Moving House // The Cat

A bit of a weird one today but something that I think is worth talking about.

I moved house in December and with that house move came the cat move. I have a 3 year old outdoor cat called Butler who (much to Bekah's delight) goes where I go.

Now, when you read up online about moving with cats it's very doom and gloom. If you ask the question on any forum about when to let cats out after a move you will invariably get half the people who answer telling you that you are cruel to even think about letting a cat outdoor and the other half telling you to keep your cat in for 2-3 weeks and then only let them out for a short amount of time with butter on their feet (wtf!)

My cat loves being outdoors, he has the time of his life out there and in my opinion keeping him inside all his life would be far more cruel.

The idea of keeping Butler in for 2-3 weeks is awful. He gets so bored and just dashes from room to room jumping on things and being a total pain day and night. Not happening.

So here's how I did it.

I lived in the house for 2 weeks before Butler came to live here. This wasn't part of my plan it's just how it worked out. But I actually think it was helpful because it meant the house was pretty set up and settled when he moved in which I think helped him to be more settled.

I brought him home on the Monday evening. On the Tuesday evening I took him outside with a lead on (which he absolutely hates) and then on the Wednesday morning I let him out.

When I let him out a made him use the cat flap so he would get used to it and I left him outside for an hour before shaking his treats for him to come back in. For the rest of the day I let him come in and out as he pleased.

And that was it. Now he comes and goes as he likes day and night.

He's happy. I'm happy.

At the end of the day I don't see why keeping him in for 2-3 weeks would make any difference. Sure he might be even more comfortable with the home but it doesn't make him less likely to get lost when he goes out. My cat knows that wherever I am there is food so he's pretty good at coming back to where I am!

Of course if you disagree that's totally fine. Different cats will need different treatments. All I want to make you aware of is that you don't have to listen to the scaremonger's online. Moving house with your cat is not the end of the world!

Kate // SK