Moving soon? Check out these tips to make it a smooth move for you and your cats and find out how being sponsored by Cat’s Pride Fresh & Light cat litter made it an easy transition.
In my house our two cats are a big part of our family. They are both a bit quirky (but the rest of us are too) but very loving and kind, especially with our kids. We wouldn’t trade them for the world!
So when we recently moved house, we took some special care and precautions to make it a smooth move for our cats to ensure that they transitioned well.
Before the Move:
A few days before moving I noticed that my cats started to seem nervous as the boxes piled up and the furniture got moved around, so I decided to start keeping them inside at night time, and when we were not home, just in case they started to feel spooked and unsure in our home. I also tried to keep their feeding routine normal, so that they could feel a sense of stability in all of the chaos. I also made sure to keep all of the information for my cats’ tracking chip ID numbers in an easy to find place and keep a current photo of each cat on my phone, just in case they got scared and ran-away.
Moving Day:
On moving day I got up early and before anyone else was up, tended to the cats. I had emptied one of the bedrooms from all boxes and furniture so that I could designate it as the “cat room.” I put both cats, cat food, water, a familiar blanket, the cat carrier box and the litter box all in that room. After giving the cats some reassuring petting, I left them in the room so that they wouldn’t get scared seeing all the boxes and furniture move away. I then stuck a sign on the door to let my friends and family (who were awesome enough to help us move) know that the cats were in there.
We left the cats in their room for as long as possible. Since we were moving locally we unloaded the trucks at the new house and then went back for the cats, so the new house would be calm and quiet when we brought them there. We set up another room to be the cats’ room in the new house with food water and cat litter, so right away they would have another comfortable place. We then moved the cats into the new house. They were very spooked, so having a small room of their own helped them not run off and hide as soon we let them out. As it was night-time we left them in that room for the rest of the night. We then let them come out and explore the rest of the house the next day when they were a little more calmed down.
After the Move:
Cats are territorial animals, so after a move it is important to keep them indoors until they have claimed the new house as their territory, or once outside they will try to run-away to their old territory. Our cats have always been indoor and outdoor cats, so
keeping them inside was hard, but well worth it to keep them safe.
Something that I hadn’t realized is how much more use the litter box would get with the cats staying indoors. For this reason, if you are moving with cats I would recommend getting a high quality litter. We used Cat’s Pride Fresh & Light litter. Something unique about this litter is that it is so light. I was really surprised when I poured it into the litter box at how fine it was. This makes it very easy to pour the 15 lb jug (that claims to service as many litter boxes as the 20 lb jug.) After some long days of packing and lifting boxes anything to lighten my load was appreciated! It also did a great job of locking away odors, which was very needed for all of the extra action the litter box was seeing! I also liked that Cat’s Pride Fresh & Light has a Fragrance-Free formula, as one of my cats is sensitive to smells.
After about a week and a half in our new home, my cats started to seem comfortable and wanting to go outside. We decided it was time to let them go outside, so I went out with them to keep an eye on how they were adjusting. A few things that let me know that they were comfortable was that they were rubbing and rolling themselves around the yard (to spread their smells) and cautiously smelling different areas (so they could smell their way back to the house.)
Since then, both cats have been in and out many times and seem to have accepted our new house as home… Which is fantastic, because our house just wouldn’t be home to us without our furry family members!
“I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for Cat’s Pride. I received product samples to facilitate my review and a promotional item as a thank you for participating.”
Leanne Cox is a guest writer for CleverHousewife.com. She is a stay-at-home mom to two kids, and a credentialed preschool teacher. Leanne teaches “mommy-and-me” and “preschool style” music & movement classes through her business “Little Stars Music & Movement Classes” . She is passionate about encouraging early childhood education through hands on learning and exploration.
Shannon (The Mommy-Files) says
I hadn’t heard of Cat’s Pride before. It sounds like a good product though.