When you move with your cat, you also have to consider the cat's accommodation in a new home. What do you need to know when moving the cat to another house that it does not know?
Like all felines, cats are no exception when it comes to territory. You've probably noticed how your cat rubs against the furniture around the house and all the nooks and crannies of the door. This behavior is not random. In this way, they "mark" their territory, leaving in the respective places their own smell, imperceptible to humans.
If we are forced to move to a new home with our cat or cats, we must know that this will bring some stress to the feline. We exclude from here kittens, who have not yet developed a good sense of territory and adapt very quickly to any place. We tell you from experience 😊
Accommodating the cat in a new home
First hop when we move the cat to a new location is the transport. If she is taken to the vet frequently, she is probably used to going in the car or being transported in a carrier on the street. We do not recommend holding the cat in your arms on the street during transport. She can get scared, become agitated and there is a risk of dropping her. The carrier is the safest in this scenario.
In the car, if the cat is panicked in the transporter, it is good to leave it free, provided that there is at least one other person besides the driver to supervise it and if the cat's behavior does not bother the driver.
The mature cat, arrived at the new location, will be like "dropped from the moon". She will be scared, cautious, but at the same time curious. It won't be long before he starts smelling all the rooms of the new home and will be looking for secluded places to hide. Don't be surprised if your cat, who was good and came every time you called her, in the new location will run away from you or become aggressive when you try to hold her.
For the cat's peace of mind, it is good to bring her things to the new home. The basket, the box or the pillow she used to sleep on in the old home, the sisal or the toys, all have her smell and she will recognize them at once.
To accommodate the cat faster, let the cat explore the new territory without restraining it, even if it wants to go to places where it will not be allowed later. A good "welcome" is to serve her favorite food in the new place, in her bowls, from which she was used to eating at the old location.
Playing and petting will calm her down a lot and give her a sense of security. She will get over the shock of the environmental change more easily and she will learn very quickly that that place is hers and she will assert herself as the boss 😊
So, settling a cat in a new home depends a lot on the attention of the owners and how they know how to make this change easier for them. The accommodation period also depends a lot on the cat's character. There are cats that settle down in just a few hours or a day, and others that don't settle down even after two months. After discovering the territory, the latter will show signs of stress, become apathetic, agitated or aggressive.
