Letting cat out after move

TBagpuss

glad to hear he is settling.

I would second the suggestion to make sure he is hungry when he first goes out, to give him an incentive to come back, and if you can, let him out the first time when you can be out (e.g. if you are hanging out washing)

If you live near a road avoid busy times.

My previous cat was able to go out almost immediately in new places - he never went farm, and used to happily go out in the garden when I visited relatives, for instance - another cat we had was so traumatised by the house move that she didn't come out of the wardrobe, let alone the house, except for food for weeks!

Before you let him out, take some photos of him and make sure he has a collar (with safety release) and a disc with your address on, if possible, so that if he does go a bit too far and gets confused, it's easier for you to find him, and for anyone he visits to help him get home! (and a collar marks him out as a new arrival, not a stray!)

Is he microchipped and have you updated the company with your new address?

CP26

He's chipped and the details are up to date. I have shed loads of photos too

Dont think I'll be able to put a collar on though...we put one on him when we first let him out but he scratched at both types we tried until they were trashed or came off.

He's been on his own day today as it was back to work. I've come home and he seems fine...there's no damage to anything and he has just come over asking for food.

I'm working from home for 2 days now so he'll have company if I decide to keep him in, or I'll be able to keep a proper watch if I'm brave enough to let him out.

Otherwise, it'll be an attempt at the weekend but we've already got plans that will have us out the house at odd times so I can't keep an eye on him.

Decision time in the morning...we'll see how tonight goes...:o

KiKi

I've always said three weeks. However, I moved a month ago, and I let my girls in the garden after a week, with my supervision. They're very timid, so they were cautious anyway, and didn't attempt to jump the fence.

My neighbour moved a friend in about a week after me. She brought a cat with her, and it escaped, desperate to get out. It disappeared for two days, and they were frantic, but she returned - it's not uncommon for outdoor cats (esp boys) to go and suss out their new territory for a couple of days.

If you have moved somewhere close to your parents' house, I'd leave it longer, in case the cat tries to return. Otherwise, short supervised garden visits in the next week to get things going, then just let them out after that. Most cats are very clear where their home is, especially when there's food waiting.

trailingspouse

Our cat has moved with us to 8 different houses in two different countries.

We keep her in for a week, then on The Big Day we take her outside. We make sure we do it just before a meal - she knows where to get fed, so will come home!! We stay out with her, just to give her some reassurance (not that she really needs it!), and do that for maybe 2-3 days, then we organise the cat flap, and she's ready to go solo.

It's fascinating watching her get to know a new area. To begin with, she hangs around near the door, then she'll examine the perimeter, and finally she'll be feeling brave enough to cross 'open country' over the grass.

I think the important thing to begin with is to let them out while they're hungry. They're not daft enough to wander far from a known food source!!

CP26

Well I have been brave. The cat flap is on display and open.

He did venture out this morning when I opened the back door to demonstrate freedom was available. Next door coughed getting into their car and he shot back inside. It's good to know he considers here to be a safe place.

He's since been down and pawed at the cat flap but hasn't actually gone out again. Hoping he doesn't wait until it's dark to go for it!

CP26

Well today has baffled me...

We've stood at the door twice and pawed at the flap once but no further physical paw on floor steps outside. I did carry him around for a quick lap but he wasn't bothered and went back inside when I put him down.

He's now sitting in the bay window looking out at the world like he has done all week.

I've locked the flap and hidden it from view again as I don't want him sneaking out when it's dark or getting stressed because he thought he could go out and now can't.

To be fair it's been cold, a bit rainy and windy so I wouldn't be impressed with the outside offer right now. I'll try again tomorrow - hopefully he won't be frustrated overnight.

At least I feel more comfortable that he won't do a runner and that he obviously feels safe inside the house. However I'd have liked him to at least have done a few laps at the garden after all my worrying!

Arthog

There is a lot of valuable info on the Cats Protection website. It explains it all from the cat's point of view, and it set our minds at rest that all was well!

CP26

He wasn't restless last night at all - he sat by the back door once for about 30 seconds but that was it. He banged on the dining room door at 4.20am but no further noise.

Hmm - given going outside has been part of his daily routine for 2 years now I really thought he would have liked having his freedom back. Not that I'm complaining much - I'm glad he likes it here enough that he doesn't feel he needs anything else at the moment.

Ah well. I'll try again today as the weather at least looks a bit drier here.

pinkteapot

CP26 wrote: »

My main worry is that not only has his territory changed but his slaves has too. I visited as often as I could and he's warming to my boyfriend now he knows he's a food source

The only thing he's not doing yet is settling with us in the evening. At my parents he'd jump up into an armchair and pretty much stay there until bed time. With us he spends most of the evening on one of the window ledges looking out at the moment.

Similar-ish situation to us as we rehomed a cat from my colleague, so he came to a new house and new people.

After 10 days he sat next to me on a bed while I watched TV one night. A few days later he jumped on our laps for the first time, and now (two months in) he's a full-on lap cat. We have to make sure we've been to the loo and have drinks, snacks, etc to hand before we sit down. :rotfl:

So, he'll get there with you. Moves are stressful for cats as they're so territorial. In retrospect, ours took over a month to be really settled and he's still getting more settled now, when I thought he was finished.

From the sounds of other peoples' experiences, it depends on the cat as to how desperate they are to go out. General advice seemed to be to keep them inside for at least a month at a new house.

We're two months in and he still hasn't been out (we've been tardy in sorting out a flap thanks to Christmas), but he's not showing any particular interest in it anyway. He likes looking out the windows but is relaxed indoors. We go in and out and he doesn't try to escape when the door is open! He did used to go out for a few hours a day at his old house, but was never particularly desperate and took a long time to go further than their back garden. We'll start letting him out soon though.

CP26

Well he finally went out of his own accord on Wednesday evening...and then scared the life out of me by not coming back for almost 3 hours!

But he came back, scoffed his dinner and all has been absolutely fine since