More About Meow-ving Kitty
Moving with cats is more than just the physical act of transporting them from home to home (which we covered in the last blog). Because cats are fans of routine and scared of change, a couple steps need to be taken before and after the move to suppress feline fear.
First off, confine them to a safe room so when Golan’s movers come to pack up your things and carry out your furniture, the cats won’t be stressed out by the unexpected guests and hide in potentially-dangerous places or escape out of open doors. Also, let Golan’s Movers know there is a safe room that is off limits by verbally telling them as well as labeling the door with a sign.
A safe room, by the way, is a room with a litter box on one end and cat food, water and bedding on the other end. The cats should calmly be placed in the room along with their toys. Ideally the room will have a French Door or some kind of glass pane so you can check in on them without opening the door while the move is in play.
Once your furniture is moved and set up by Golan’s at your new home, you will repeat the process of a creating a safe room. This time the room is not to shield the cats from the commotion of the move. It’s to help acclimate them to their new digs.
Given immediate free run of a new house usually overwhelms cats and they will search for a place to hide—often a place that is dangerous like behind the oven or up in the rafters or air ducts. By providing your fraidy-cats with a safe room as well as a cardboard box to hide in, they’ll feel more at ease—and you’ll know where they are!
Leave the door to their safe room open when you’re home. As your cats feel more comfortable, they will come out. If your patience and love doesn’t encourage them to safely and slowly explore the new environment, their curiosity will!
Although change is more traumatic for cats than it is for dogs, they will eventually acclimate themselves to the new home and be lording over their domain in time, reclaiming their top cat status.
For more information regarding California cat moves, visit http://www.sdhumane.org/
Also when looking for movers of your cats in California, contact Golan’s movers in Los Angeles for assistance.