Letting out after moving house

[alocin42]

I've recently moved house with my two not-quite-2-year-old neutered boy cats, who are currently on house arrest for a settling in period. They aren't thrilled about not being allowed outside - usually I keep them in overnight but they're straight out after breakfast even when it's raining, and aside from the odd brief visit for some food or rarely an afternoon nap they like to stay out till curfew time. They seem to have accepted the move very well - eating, drinking, litter tray using all fine, they've had a good explore around and rubbed their faces on everything, they've claimed new favourite sleeping spots in the house. Most of 'their' stuff like blankets and boxes and toys came with us so there was lots of familiar smells plus felliway to help make them feel at home.

They're just quite antsy at being kept in - they go straight to the backdoor after breakfast (even though the cat flap is covered with cardboard and taped up as well as being locked, they somehow know!). When they realise I'm not letting them out they sleep for much of the day but then come the evening they're full of beans - I try to play with them and keep them occupied, cycling toys around and bringing out new ones, trying to entice them with fishing rods and the frenzy wand, but after a certain point they just start scuffling and wrestling with each other then chasing around the house and bashing each other in the face. That continues overnight.

So... I was intending to try to keep the house arrest going for two weeks, but should I maybe relent and let them out a little earlier? If they've settled well but being confined is what's evidently causing them stress? I'm thinking of getting those pet loc8tor things to try to make me less paranoid for when they go exploring the neighbourhood for the first time - they usually come when they're called unless they're very occupied in what they're doing or are out of earshot, but just as a bit of a backup in case they got confused about where they were. Was going to do the used litter spread around the edge of the garden and going out with them at first, leaving the backdoor open so they can come and go easily and everything too...

[meriad]

Personally I wouldn't let them out earlier. Most rescue's now tend to advise 4 weeks, never mind the two you were thinking . It's a case of tough love but rather that than have them disappear.

What is the layout of the garden like - would cat proofing be a viable option?

[Crewella]

I'm afraid I agree, less than two weeks really isn't long enough for them to imprint on the new place as 'home' and the place to return to, especially if something scares them. As Meriad says, it may be hard but it's better than taking a chance and losing them.

When you do let them out for the first time, do it just before feeding time, go out with them and call them back in after about 5 minutes for their dinner. That way you can be sure they know the way back in. Good luck!

[alocin42]

When I initially got them from a rescue centre as young cats I kept them in for about 3-4 weeks as I recall, but it was too early in the sense that one of them who was quite timid hadn't properly bonded with me yet and wasn't keen to come back indoors when he was called. He spent 36 hours off on a frolic and hiding out under my decking before he was lured back in! So I kept them in for another 3 weeks and persevered in getting the timid one used to me, after a certain point it was like a switch was flipped and he was suddenly a purry happy ankle-rubbing cat who would come running up to say hello to me instead of shying away. From that point on they were fine being let outside again. They're both very well bonded with me now (they don't like anyone else!) so it's just the new territory to get used to rather than a whole new family and new territory like when they were first rescued.

Cat proofing isn't an option no, it's a rented house with a small concrete garden with a tiny flower bed. There's a three foot wall with the house next door they're going to be straight over in about five minutes - they're used to having a whole cul de sac to explore, they've never been ones for staying in the confines of a garden! Thankfully it's not a super busy area and our back gardens back onto the gardens of another cul de sac here, so if I can encourage them to go in that direction rather than out the front then there's plenty of space to explore that doesn't involve cars.

I don't want to needlessly endanger them, and I can try to keep it up but it's tough when they're chilled out and happy in the house for much of the time suggesting they see this as home but then fighting each other up and down the stairs and meowing at the door to be let out. It's how they behave when they used to be kept for a morning so they could go to the vets or if the weather was really bad and they were reluctant to go out, so definitely linked to not being able to go out.

I know that at some point the door will be opened and they'll be off - I can take steps to try to help them see this as home and extend their scent to the garden so they can find their way back after exploring, and with loc8tors hopefully if they wandered and got lost I could search for them more effectively. It just makes me wonder whether being kept inside for one week or two weeks or four weeks makes much of a difference - when I was initially searching for guidelines plenty of posts came up where people had let cats out after just a few days or even hours, and you think was that a fluke or am I causing them this stress unnecessarily...

[Crewella]

I hear you, but the worry is about what happens if they get scared when they're out and you're not around - you need to be sure that they feel safe enough in the new place to run back to it and not run off in the wrong direction. We do get quite a few calls at the rescue from people who have lost cats after a house move - some people let them out earlier and get away with it, but plenty don't, and you'd feel dreadful if something did happen.

As Ria says, the advice for new cats in a new environment is 3/4 weeks. As your cats know you (and each other) then 2 weeks should be enough, but I really would try to stick it out for those 2 weeks if you can, and do go with them and show them the way back in as I said.

[alocin42]

Yeah I'd definitely intend to go out with them to start with - at breakfast time and then try to encourage them back in for breakfast, although their excitement at being allowed out has been known to overpower their desire for food! (They're not big eaters in the morning at the best of times) But I'd have the back door open and go and sit out in the garden so they know I'm still there. Back in the old house they'd be off at 7am and even at the weekend when I was around all day sometimes I wouldn't see even a whisker of one of them until it got dark. The other tended to hang around in the cul de sac more, but cat #2 evidently had somewhere a bit further afield he liked to go and he'd just turn up again at 8pm or 9pm casual as you like and say 'hi Mum, I'm hungry!'. If he didn't hide under my bed whenever someone knocked on the door or a relative visited I'd think he had a second family... I can fully see them shifting straight back into those sorts of habits and me sat at home having kittens while I wait for them to reappear, hence the thought about the loc8tor to keep more of an eye on how far afield they've gone and to make it easier to track them down should I need to.

[Crewella]

Loc8tor is probably a good idea, but I'm afraid I have no experience. I'm really lucky in that we moved to a house with a really big garden and fields behind, but actually most of my gang are adopted oldies and don't venture far at all, and even Daz, an ex-stray tom (now neutered and the youngest at 7) doesn't go far as he spends all day peering hopefully down the numerous rabbit holes.

At the end of the day, people will always advise to be cautious, but you know your cats best. I confess I gave in and let Daz out after 9 days when we moved here, but I know him well, he's very attached to me and I knew he would stick by my side until he'd got his confidence. And he did - luckily it was January and he was very happy to come back in after 20 minutes! I'd be a bit more concerned mid-summer, and I stuck out the 2 weeks for the rest of my gang (6 of them at the time) as I was less sure of their reaction.

The time will pass, and I wish you all every happiness in your new house.

[bobster38]

I'm going through this thought process at the moment. I took in a rescue cat 4 weeks ago. For the first 2 weeks she hid. Now she is comfortable, sleeps with me and runs around the house like a mad thing. An extra problem I had was keeping my other rescue cat in when he had 24 hour access outside. He's lived with me since being a kitten for the last 3 years. He's being let out this weekend and I'll be leaving a bedroom window open for him to run back in if he wants. The bedroom needs to be closed because of my new cat. I am planning to let her out next week. Its always going to be an apprehensive time when they are let out for the first time but she's so comfortable now I feel a little more at ease. I would never even think about letting her out if I didn't think she'd be safe but I do think they need to experience the outside life.