’s how I managed my move some 10 yrs back. As per good advice above, I put kit in secure room (bathroom) along with his litter box, food, water, toy. In effect put both signs and LOTS of tape across door. Move was short distance so did not take long. After movers left while setting up I went back and forth to check on kit. When things were more or less safe in new place, ie no screws, nails etc. on floor, friend and I picked up kit. It was evening and quiet. Put his food, litter box in their new locations. We gave him lots of attention, spoke to him especially softly. He walked around curiously for a little bit, then was fine. Depends on personality of cat as was also mentioned. Main thing IMHO is to wait until things in new place are relatively settled and atmosphere is relatively subdued before bringing L-O-L-A Lola in. I assure you that kitty was my main concern too!

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