Everyone knows that moving home is a big stressful deal, but it is also a HUGE deal for your cat as well. In fact, your cats behaviour when moving house can change quite a lot and it’s important you make the experience as easy and stress free for your pet as possible.

Here are some great tips on how to do that:

1.) Removal Chaos

Believe it or not, your cat’s home is their sanctuary and the noise, chaos and fuss that occurs when moving all of your stuff out is actually quite upsetting for your cat.

Try to keep your cat away from all the hussle and bustle of moving to help keep their anxiety down. Also make sure they have all of their food, water and toilet amenities to hand during this time as well.

2.) Moving your cat

When it comes time to take your cat to the new house – don’t feed him/her too much food and certainly not too soon before jumping in the car! Ideally their stomach should be completely empty whilst moving to avoid getting sick (cats really do get car sick!). Still give them access to plenty of water though throughout the journey.

3.) What to do when you arrive

When you finally get your cat to your new home, choose an initial room where you can keep your pet along with their essentials for a while and keep them in there. They will actually feel more safe confined in this space than they would with the ‘big unknown’ house to roam around in.

Gradually they will get used to this and you can open up more and more rooms until they are comfortable with their new surroundings and you notice your cats behaviour improving.

4.) Further helping them to adjust and feel at home

It will take time for your cat to properly feel like the new place is home, no different to humans in that respect!

Allow them to explore on their own and at their own pace. If you notice them shying away from certain rooms and doors then just let them gradually build up to it. Don’t try and carry them around the house to see it all – let them do it at their own pace.

The garden is an important milestone for your cat, but is another big open space that has probably been ‘marked’ by other cats and their scents, so don’t allow them out for a little while until they are used to their safe haven. Then you can gradually let them out.

So there you go – if you notice that your cats behaviour when moving house is a little odd, don’t worry, he/she is just going through the motions of moving the same as we do but without the understanding of what is happening. Imagine that yourself – scary huh?

Stick to these simple tips and you and your cat will be happy in your new home in no time!