How do I move house with a cat or dog?

A house move is a disruption of everything an animal uses to feel secure, and the two species react to it in opposite ways. A dog is unsettled by the upheaval and the strangers but is fine once its people are settled. A cat has lost its entire territory, which is a much bigger deal, and that is why the advice for cats is so much more cautious.

Safety

What you'll need

• Carrier or crate
• Unwashed bedding and familiar items
• Microchip database login
• A cattery, day care or a friend for moving day (optional)
• Enzymatic cleaner (optional)

Step by step

1. Register with a vet near the new house before you move.Ask your current practice to transfer the clinical history, get any repeat medication dispensed with enough to cover the transition, and find out the new practice's out-of-hours arrangements.
2. Let the animals see the packing happen gradually.Bring boxes in over a couple of weeks rather than all at once, and keep feeding, walking and play at the usual times. Sudden total upheaval on one day is much harder than gradual change, particularly for cats.
3. Get the pets out of the house on moving day itself.A friend's house, day care, a cattery, or at the very least one closed room with a sign on the door and everything they need. Open front doors, removal crews and a house being emptied is the highest-risk day of the whole process for an escape.
4. Travel with the animal, not with the removals.Cat in a secure carrier belted in or in a footwell; dog in its usual restraint. Take water, and for a long journey a litter tray and a break somewhere safe. Never leave the animal in the vehicle unattended.
5. Set up one room at the new house before the pets go in.Ideally a quiet room away from the front door. Bedding that has not been washed, familiar bowls, litter tray, a few toys and a hiding place. Get that room ready before the animal arrives rather than after.
6. Update the microchip details that day.New address and phone number on the microchip database. Do it on the day rather than adding it to the list for next week, because the first few days are precisely when a pet is most likely to go missing.
7. Let a cat expand out from the base room slowly.A few days in the one room, then the rest of the house a room at a time over a week or so. Some cats explore immediately and some sit under the bed for days; both are normal and neither needs intervention.
8. Keep a cat indoors for at least two to four weeks.This is not optional caution — cats orientate to territory and a cat released too soon frequently attempts to travel back to the previous house. When you do let it out, do it before a meal so it is hungry, in daylight, with you outside and the door open, for a few minutes at first.
9. Re-establish the dog's routine immediately.Walks at the usual times from day one, meals at the usual times, and the bed in a settled place. Walk the new neighbourhood on the lead repeatedly before trusting any recall, because the dog does not yet know its way home.
10. Expect a fortnight of unsettled behaviour and plan for it.Toileting accidents, clinginess, hiding, a dog barking at new noises, a cat spraying. Clean accidents with an enzymatic cleaner without comment, keep the routine rigid, and use pheromone diffusers if they help. Most of it resolves within two or three weeks.

Tips

• Do not wash the bedding before or immediately after the move. The animal's own smell in the new house is doing useful work.
• Check the new house and garden for hazards before the pets arrive: gaps in the fence, ponds, a cat flap that lets in the neighbourhood, chemicals left in the shed by the previous owner.
• Tell the new neighbours the cat is yours once it starts going out, and ask them to check their sheds and garages if it goes missing.

Common mistakes

• Letting a cat outside within days of moving — Cats orientate strongly to territory and commonly try to return to the previous home. Two to four weeks indoors is the standard advice and it prevents most of these losses.
• Leaving pets loose in the house on moving day — Doors stand open for hours and strangers are in and out. It is the highest-risk day of the whole process for an escape.
• Forgetting the microchip update — The days after a move are when a pet is most likely to be lost, and an old address on the database is why found animals are not returned quickly.
• Washing all the bedding as soon as you arrive — Familiar smell is what makes a strange house feel safe. Wash it in a couple of weeks.

If it doesn't work

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