Moving house with my two cats.

[Judecat (Paula)]

I will say that I used to own a 2 bed flat, in my dim and distant past, one of the bedrooms was The Rat Room, that was where the Rats,
 Hammy's and Chinchillas lived. That worked perfectly well, my cats, Barney and Sammy were flat cats, no access to outside and were perfectly happy.
 We were second floor so no outside access at all, loads of cat toys, trees, fuss and love. The latter being the two most important. Personally I would have a 'resident cat', but that is just what I think, and I am not an expert. That way they will all have level playing field and agreeing with Sue, a younger cat, but not a kitten would fit the bill perfectly. I hope that you can work it out.

[Eyes Half Closed]

aha least I know now

Yea I hope so being able to decorate will be amazing lol

[Sue P (Paddysmum)]

you weren't to know, treasure.  I should've mentioned it.

Having your own place after renting will be magic. 

[Eyes Half Closed]

sorry I didn't realise  yea It really would be, obviously living in a rented flat at the moment I can't do anything to it, so It will be so much fun to be able too in the house.

The garden is actually quite small, as both me and my partner are not gardeners so we really didn't mind having a small one but I think it's just the right size for a catio.

Awww bless, but at least you try for your kitties and to be honest I don't think they really mind what it looks like as longs as its good fun     

[Sue P (Paddysmum)]

Thanks for the reminder Lyn.   

In that case, it sounds like catification could be right up your street, and depending on how any garden or backyard space is configured in your new huose, it may be really easy to give the cats a bit of outdoor access too.  Amazing things can be done with quite tiny spaces (if you're clever enough  )

Me, it's all I can do to assemble a cardboard box.  I have some great ideas but totally pants skills in that direction.  My Mother would be ashamed, as she could make the most wonderful stuff out of literally nothing.  Still, I'm kind to spiders and I know how to spell saxophone. 

[Lyn (Slugsta)]

I hope you have great fun 'cattifying' your new place 

BTW, you will have noticed that many of us use extra-large font to make our posts. This is in deference to one of our members who has visual impairments 

[Eyes Half Closed]

Oooo are there I'll have to go check them out, yea I love making things, my degree was in fine art and Illustration so its just kinda habit to create things.

Yea the link worked, I never thought of making a run/catio for them I bet they'd love it 

[Sue P (Paddysmum)]

There's a great pair of books by Jackson Galaxy about catifying your home, and also if you have a Pinterest account there are some good catification ideas there too.  if you're good with DIY, you could even think about giving the cats secure outdoor access:

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Catio&espv=2&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjI4tDsm4vTAhXLLsAKHQMsBnwQ_AUIBigB&biw=1600&bih=794

(hope that link works!)

[Eyes Half Closed]

Hey, don't apologise - the more information we have, the better it can help us offer our thoughts on what you can do to make a new addition to your family work.  And it's not a bad thing to keep your cats as indoor only.  There are many different ways of keeping happy cats, and the indoor/outdoor debate depends very much on personal circumstances and the characteristics of your cats (your two sound lovely, and a great age for adding a new cat  )

My own thoughts would be that it's great you're moving to a larger place, as it will give each of the cats more room to spread out if they choose.  It will also help if you can put various cat climbing platforms around the new house, so each of them has a place to go (although having regard to the rats too, maybe not every room in the house  ).

From the sounds of your two, I would maybe think about getting another relatively young cat - young cats usually respond well to cats slightly younger than themselves, say between 6 and 12 months,  and still with a kittenish streak, as it appeals to their playful side.  An older cat may be less well inclined to adapt (although that's a generalisation - plenty do quite successfully.)

How long will it be until you move?  If it's not long, I'd maybe think about increasing your family when you move, so they all get a chance to investigate the new spaces at the same time.  This may work especially well if you can squirrel any new member of the family in one of the empty rooms, so it appears like the cat came with the house and is a great source of wonder. 

This lady has some really terrific advice on cats, and you may find this helpful:

http://www.wayofcats.com/blog/why-third-cat-is-different/5877

She also talks about different cat types, and the chances are you'll recognise Calcifer and Lux from the descriptors, which may help with your choice of a new family addition.  There are all sorts of useful hints and tips, many of which I've tried myself and been chuffed to bits with the results, so check them out.

Hope this will help.   

  yes I have the outdoor/indoor conversations a lot, it defiantly depends on on personal preference aha (thank you I want to rescue as many as I possible can, but while obviously making sure that my original furbabies are happy)

I'm actually more excited for them to be in the new house, to be able to run up and down stairs aha, I keep looking up ideas on how I can improve it just for them. Yea I was thinking of getting a young kitty, more so for Lux with his more playful temperament.

It's not long till we move about 5 weeks, I love the idea of them investigating together and making the place their own, but i'd also love them to find a new friend in an empty room and want to see who they are aha introducing Lux to Calcifer took a while as we had Calcifer for a year already so the place already smelt like him, thats why I was thinking it might be easier in a house that has no scents of any of them.

Thank you so much for your help I'll go check out the link now

[Sue P (Paddysmum)]

Hey, don't apologise - the more information we have, the better it can help us offer our thoughts on what you can do to make a new addition to your family work.  And it's not a bad thing to keep your cats as indoor only.  There are many different ways of keeping happy cats, and the indoor/outdoor debate depends very much on personal circumstances and the characteristics of your cats (your two sound lovely, and a great age for adding a new cat  )

My own thoughts would be that it's great you're moving to a larger place, as it will give each of the cats more room to spread out if they choose.  It will also help if you can put various cat climbing platforms around the new house, so each of them has a place to go (although having regard to the rats too, maybe not every room in the house  ).

From the sounds of your two, I would maybe think about getting another relatively young cat - young cats usually respond well to cats slightly younger than themselves, say between 6 and 12 months,  and still with a kittenish streak, as it appeals to their playful side.  An older cat may be less well inclined to adapt (although that's a generalisation - plenty do quite successfully.)

How long will it be until you move?  If it's not long, I'd maybe think about increasing your family when you move, so they all get a chance to investigate the new spaces at the same time.  This may work especially well if you can squirrel any new member of the family in one of the empty rooms, so it appears like the cat came with the house and is a great source of wonder. 

This lady has some really terrific advice on cats, and you may find this helpful:

http://www.wayofcats.com/blog/why-third-cat-is-different/5877

She also talks about different cat types, and the chances are you'll recognise Calcifer and Lux from the descriptors, which may help with your choice of a new family addition.  There are all sorts of useful hints and tips, many of which I've tried myself and been chuffed to bits with the results, so check them out.

Hope this will help.   

[Eyes Half Closed]

Hello - welcome to Purrs to you, Calcifer and Luxe (you're not a Diane Wynne Jones fan by any chance are you?  )

It may help us to advise if we know a little bit more about what type of accommodation you live in now, what you're hoping to move to, how old Luxe and Calcifer are, how long you've had them, what your cat's personalities are like and whether or not they're indoor only, or with access to outdoors too.

That might sound like a lot of information to ask for, but it can all very much affect how and when to effect cat introductions, and what sort of advice we can offer. 

Sounds like it's going to be a very exciting time coming up for you all. 

aha that's alright he doesn't mind
I got his name from the Latin word for light as he is white 

So at the moment we are living in a 1 bedroom flat, its not very big as it's student accommodation, it's literally just the bedroom, living room, bathroom and kitchen (where the cats don't have access to as I keep my rats in there), but as me and my partner have finally graduated from uni, we have brought a house, its a 3 story building with 3 bedrooms so it will be a lot different from what they are used to now.

They are both indoor cats with us living in a flat on a very busy road and when we move I plan to keep them as house cats, as they are very friendly cats and I know as bad as it sounds they would be taken in by someone else as I've had this happen twice already.

They are just the most wonderful loving cats, Calcifer (2 years old) is very much a lap cat he will insist on lying on your chest aha, he is the more relaxed one of the pair, where as Lux (coming up to 1 years old) is still very much kitten like, but he still loves attention, he just like to be moving about more he wont stop on you for very long as he has other things to do. They do occasionally have play fight which get a bit out of hand but its usually Lux not leaving Calcifer alone, they never last long and they are nothing serious.

Sorry for so much, I hope this helps

[Liz]

I would advise only introducing a newbie once your cats are settled - speaking form many years of intro's and its a bit early in the kitten season wether rescue or pedigree, the stress of moving impacts on then greatly - we moved our 37 (including our feral colony) and it took nearly 8 months to get everyone settled and happy

[Sue P (Paddysmum)]

Apologies for mis-spelling Lux.  Forgive me, Lux.   

[Sue P (Paddysmum)]

Hello - welcome to Purrs to you, Calcifer and Luxe (you're not a Diane Wynne Jones fan by any chance are you?  )

It may help us to advise if we know a little bit more about what type of accommodation you live in now, what you're hoping to move to, how old Luxe and Calcifer are, how long you've had them, what your cat's personalities are like and whether or not they're indoor only, or with access to outdoors too.

That might sound like a lot of information to ask for, but it can all very much affect how and when to effect cat introductions, and what sort of advice we can offer. 

Sounds like it's going to be a very exciting time coming up for you all. 

[Eyes Half Closed]

Hi , 

I was looking for some advice, me and my partner are moving to a new house with our two cats and we are planning to get a third, would it be better to introduce a new cat when my cats are settled or when we move in as they wont 'own' the house?