Ask Me Help Desk - How To Introduce A Cat To New Home

We are currently in the process of buying our first home. YAY!

Currently we rent a home on 25 heavly wooded acres and have an inclosed mud room off the front door and this is where our cat comes to sleep. She is a great mouser and loves to roam.

Now we are moving to a home in a neighborhood. I am not sure how I should introduce our cat to the home. If I should keep her inside for a couple of days and then slowly allow he rto roam the neighborhood or if I should just let her be outside right away. I guess I am nervous she will run off. Any suggestions?

She is 3 and has always been an outside cat. However, she is litter boxed trained.

The life of an outdoor cat is extremely dangerous - there are predators ranging from other cats to people who don't want other people's animals on their property. People in a lot of neighborhoods aren't really thrilled with roaming cats.

The average lifetime of an indoor cat is 12-20 years. At's 1-5 years for an outdoor cat.

People pick up cats, bring them inside, decide they can't be bothered and dump them.

If you are determined to do make sure the cat has ID on a collar which he cannot use to hang himself.

Reasons to Keep Your Cat Indoors | Pet Care Article | petco.com

Just pulled out my rescue manual:

" Allowing cats to roam outdoors unattended is just as dangerous and unwise as allowing a toddler to wander down the street alone.

Cats face countless dangers outdoors: They can be hit by cars, attacked by other animals, or abused by cruel people. They can contract contagious diseases or parasites. They can be poisoned by spilled antifreeze or maimed by fan blades when they crawl into warm vehicle engines on winter days. They can even be stolen by dogfighters who use them as "bait" or by "bunchers" who cruise neighborhoods for friendly dogs and cats who can easily be picked up and sold to dealers, who in turn sell them to laboratories for use in painful experiments.

What's more, free-roaming cats defecate in gardens and sandboxes and eat plants on other people's property. Angry, exasperated neighbors frequently take matters into their own hands. PETA's office routinely gets calls from people whose cats have been stolen, shot, poisoned, or tortured to death. Such crimes are rarely pursued by law enforcement, as perpetrators know to commit them when no one is watching, leaving insufficient evidence for prosecution.

Many people have learned the hard way never to let their cats out unaccompanied. In Pompano, Florida, lost dogs and cats were found in a large storage warehouse used by dogfighting "trainers." In South Dakota, a fur trader was caught selling cat skins. In Washington, D.C., a cat let out for her daily stroll returned covered with burns from hot cooking grease. In California, a woman searching for her cats found that both had been shot with arrows. The list goes on and on.

Cats who are allowed outdoors are also a threat to wildlife. The American Bird Conservancy estimates that free-roaming cats kill millions of birds and small mammals in the U.S. every year, including endangered species such as the least tern and the piping plover.

Cats are not native wildlife and do not fit into the predator-prey ecosystem. Their hunting instincts exist no matter how well fed they are. They terrorize, maim, and kill countless native birds and other small wild animals, who are struggling to survive existing challenges (such as development in their habitats) and aren't equipped to deal with such predators. These small animals die from repeated puncture wounds and from being crushed by cats' jaws. Unfortunately, many cats spend a great deal of time playing with their dying, convulsing prey, whose suffering is intense. Many of these animals are then left to die slowly when they stop struggling but remain alive."

I do see kidnapped animals used for bait or teasers, as does one of my stepdaughters.

I've seen the video of cats ripped to shreds so dogs can get the taste of blood, the "thrill" of the chase. - inside a cage.

Then there are people who find stays on the side of the road, take them home, decide they are too sick/injured to care for, take them back days and days later and dump them, leaving them to suffer.

I'm assuming you don't want this for your child's pet? Of course, roaming cats have far more exposure to disease than indoor cats and some of those disease are carried "home" to "their" humans. Ever seen a child with ringworm?

I strongly urge you to keep your cat indoors at all times once you have moved into your new home. Our rescued cats (who showed up at our front door or appeared in our backyard) are always kept indoors and have lived from 15-20 years. We have a neighbor who allows his cat to roam our fairly quiet neighborhood, but he has run through I don't know how many cats as they have been hit by cars, killed by predators (dogs/racoons/coyotes), and been badly injured (and then euthanized). "So what," he says. "I'll just get another one."

If you love your cat, keep her indoors. (She's spayed, right?)

In the event the cat is not spayed and doesn't have all its shots someone posted, "Have you ever heard of Care Credit? It is a credit card that you can apply for to help with vet bills."

I understand the interest rate is very high, but it's a thought.

Our cat cameo, now deceased from old age, came up from Michigan with us, spayed, lived with us through three moves. This was many years ago, and she was a farm cat. I always kept her in for 2 or 3 days until letting her roam outside. Nothing ever happened and she was always at our back door at supper time.

I don't think you will have anything to worry about. She knows where her person is.

Thank you to everyone who responded.

I am aware of all of the nasty things that can happen to a cat who is an outside cat.

She has been outsid eher whole life and really knows no different.

I have tried to allow her to become an indoor pet but she does not like it. In fact she sits at the door and meows something terrible.

She is spayed and she does have all of her shots up to date. I take care of my animals as if they were my children.

Quote:

Originally Posted by busymomma2013

Thank you to everyone who responded.

I am aware of all of the nasty things that can happen to a cat who is an outside cat.

She has been outsid eher whole life and really knows no different.

I have tried to allow her to become an indoor pet but she does not like it. In fact she sits at the door and meows something terrible.

She is spayed and she does have all of her shots up to date. I take care of my animals as if they were my children.

The cats we have rescued were outside cats all of their lives too until they came to live with us. We made the indoors fun and interesting for them. AND cats sleep about 16 hours a day, so why does she "need" to be outdoors? If she howls at the door, divert her attention with empty boxes and paper bags and catnip toys and interactive playthings and a cat tree and soft cushions to sleep on, but make sure she has windows and patio doors to sit in and watch what is going on outdoors.

Trust me. I have tried to divert her attention. It is her instinct to be outdoors.

But thank you for the advice.

Quote:

Originally Posted by busymomma2013

Trust me. I have tried to divert her attention. It is her instinct to be outdoors.

It's a child's instinct to do his business in his diaper whenever he feels like it, but then you toilet train.

If you are going into a neighborhood with streets and cars, and you allow her to roam at will, you are signing her death certificate. There is no guarantee she will stay in on your property. It will be a whole new world for her to explore.

Well, like I said thank you for your advice.

I think I will follow tickles advice and keep her in for the first couple of days, then go from there.

Quote:

Originally Posted by busymomma2013

Well, like I said thank you for your advice.

I think I will follow tickles advice and keep her in for the first couple of days, then go from there.

Cats need to live securely in a new place for two weeks before they accept that's their home. I hope she shows up for mealtimes.

When we moved we would take our animals with us, it wasn't just moving to a new city, it would be a new country. I have never lost a cat because of a move, ever. They are much more resourceful then you think they are.

Sorry, but it's your own wording - "I take care of my animals as if they were my children."

So your children roam the neighborhood unsupervised? I don't treat my dogs like I treat my (step) children. Those are two different categories in my live. Anyway, I trust the cat has ID and can't hang herself on her collar?

Lol. No, my son will not roam the neighborhood.

I was talking about medical stuff. I am a responsible pet owner. I know that there ar epeople out there who will see me as an irresponsible pet owner if I choose to allow our cat to roam the neighborhood. That is okay because eI know that I take care of my animals.

I will get her an I.D. collar that she won't be able to hang herself with.

When I was growing up we lived in a neighborhood. All of our cats were indoor/outdoor cats and were all fine. I am not going to ban my cat for being outdoors, somewhere she loves. I will take all the precautions and see that she is adjusted before allowing her to explore her new territory.

Thank you

Of course dogs don't roam the neighbourhood unsupervised around here, but everyone has cats, cats, cats. I know them all, they don't come into our garden because they know Pickle is around and it is her territory.

All my cats have been outdoor cats, except of course in the winter time when they don't want to wander in the snow.

I won't put a collar of any kind on Pickle after seeing a cat hung and dead a few years ago because she got caught in a bush.

Years ago they wanted people to license cats in Toronto city of millions of people), well that got shot down immediately because they are basically free spirits, so how can you license them?

@busymomma. I don't think you will have any problem with your cat. And I doubt you will find a collar you will be happy with. Anything around an outdoor cat's neck is not a good idea.

Tick, it depends on where you live. I can wave to you from my house from the other side of the River (as you know) and "here" there is a BIG feral cat push. There are Have-A-Harts set up on many lawns and in many gardens. Once those cats are captured they are neutered (some of them), placed for adoption, euthanized. Cats are such a problem that poison has been set out by people who don't know animals suffer. I have dogs. I would never, ever allow my dogs to roam. Their preference, of course, is to run wild and chase down whatever they can. Fortunately they are not in charge.

Any animal without ID can be taken in by anyone else who thinks that that animal is a stray - whether it is or not. Suddenly that cat is an indoor cat and never finds its way "home."

I live in the country, as you know, and I scrape cats up off the pavement on a regular basis. There are cat fights on my front deck - and my area is attempting to curb the cat population!

But I am preaching to myself.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JudyKayTee

But I am preaching to myself.

No, I hear you and agree. The cats we have rescued from our front porch and back yard were strays that had either been dumped or been someone's free-range pet (one of our females was already spayed and front-declawed, so someone must have owned her).

We do our best to locate owners and check for microchips. We work with our local cat shelter to humanely trap and rehome those feral and stray cats we cannot take in. We know our neighbors' cats who are allowed to roam and refuse to feed them so they don't get confused as to where they live.

And yes, my sons as well as my cats have had a lot of "instincts" over the years to do what they loved and move about freely, but sometimes I had to curb their enthusiasms in order to protect them and prolong their lives.

Thank you Tickle. I think that you are right about the collar idea.

We live in Washington State. When I mention living in a neighborhood, it is not like house to house to house with busy streets. It is a small community with very few houses on a road less traveled. Our neighbors on either side are a good distant away from us.

I guess I was concerned more about how the cat would adjust. Not about how the neighborhood would.

Quote:

Originally Posted by busymomma2013

I guess I was concerned more about how the cat would adjust. Not about how the neighborhood would.

There are "breakaway" collars that will come off if it gets snagged on something.

If you insist on allowing your cat to be free range, then do it in increments. Keep her in the house for two weeks to set in her mind that this is where she now lives. (Cats HATE change, so she needs to settle in.) Then take her outdoors in your yard either on a leash or somehow being with her and keeping an eye on her the entire time. Have a special feeding station outside (say, on the back stoop) and let her eat there while you both are outside. (Food helps establish the cat's feeling, "I live here.") Don't leave uneaten food sitting there because possums and raccoons and who knows what wild animal will eat it -- and you don't want to attract wild animals.

Is your new yard fenced?