 Hi everybody, Lisa Larson here, Animal Communicator, and today I'm going to give you six tips on how to move with a cat. Hi guys. Yeah, today we're going to be talking about how to move with your cats. I've got six tips for you because I know that this is something that many cat parents have to deal with at some point and it's difficult on you, it's difficult on them, so I think there's a lot involved that people don't think about. So I'm going to give you those six tips and this will be a quick video. So first of all, let's start before the move. Tip one, you want to talk to them either in your own words or through a communicator. It's fine. You know, I mean, if you want to call a communicator, that's what I do a lot and in helping animals move and I go through all of the details. But if that's not something that you want to do, that's fine because animals may not understand every word of English that you say or French or Spanish or whatever you speak, but they understand intent and we speak words with intent. So tell them in advance, okay, we're going to be moving. You're going to be seeing a lot of boxes around and you know, before you start putting the boxes out, we're going to be putting boxes out, you're going to be safe. Just keep reassuring them that you're going to be safe. We're all going to be moving. Just give them the overview so that they understand that whatever they're seeing is going to be safe, that they're going to be safe. Okay. Tip two, hopefully you have watched our video on keeping cats indoors and I'm hoping that all of your kitties are indoor kitties. But I know that there are probably some of you out there that do still have indoor outdoor kitties and it's really important, even for those indoor outdoor kitties before the move for like several weeks while you're packing, really important to keep those kitties indoors because if they start getting freaked out by seeing all of the boxes, because you guys are freaking out, because moving is so stressful, it's very likely and common that they just go off some place and they may think that they're going off for a couple of days just to get away from the stress, but it might be over the course of when you actually leave and you can't find them. So it's really, really important to keep your kitties indoors for those few weeks when all that commotion is going on before the move and even if they're indoor cats, make sure that you are hyper, hyper sensitive to any time that somebody's going in or out of the door, that they're not, that they're not making a run for it because they're probably feeling all the stress. So now during the move, tip three, here's the way that I generally suggest. If you have dogs, it's one thing you can put them in the backyard or dogs get freaked out too, but it's not quite like cats because they're more used to being around you and going out places with you. But cats are not. So what I would suggest is to put them in a bedroom before the movers come, feed them in the morning and then before the movers come, put them in the bedroom with all of their stuff, you know, with a lot of their stuff that they're comfortable with, the beds, food, their box and all of that. Because think about it, they're going to be hearing all of this noise and stuff. You definitely don't want them running around the house. You definitely don't want them getting caught up in the boxes. I should have said this about before the move, making sure that they never get caught in the boxes. I heard a story. I read a newspaper article about this cat that got ended up, they couldn't find the cat. They were moving overseas and the cat ended up in a box on Mattson going like six weeks. He was shockingly alive by the time they got there. But he had he had crawled into this box. Nobody knew it got closed up. I mean, that's not common. But ever since I heard that, it's like, OK, check your boxes, you know. But yeah, when it makes sure that they're not getting caught up in all of the boxes and all of the stuff. But when they're in the bedroom, even though you're having to to deal with the movers and say, you know, this goes here and do this now and whatever it is, make sure that you go in and check on them. You know, keep going in and reassuring them that everything's OK. Now, when the when the movers are ready to go in and get all of the bedroom furniture, it's best to then just move them. If you have the have an en suite bathroom that you can enclose them in, you can do that or maybe another another bathroom where again, you want to put their box in their food and stuff so that they feel comfortable with their things and then let the people empty the bedroom after they've emptied out everything from the bedroom. Then you can let the cats into the bedroom again. And, you know, they're going to be freaked out. You can tell them that you were going to see all of the stuff when we get to the new house. That's one of the things that I do. I when I talk to an animal who's going to be moving, I give them detailed step by step by step detail so that they're ready for every single thing. So you want to make sure that you understand that they're going to freak out, be freaked out, looking at that empty room. But, you know, just tell them where you're going to be safe. We're going to be moving, whatever and make sure that they have their things in there, like I've said, you know, that if especially after the stuff is gone, you know, if they have a special bed that they like or something like that. Tip four is that when everything is moved out and you're ready to actually leave the house, make sure that you put them in their carrier and then walk their carrier around to show them the empty house and let them say goodbye. You know, I mean, you think about what you do. You walk around. You've been living here all. This is the only house that you've known for so many years or whatever. And you feel you have to say goodbye to it. Well, so do they. So make sure that they have the opportunity to do that. OK, so you're going to just let them let them look around. I always think about that if you've ever seen the last episode of Mary Tyler Moore. So when she, you know, everybody walks out and she's the one that turns off the light and she opens the door and she just takes a look that last time and then shuts the door and turns off the light. Well, you know, animals need that too. So that's tip four. OK, and I should have put this at a separate tip, but make sure that when you leave, you tell them this goes back to talking about talking to them. Make sure that you're talking to them throughout the whole process. You know, tell them we're going to be in the car for 15 minutes or we're going to be in the car for three hours or we're going to go, you know, overnight here, you know, whatever it is. Usually for those longer things, that's when people usually call me. But but make sure that they understand how long they're going to be, you know, in the car. OK, in the new home now, we've gone from before the move during the move. And now we're getting to the new home. So you get to the new home, make sure that again, while all the movers and all of this stuff is going on before that, they start moving all the stuff in, take them into a bedroom, put their beds down, their food, their box, things that they know. And are familiar with and keep them in that bedroom for a couple of days. Now, the same thing, you have to do the same thing. You put them in the bedroom, the people start moving in all the furniture. And then when they're ready to move in the bedroom furniture, you put them in a in a bathroom or something and then let them out. When you can club, when everybody's out of the bedroom, all the movers are out of the bedroom. You can let them out into the bedroom. And, you know, they'll see their familiar things. They'll see the bed. They'll see, understand and but it's important to keep them in there for several days so that they know and establish a place for themselves. So they know that this is a safe place. And whether it's a bedroom or whatever, whatever room that, you know, they're going to be most comfortable in. I think it's usually the main bedroom because they sleep with me. But so it's really important. And then when you do, when they are ready to come out and you'll know because they'll start, you know, scratching in the door and wanting to look out, they start to feel comfortable in their room, then walk out with them, you know, walk around the house as they sniff around and and look so that they know that you're there. You know, the problem is, you know, some people, I think they get all the stuff moved in and then they just open the door and they let the cats out and the cats run around and they're going, oh, my God, it's just it's like too much, you know. So that's why I say, confine them first, give them a small, little confined space, you know, not too small, not a bathroom. But that they can stay in for a couple of days and then walk around with them so that they get comfortable with the house. Now, again, if you have indoor outdoor cats, you need to keep them indoors for at least three weeks so that they get completely comfortable in their home because until they get comfortable in their home, they're not going to have an instinct to be able to come back. And again, if you do take them out, make sure that you you are out with them initially. Again, I have a real hard time with that because I just don't believe in indoor outdoor cats. I believe they should be indoor for their safety, for their health. I know that's not everybody, but if you do have indoor outdoor, it's very important to keep them inside for a period of time. And who knows, maybe they'll get, you know, you can work on having them, you know, just get comfortable inside. But that's that's another podcast. OK, that was tip five. All right, tip six. Last tip, make the home theirs. You know, make sure they have their own trees, their own toys, their own bowls, their own beds and then get them something new. You know, whether it's a perch or a kitty condo or something that, you know, make it exciting for them. Finds, get them, you know, it's a lot of the stuff is going to be so overwhelming. But if you get them something that's that's a new toy or someplace for them to sit or someplace in the look outside, you know, then you can try to make it exciting for them. That's one of the things that I do when I talk to them. I try to show them what's going to be exciting about their lives going forward in their new home. So but do remember that cats like their routine. So get them adjusted slowly, like I say, in a smaller area. Let them have that comfortable spot so they're not overwhelmed and then just be with them and understand. I think one of the biggest things is understand what they're going through. You know, sometimes we get so caught up in what we're going through with the move that we tend to forget what they're going through. So yeah, so I think I will end with one of the questions that I know a lot of people have is what is the benefit of calling me or an animal communicator to have you talk to them beforehand? First of all, even if you call an animal communicator, it does not dismiss that you need to do all of these six tips. You know, you need to do all of these things anyway. The things that I do as an animal communicator when people are moving with their animals or any animals that cats in particular with is what we're talking about today is again, I tell them step by step. I a lot of times I think of things that maybe they, you know, people might not think of on their own. I show them I get into their their space and I show them what it's going to sound like when they hear all the movers, what it's going to feel like being in the car. And for instance, you know, it's easy to think about a move that we're just going 15, 20 minutes away, but some people move overseas. Some people move cross country. So, you know, when I when I do that, I'm telling animals, you know, about hotel rooms, how long each trip of each leg of the trip is going to be, what they're going to experience and stuff like that. So that's why a lot of times people will call me. They call me for the shorter moves, too. But I think they people really consider when they're longer trips, they think about this and making sure to call me in advance because I do I do book out quite a bit in advance. So but that's what I do. I help them understand. I tell them all of these things that I that I gave you, but I kind of get into their space and show them what it's going to feel like each step of the way. You know, so that's that's one of the reasons and whether it's me or another animal communicator, everybody has a different way of doing it. That's just the way that I do it. So anyway, I really appreciate you guys being here. If you are enjoying these podcasts, video casts, please hit that subscribe button and hit the like button that would really help me out here. And if you want to be notified of future videos, hit that bell. You can find me at pause talk dot net. You can find my book, Pause Talking, A Course in Communicating with Animals at Amazon and at Apple Books. So I really appreciate you being here. If you guys would please you have comments, please put them in the in the comments below. If you have questions, if you have other topics that you'd like me to cover, I appreciate it and I try to keep up on it. I don't always keep up on it as quickly as I should, but I try my best. So I really appreciate you guys being here and I will see you next time. Bye bye.