Best way to settle a cat into a new home

She's old, stubborn, spoilt and I'm not too sure how she is going to handle her new home.

She will be flying in, in a couple of weeks, I've made sure her toys from our place are coming with us and will be set-up for her.

I'm going to be picking her up from the airport and bringing her home, thought that was less confrontational for her than being delivered to the door, she is a good traveller in the car.

She's currently at the vets and has been for the last month or so. They will make the call before she is picked up if she needs slight sedation.

What can I do to help her settle. I'm thinking for the first few nights to lock her in the bathroom, as that is where her litter will be, it will also stop her spraying around the place in protest.

I'm going to keep her on light food to start with.

Any thing else?

I've missed her and can't wait to see her.

I've heard of people putting a small amount of butter on their paws, the idea being they lick it off taking the scent of home with them. But we've only ever locked them in the house for 2-3 weeks and they've been fine.

Good luck xx

She'll be locked inside for quite a while, until I slowly start letting her out on her harness. She is primarily an indoor cat, so being stuck inside won't be too bad as long as she can see out the window from her scratching post.

I've moved a thousand times with my 15yo cat, and he has always been confined to the laundry for about 24hrs... Then allowed into the bigger areas like Lounge n dining room but we keep the bedroom doors shut for a day or two, then let him in our bedroom n bathroom and by then he is fine. He's done heaps of moves tho so adjusts really well. Just take it slow for her, let her into new areas bits at a time...

Sounds good to me x I hope she settles in easily, she probably misses you like crazy x

I find with my cats that as long as there's stuff with their scent on it, and my scent on it, then they are OK. Definately one room at a time though, and not until you unpack and have everything set up so it doesn't change again.

*excited!!*

I agree with the others. Start in a small room that is comfortable and unlikely to give her any nasty surprises. The bathroom may not be the best room if she is likely to find showers, flushing toilets etc a bit scary but think about it in the context of your house. Gradually open up the amount of space she has access to depending on how she seems to be coping. Give her some dark hiding spots and keep the travel cage available for her to hide in if she wants to. Keep food/water/litter available all of the time so she can come out when she feels most comfortable. Make life as predictable as possible while she is adjusting. Make yourself available to her for pats but let her come to you on her terms. You can find a pheromone spray/plug in from the vet if you think you may need it called Feliway. It can help settle anxious cats.
You must be so excited to see her! Hope she settles well.

Is she an anxious sort of cat? If so I would probably confine her for a few days...If she is not a skittish or anxious cat, probably the first day and night in the one room, then let her explore under supervision the house just so she doesnt go hiding where you cant get to here. You really have to play it by ear with cats, she might surprise you and be really cruisy with it all....we had a cat we brought back from NZ with us many years ago, we just kept him inside for about 3 days then let him explore the outside. He promptly disappeared for another 3 days little bugger....but came home again, he was just checking out the neighbourhood I guess.

She is a bit skittish, but that is due to her having cats move into her local area who are bigger and meaner than her so she was getting harassed a bit over the last 6 months or so.

I've made sure that her scratching post is being moved here, it seriously needs to be thrown out but I got it for her before I picked her up as a kitten. There will only be one or two new pieces of furniture. Everything else she's known since she was a kitten or in the last few years.

She is used to the bathroom because that is where her kitty litter has always been, so will continue that in the new place. She also grazes on dry food, but while she's been at the vets I'm not too sure if they've allowed that or restricted her to wet in the morning and dry at night (she had gingivitis starting so the vet put her on science diet for it while she was staying there).

Yes Kaz I'm getting very excited.

Thank you everybody for your help. I can't wait for kitty cuddles.

I didn't lock my cat in a room when we moved, I just put her in the house and she had a bit of a wander around. She lay under my bed for the first few days. She hated the new house, she didnt move and didn't eat for a while. One day she perked up and was back to her normal self.

When we moved we just let the cats have the run of the house. One of them spent 2 weeks in my bed only coming out when it was dark but the other one tended to just stay in the area where we were until she got brave enough to go elsewhere. We made sure they had their toys and knew where the litter was.

OK she's here. She complained the whole way from the airport in the car, she's in the bathroom right now but she has had a wander around, she's eaten, gone to the toilet (wee) and had a little bit to drink. She's lost weight while she's been away, so will be watching her food intake for the next week or so to see how she goes.

I have a 10-15cm scratch from her as payback, which hurts like nobody's business but at least it has stopped bleeding.

She is banned from the bedrooms, especially the spare room because it has boxes in there that still need to be unpacked and she could hurt herself. She is also banned from the main bedroom as she is moulting and I'd rather not have cat fur on everything.

Christy might have some ideas for you?
I've never had a cat nor moved house with any pets, so I'm afraid all I can offer is good luck

Sounds like she handled it ok. If she's still banned from your room this might sound odd but maybe leave her a worn tshirt or something where she sleeps for a few days or so - it'll have your scent on it.

We always put something on their paws when we moved. They'd lick it off and usually settle in for a good wash!

Hope she settles into her new home.