How to re-locate 4 outdoor cats to new home with us?
May 2, 2019 3:56 PM Subscribe
Mrs. Thistledown and I care for four outdoor cats who have more or less adopted us. We love them a lot, but we're moving and we're worried about getting them acclimated to a new neighborhood. Need some ideas, complications within:
They have shelters that they use and like, and we've even equipped them with heating - they're quite comfy for outdoor cats - so those shelters are definitely coming with us.
Three live on our front porch, one on our back porch. #1 and #2 are willing to come in and out of the house, no problem - they are very friendly and #1 is really attached to us.
The other two are the challenge. #3 is very sweet, loves being petted, but he's not terribly bright and absolutely does not like being indoors. Freaks out completely if we bring him inside, absolutely hates the cat carrier for trips to the vet, and generally spooks very easily.
#4 is completely wild. He gets along with #1 and #3, doesn't like #2 much. It's mutual and they avoid each other. But we've never been able to pet #4 or even touch him, though he's a consistent resident. We give him food and treats and we've been trying to bond with him patiently for a couple of years now.
The new home has a lovely back porch that they could come and go from like they do now, but we're worried about them running away and getting lost. We can't keep all of them inside (although #3 is FIV+, and it would be a struggle but we could MAYBE start making him an indoor cat) and they've never known anything but our neighborhood and house.
Because we can't get to #4, we have a trap we can use for him, and the working theory we have right now is that the shelters and food will be familiar if the surroundings aren't, so they may not wander too far away, but we're scared of losing them and Mrs. Thistledown will be utterly heartbroken if #3 takes off - they're very attached.
Anyone have experience with this? Got any ideas about how we can acclimate them without losing them? I'm open to a lot of ideas, including screening in the back porch and putting some litter boxes out there for a while so they can adjust. The neighborhood is pet-friendly, which helps, and they have collars with identifying info, and we're going to have them chipped....but....how do you get a cat to want to stay someplace new?
They have shelters that they use and like, and we've even equipped them with heating - they're quite comfy for outdoor cats - so those shelters are definitely coming with us.
Three live on our front porch, one on our back porch. #1 and #2 are willing to come in and out of the house, no problem - they are very friendly and #1 is really attached to us.
The other two are the challenge. #3 is very sweet, loves being petted, but he's not terribly bright and absolutely does not like being indoors. Freaks out completely if we bring him inside, absolutely hates the cat carrier for trips to the vet, and generally spooks very easily.
#4 is completely wild. He gets along with #1 and #3, doesn't like #2 much. It's mutual and they avoid each other. But we've never been able to pet #4 or even touch him, though he's a consistent resident. We give him food and treats and we've been trying to bond with him patiently for a couple of years now.
The new home has a lovely back porch that they could come and go from like they do now, but we're worried about them running away and getting lost. We can't keep all of them inside (although #3 is FIV+, and it would be a struggle but we could MAYBE start making him an indoor cat) and they've never known anything but our neighborhood and house.
Because we can't get to #4, we have a trap we can use for him, and the working theory we have right now is that the shelters and food will be familiar if the surroundings aren't, so they may not wander too far away, but we're scared of losing them and Mrs. Thistledown will be utterly heartbroken if #3 takes off - they're very attached.
Anyone have experience with this? Got any ideas about how we can acclimate them without losing them? I'm open to a lot of ideas, including screening in the back porch and putting some litter boxes out there for a while so they can adjust. The neighborhood is pet-friendly, which helps, and they have collars with identifying info, and we're going to have them chipped....but....how do you get a cat to want to stay someplace new?
How far apart are the neighbourhoods? It would be quite difficult to convince them to leave their old territories. Maybe indoor-ifying and taking along #1 and #2 to the new place, while finding someone kind and trustworthy in the old neighbourhood to look after #3 and #4, could be a solution?
posted by halation at 7:00 PM on May 2, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by halation at 7:00 PM on May 2, 2019 [1 favorite]
I would try to follow some variation on the barn cat relocation protocol. Here's a primer. If they bed down in the same shelter now you might be able to do it with two large dog crates. Your screening in the porch would also be an option that should work, just be prepared to keep them in it for a couple weeks.
posted by drlith at 8:04 PM on May 2, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by drlith at 8:04 PM on May 2, 2019 [2 favorites]
Best answer: I just moved them. I put them in cages and in the new house, released them into separate rooms that were locked, barred doors. I put the cats least likely to fight together. Litter boxes and food in separate corners. For about 3 days, some pretty angry scared cats that I spent time consoling and calming down and then they got used to the new room. Then I let them explore the locked up house and after about a week, they got to go outside a little.
Deal with them being angry and miserable for the first week and budget a lot of time for petting and consoling, then gradually reintroduce them to the new space. You can convert outdoor cats to indoor cats this way. It takes time up front, but it works.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 8:21 PM on May 2, 2019 [10 favorites]
Deal with them being angry and miserable for the first week and budget a lot of time for petting and consoling, then gradually reintroduce them to the new space. You can convert outdoor cats to indoor cats this way. It takes time up front, but it works.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 8:21 PM on May 2, 2019 [10 favorites]
The method I’ve always heard to use is this: After you move, keep them inside or contained somewhere for 2-3 weeks, till they’re acclimated to it. It could be inside your house, your porch, your garage, whatever - just keep them contained until they get comfortable with the new place and are thinking of it as “home base”. Then you can let them out, and they should be ok.
Also, there are several articles here.
posted by MexicanYenta at 5:22 AM on May 3, 2019 [3 favorites]
Also, there are several articles here.
posted by MexicanYenta at 5:22 AM on May 3, 2019 [3 favorites]
Best answer: #1 and #2 are, as you said, not the problem. Honestly, I would possibly resign yourself to leaving behind #4. From the sounds of it he's basically feral. He's got territory, and it may be near your home but it's not your home. You wouldn't try to move wild birds that you feed - this is a not dissimilar situation.
#3, on the other hand, ought to be an indoor cat for the reason that he has FIV, and so if he's outdoors he poses a danger to other cats. It sucks that he's not into being indoors, but he'll also be at lower risk for opportunistic infections, so it's at least partly for his own good. I'm not into cats being indoor-only for the most part, and I live in a country where this isn't how things usually work, but when it comes to FIV the rules definitely change. It's just not fair to expose other cats to such a horrible infection - especially when the outdoors holds so much risk for him. I'd say trap him, use a metric tonne of feliway and hope that eventually he figures out that indoors is a safe place to be. The one advantage of him not being very bright is that after a few weeks he may have forgotten that this wasn't the status quo forever.
posted by Acheman at 5:27 AM on May 3, 2019 [5 favorites]
#3, on the other hand, ought to be an indoor cat for the reason that he has FIV, and so if he's outdoors he poses a danger to other cats. It sucks that he's not into being indoors, but he'll also be at lower risk for opportunistic infections, so it's at least partly for his own good. I'm not into cats being indoor-only for the most part, and I live in a country where this isn't how things usually work, but when it comes to FIV the rules definitely change. It's just not fair to expose other cats to such a horrible infection - especially when the outdoors holds so much risk for him. I'd say trap him, use a metric tonne of feliway and hope that eventually he figures out that indoors is a safe place to be. The one advantage of him not being very bright is that after a few weeks he may have forgotten that this wasn't the status quo forever.
posted by Acheman at 5:27 AM on May 3, 2019 [5 favorites]
Off topic, but seriously: thank you for taking responsibility for these cats. 💕
posted by Nancy_LockIsLit_Palmer at 8:52 AM on May 3, 2019 [6 favorites]
posted by Nancy_LockIsLit_Palmer at 8:52 AM on May 3, 2019 [6 favorites]
This thread is closed to new comments.
Is there any way the new home livers may want to adopt them?! I'm a bit on the 'leave them in their environment' which may not be possible and isn't what you asked.
When I moved out of the country for a few years I rented my house and my indoor/outdoor cat came with it (and I paid for food/vet/litter/rent break for care+sent catnip prezzies). I didn't want to make him go through the upheaval. We reunited when I moved back to the States and we were still buddies. So maybe you could have visitations regularly - if feasable. I might be a bit weird tho....
posted by PistachioRoux at 5:27 PM on May 2, 2019 [3 favorites]