jonw@teklds.UUCP (Jon White) (08/07/84)
Can a healthy cat that is almost four years old be successfully moved to a new location? This particular cat has lived solely in one location and has always been an indoor/outdoor cat. I have heard that cats become more attached to their territory than to their owners and often run away after moving to a new house. Is there any truth to this? Jon White [decvax|ucbvax]!tektronix!teklds!jonw
ac4@pucc-h (Tom Putnam) (08/09/84)
Can indoor/outdoor cats be moved? Maybe...
When we moved several years ago, we had two cats. Both of them
were indoor/outdoor cats, with lots of outdoor activity. They
really do get attached to places. When we moved, we kept them
both indoors for a couple of weeks to get them used to the
house. Then we let them outside for short periods while keeping
a close eye on them so they could get used to the exterior of
the new house.
One of the cats made the change with no trouble. The other one
complained constantly when we kept him indoors, and was no
happier with the new outdoor surroundings. This second cat
eventually got away from us one evening and we never saw him again.
So, just like everything else in life, it depends....
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Tom Putnam
{decvax|harpo|ihnp4|inuxc|seismo|ucbvax}!pur-ee!pucc-h:ac4jonw@teklds.UUCP (08/13/84)
Thanks to all of you cat lovers for your thoughtful and informed letters that have been flooding my inbox. The consensus of opinion seems to be that it is indeed very possible to move cats if you are careful to follow a few simple precautions. Everyone is agreed on the importance of keeping a cat inside the new house for some period of time (one to six weeks) to allow it to get used to the unfamiliar surroundings. Another suggestion was to keep the cat a bit hungry during the move and feed it upon arrival at the new location. Thanks again for all the encouraging advice. Jon White [decvax|ucbvax]!tektronix!teklds!jonw