Moving with Pets
Traveling with your circus
Written by Rachel Gardner, Freya’s Fearless Felines Cat Training & Behavior, CFTBS, CAFTP
With these planning strategies and checklists, moving with your cats should be a low stress experience for your family. Moving is the number one reason that animals are surrendered to shelters and rescue organizations. This guide was developed with the help of service members in the United States and highlights their specific barriers to moving with pets.
Moving Checklist
This is an overview of considerations to develop your travel plan.
Schedule a vet exam
Vaccines
Microchip
Address any ongoing or emergent needs
Speak with your provider about situational anxiety medication or supplements
Health certificate: https://www.aphis.usda.gov/pet-travel
How are you getting to your new home?
Flying: cargo or carry on
Fees
Insurance
Carrier/kennel requirements
Driving:
Long distance: more than 24 hours on the road
Wire kennel
Zip ties
Wet food
Disposable litter box and low mess litter
Short distance: less than 24 hours
Carrier
Zip ties
Potty pads
Where will you stay while you’re traveling?
Lodging/Pet friendly hotels: schedule as far in advance as possible, you can always change your reservation, but it’s better to be on the books ASAP
Family/friends
RV/Camper/In Car
How is your stuff arriving?
TMO/Moving company: pack and place for you
Self/friends/family: loading up the cars and unloading with help
Open-ended/as you go: remodeling or moving in stages
Pet friendly housing?
Base housing: check breed restrictions and pet health requirements
Apartment/Rental (off base): pet rent, pet fees, breed restrictions, and renter’s insurance
Own
Tips and Hints
If you’re staying with family, a hotel, or any similar temporary lodging along the way, keep your cats confined to the bathroom with the door closed or in a wire crate secured with a carabiner clip. Cats can easily disappear in couches, chairs, beds, and luggage in an unfamiliar space. A bathroom is easy to clean and has minimal hiding spots.
Keep windows and doors closed when pets are exploring in a new location and getting comfortable. Cats can easily push screens out, panic, and run towards a place they can hide.
If your pet gets out after you’ve moved, there is a chance they will try to go back to their previous home-no matter the distance. Call your local animal care facility, mark their microchip as lost, notify old and new neighbors, post on social media, call local vets, and local rescues. Set out a laundry basket or box with the pet’s bedding, favorite toy, and your dirty socks or pillowcases. Wait until it’s quiet with minimal activity outside to go checking the neighborhood on foot. Don’t give up-families have reunited after 8 years apart!
Schedule a wellness exam with the veterinarian before and after you move. You can monitor changes, get established before an emergency, and ensure your pet is up to date on required care. You can also talk about short term anxiety medications to reduce the stress of moving. Stock up on prescriptions in case you are delayed on arrival.
Practice going on short trips in the car to make it a happy experience. Leave carriers, leashes, kennels, and luggage out to get animals comfortable with these items.
Helpful supplies:
Zip ties, pipe cleaners, carabiner clips, binder clips and safety pins help keep cages covered, secured, and to anchor bedding or litter boxes to kennels.
Pillowcases, sheets, towels, blankets, and bathmats are useful for covering kennels to reduce light, noise, and visual stressors.
Puppy pens with roofs or wire kennels are excellent for keeping cats secure in main rooms; this can also help with introducing them to a new home.
Aluminum roasting pans, oil pans, and dishwashing tubs can be purchased at dollar stores as disposable litter pans.
Potty pads and pellets are easy to clean up and dispose of during travel.
Wet food in a paper bowl is good on the road food for cats; it’s hydrating, tasty, and easy to clean up.
For warmer drives, reusable ice packs in a pillowcase can keep pets cool.
Remove collars before kenneling cats and dogs to avoid the risk of strangulation.
Make sure your pets are microchipped and that your information is up to date. Adding an emergency contact from your current location and new location can reunite your pet if you’re unreachable.
Set up a safe space for your pets when you arrive by unpacking as much of that room as possible and placing all of their items in that space. Introduce them to the home slowly and move items to their permanent locations over the course of a few weeks.
Resources for Moving with Pets
