Moving house with a cat

Teach the cat to go into its carrier before moving day. Vet guidelines call positive-reinforcement carrier training the gold standard for stressful trips. They write it for vet visits, so for a move this is the same idea applied to a new situation. Short sessions suit cats better than long ones, and training reduces the handling that scares a cat, such as being put into a carrier.

Leave the carrier open in a room the cat uses, so it takes on the cat's own smell. That lowers the cat's fear of the carrier and of travel. If there is no time to train, the guideline's minimum is to prepare the carrier and the car with a synthetic feline pheromone about 15 minutes ahead and to keep the carrier covered and steady.

A move is a stressor to plan for: cats cope with change of place worse than many people expect and often dislike travelling. A cat that is already stressed at home, for example by tension between cats, needs extra preparation. Keep the daily routine as steady as possible: meals, play and contact at the usual times.

Over 75% of cat owners in one survey said nobody had given them travel advice. Asking your vet ahead of the move is worth it.

Keep the cat in one quiet room, with its food, water, litter tray and a hiding place, while the house is full of people and open doors. A cat that is confined needs all its basic needs in that one room. A darkened room helps a frightened cat settle. A cattery for the day is another way to keep the cat away from the chaos. We found no source that sets out how to choose one, so ask your vet or the cattery itself.

Travel in the carrier, and keep the cat in it for the whole trip. Most carriers, including hard plastic ones, belong on the floor behind the front seats. A carrier that passed crash testing can be secured on the back seat. Cats like the bottom half of the carrier, where they can hide. Cover the carrier and let the cat come out on its own when you arrive.

Loud noise upsets cats. Speak softly and slowly around the cat. Your own stress changes how you read the cat's stress, so a calm owner matters on the day.

Drooling, lip-licking and vomiting in the car can be signs of motion sickness. Vets can prescribe medicine for it, and also for anxiety before a stressful trip. This does not replace training and a calm set-up. Ask your vet before the day. Do not punish a cat that hisses, hides or reacts badly: punishment makes a cat more anxious.

Cats are territorial and need a feeling of control, safety, choice and familiarity. Hiding is an important way for them to cope in an unfamiliar place, so give hiding places. Start with one safe room: food, water, litter tray, a hiding place, a warm bed and things that smell of the old home, such as a blanket or a scratching post.

Open the door when the cat is calm and curious, and let it explore room by room. If it retreats, let it. Cats are very sensitive to smell, so avoid strong perfumes and strong cleaning products where you can. Cats keep memories of places for a decade or longer, and link good and bad experiences to places, so make the first days quiet and positive.

Cats mark their territory with scent, by rubbing and by urine, at the same spots again and again. A new home becomes familiar partly through scent, so do not wash every familiar item at once. High places feel safe to cats. A shelf, a cat tree or a sturdy scratching post helps the cat settle.

Every cat should minimally have a safe place, safe access to food, water and litter, play, consistent positive interaction and an environment that respects its sense of smell. Keep the cat away from windows and doors where it can see strange cats outside. Blinds, or tape on the window sill, can help. Pheromone diffusers and sprays (Feliway is the best-known name) are often mentioned, but the evidence is limited: see them as an extra, not a cure.

Make the house safe before the cat roams: close tilted windows (a cat can get stuck in the gap), put the toilet lid down, keep plastic bags away and check that plants are not poisonous.

Territory fights often start when something new comes into the home. Moving can trigger tension between cats that normally get on well.

If cats fight, separate them and bring them together again slowly with food rewards. Bringing them together too soon is the biggest mistake. Do not punish fighting cats and do not pull them apart by hand. A loud noise or a soft object thrown near them is the safer way to break it up. Do not give a cat any medicine, from the shop or from the vet's cabinet, without asking the vet.

Do not let an outdoor cat out the first days. It does not know the area, the other cats or the dangers yet. Free-roaming cats rely on a map of their territory in their memory, and the new one is empty.

Advice you will often meet is to keep the cat in for a few weeks, commonly given as 2 to 4 weeks. We did not find a study or guideline in our sources that sets a number, so treat it as common practice. Ask your vet, and let the cat's behaviour guide you: calm, eating, using the litter tray and curious about the home.

A cat that is used to going out and must stay in will almost never get used to being confined. It will look for freedom, even when that is dangerous. Staying in for a few weeks is something to plan for with play, perches and attention. A secured garden or a cat run is a middle way between free access and only indoors.

Cats cover real distances. Outdoor cats' territories in one study ranged from 7 to 28 hectares, and cats often range many hundreds of metres from home. Home range size varies from cat to cat, so one study of wild and domestic cats is not a guide to how far your cat will go.

Cats can find their way home from far away. Some have returned from more than 80 kilometres, over days to years. Reports of returns from over 2,000 km cannot be confirmed. In one experiment cats chose the exit pointing toward home 60% of the time at 5 km, and did not seem to know the direction at greater distances. This is a single old experiment, so do not lean on it.

The risk is highest for outdoor cats moved a short distance. Keep the cat inside until the new home is familiar, and ask the new owners of your old home to tell you if the cat shows up.

If your cat does go missing, search close to home first. In one study of lost cats 61% were found alive within 12 months, 34% of them within 7 days, and 75% within 500 metres of where they were lost. Regular searching, flyers and social media raise the chance.

The microchip number only helps if the registry holds your current address and phone number. After a move, tell the registry your new details. Check your own registry for how: some let you do it online, some through the vet.

A finder or vet who scans the chip looks up the number in the registry. An old address or phone number means they cannot reach you. Country specifics (which registry, what it costs) are in the country block below.

Within the EU a cat needs at least a valid rabies vaccination, entered in an EU pet passport. Start well ahead of the move, since the vaccination has a waiting time. The cat must be identifiable with an implanted microchip. A tattoo counts only if it was made before 3 July 2011.

Rules for countries outside the EU differ and can be strict. Ask the destination country's authority and your vet early. Our sources do not cover them.

A stressed cat reacts in three main ways: it freezes or goes passive (inhibition), avoids, or defends itself. The passive kind is often missed by people. Half-shut eyes and ears turned sideways can mean a cat is protecting itself and needs help. Signs of fear: ears flat back, dilated pupils, hissing, splayed whiskers, a cat that makes itself small and crouches with the tail close to the body.

A tail strongly bent down and puffed up is a threat sign. A twitching or whipping tail can mean irritation. Hiding in the first days is normal for a cat. Do not drag it out. A frightened cat may need from minutes to days to calm down. A purr does not prove the cat is relaxed. Cats also purr when they are in pain or ill.

Stress from the home environment has been linked to bladder problems and upset digestion in cats. Adding litter trays, giving more time and lowering tension between cats improved health and behaviour in one study. A sudden change in behaviour should first be checked by a vet, because it can be an early sign of illness.