Cat Blog 3
Moving house with my cats
So you’ll be moving house with your pet cat or cats, and you’re feeling stressed? I’ve been there myself, more times than I care to remember. And as if the entire mission of packing up and moving everything you own to a new location isn’t stressful enough, you’re also very worried about your 2/3/7 beloved feline family members. Will you be able to relocate them safely? Will they adjust happily to the new home?
Fortunately I can reassure you: If you follow the guidelines given here, you’ll have absolutely nothing to worry about, and moving house with your pet cats should run like clockwork!
1 Prior to moving day
Prepare one room in the new house for your feline kids before the big move. Choose a room that you’ll be using often – perhaps your bedroom or your study. Then place some of your cats’ beds, blankets, toys etc in this room before moving day. As we know, smell is terribly important to our felines, so don’t wash any of these articles in advance. This will ensure that they retain their familiar smell.
Sprinkle powdered valerian root such as Happy Cat (https://iamcat.blog/feral-cats-how-can-i-help-them-continued/) everywhere, and perhaps add a Feliway diffuser. Your vet should be able to supply you with this useful aid, or you could order it online (e.g. at https://www.petheaven.co.za/feliway-diffuser-refill.html?gclid=CjwKCAjwv4SaBhBPEiwA9YzZvLUR-6-pbnsXkG4aa1hUTY0Jh5jH-DWbHBnRAGY1bhLQrHklkfG4ZhoChtwQAvD_BwE).
Place litter boxes (one for each cat) in spots away from where food dishes will be. If your cats aren’t used to using litter boxes, sprinkle some garden soil on top. Close all the windows securely and leave them closed for at least the first 2 weeks (see below). If this will make the room too hot, consider installing screens in front of any open windows.
It is also very important that you add some vertical interest, for example a jungle gym.
You’re now well prepared for moving house with your pet cats!
2 Moving day
On the morning of the move, make sure that you confine your cats to a room in the old house. Bathrooms are usually good, provided no one will be able to enter the room for the entire time that people will be moving furniture, boxes etc out of the house.
Once all your furniture, appliances, boats, bicycles and what-not have been moved to the new home,
you can take your cats there. Use secure cat carriers in which you’ve sprinkled some more Happy Cat (https://iamcat.blog/feral-cats-how-can-i-help-them-continued/). At the new house, place the carriers in the designated room, preferably near a bed or other piece of furniture the cats will be able to hide under if they feel anxious. Make sure that the door and all the windows are tightly closed, and that no one (e.g. a toddler or a forgetful spouse) can accidentally open them. Now open the carriers, but allow the cats to emerge at their own rate.
3 The first 2 weeks
Strictly confine the cats to their special room for at least the first week. Spend as much time with them as you possibly can, and reassure them continually. Don’t wash any of their blankets during this time, to preserve the familiar smells.
After the first week, allow them to start exploring the rest of the house for a few hours a day, making very sure that all windows and doors are securely locked. At night, return them to the primary room.
4 After the first 2 weeks
At the end of the first 2 weeks, start introducing your pet(s) to the outside world, an hour or so at a time, preferably singly and under supervision. It’s also a good idea to teach your cat(s) which window to use to get into and out of the house by physically guiding them in and out of the window several times. When your pet is completely settled in, keep this window open at all times. Alternatively, have a pet door installed in one of your outside doors.
If you would like to know more, I whole-heartedly recommend that you watch a video on moving house with your cats by the inimitable Jackson Galaxy. You’ll find it here: https://www.google.com/search?q=How+do+I+move+house+with+my+cat&rlz=1C1CHBF_enZA982ZA983&oq=How+do+I+move+house+with+my+cat&aqs=chrome..69i57j69i60.10694j0j15&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:fcc46945,vid:a8Gb2Riqle4
An inexpensive cat flap door that your cats can use at all hours once they’ve been properly introduced to the outside world
And now you should be able to relax completely, at long last, and really begin enjoying your new home together with your beloved cats!
Cat quote of the week
There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and cats. –
Albert Schweitzer
Cat Story 4
The ‘Angel Child’ of Petrusville
This week’s story is about another remarkable woman called ‘Ingilkind’ (Angel Child) by the people of her town. Here is her story.
Elize had always loved cats, and when her grandmother began feeding the alley cats in Hillbrow, Johannesburg, the 8 year-old Elize was eager to help.
Years later she began working with a feral-care group in Johannesburg, where she learned how to set up feeding stations and trap cats to have them sterilised. She often had to raise bottle babies.
Six years ago, Elize moved to Petrusville in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa. She resolved that she was done with rescue work – and besides her own 47 rescues had made the big move with her.
She hadn’t been in Petrusville long when she spotted two cats along the main road. When she followed them into the veld, sheand found 17 more. Needless to say, she reverted to rescue mode without missing a beat, and the rest is history.
Later she discovered two more colonies totalling 74 cats, with numerous kittens. She began to sterilising them, slowly. She didn’t have a trap and used cat carriers placed on their sides with a string attached. One by one she trapped them and drove all the way to Orania, 55 km away, to see the vet who visited on Tuesdays. Elize now cares for 96 feral cats and 59 at her home – all sterilised and healthy.
She feeds ‘her’ ferals every day, come rain or shine, using 150-170 kg per month. She uses litter boxes as food and water dishes, and cardboard boxes covered in black plastic bags as shelters.
Then she began noticing the township dogs, and she simply couldn’t turn a blind eye. It’s a struggle, but she tries to feed them every day as well. She cooks pap (corn porridge) mixed with vegetable skins and inexpensive dog pellets for them.
And now she also cares for sick animals: all the residents of Petrusville as well as the nearby small town bring their sick animals to her. She tries to keep as many medications and remedies as possible on hand for cats, dogs, goats and sheep.
She says: ‘My main focus is my cats, always will be. But the other animals also need help. I am the only one that helps here. Many of the people are very poor, they cannot afford to pay anything towards the meds. I then give it to them, I do not want the animals to suffer.’
Her greatest need is food. She buys food from a store in town at R350.34 for 10 kg, but should anyone wish to courier food to her, her address is:
40 Kerk Street
Petrusville
Northern Cape
8770
Always needed are any old bowls, towels, blankets and beds, and meds such as Protexin, Frontline Spray, and Antesol dewormer. She also needs dips for dogs. And then, of course, financial help to pay vet bills and have new arrivals sterilised. If you can help, please pay any donations into the NCat account, and we’ll make sure it reaches Elize asap! (NCat, FNB Sandton, branch code 250655, account 62362218440, swift code FIRNZAJJ, ref ‘Petrusville’ and your name.)
But the Angel Child didn’t stop there. She also helps the children and the elderly in the community, as they truly have nothing. If you can help with clothes, blankets, anything – it is all welcome. ‘I believe God brought me here,’ she says, ‘and with His help I somehow do it all.’
