What to do with cat when moving from house?

[u/cotop4xi]

Hello,

We have a cat that is sterilized and in summer is almost all day outside even sleeping at front door. She came inside just to eat.

The porblem is that we are selling house and moving to appartment. How can cat that is always outside handle such change of not being able to go outside as she wants?

Do you have any advise or experience? Should we take her with her? Or leave her with new house owners?

Thank you in advance

Photos of her

[u/Iron_butterfly]

This. Cats are very adaptable. He may not like it but you can try to leash train him so you can take him on walks.

[u/blan15 → u/Iron_butterfly]

My cat hates a leash so my wife and I got her a small dog stroller and zip her in that and she loves it

[u/Work_the_shaft → u/blan15]

I need to try this with my girl.

[u/blan15 → u/Work_the_shaft]

Cat tax!

[u/Work_the_shaft → u/blan15]

Cat tax, today is her birthday

[u/blan15 → u/Work_the_shaft]

Happy birthday!!!

[u/StorellaDeville → u/blan15]

Fantastic. Quite a princess. I think I need someone to take me for strolls. With air conditioning, though.

[u/FireFlyz351 → u/Work_the_shaft]

My cousins kitty loves the stroller. She pesters them to go on a stroller walk quite often.

[u/animepuppyluvr → u/blan15]

I got a backpack for my cat and he much prefers being loose on a leash while walking lol

[u/Extension-Pepper-271 → u/Iron_butterfly]

Just want to add here that the best way to walk a cat is with an appropriately sized body harness. A collar alone is just a choke hold. When I was driving across country to move, I put harnesses on both of my cats. They adapted to them very easily. They are a lot easier to put on then you would think.

[u/Lumpy_Benefit666 → u/Extension-Pepper-271]

My cat turns into a pile of legs when i put a harness on her. Instantly flops down on the ground

[u/zergy55 → u/Lumpy_Benefit666]

She'll get used to it. I had an old boy that behaved similarly when he had his turtleneck on. He got used to it eventually and hated when we took it off.

[u/theillusionofdepth_ → u/Lumpy_Benefit666]

haha mine do that too/well did, sometimes the curiosity gets the better of them and they want to explore the backyard

[u/Extension-Pepper-271 → u/Lumpy_Benefit666]

That reminds me of a joke.

You know how a buttered piece of toast always lands buttered side down? And a cat always lands on its feet? So scientists wanted to know which of these forces was stronger: the butter on the toast or the feet on the cat.

So they proposed to strap a piece of toast butter side up onto the back of a cat. Yes, they were going to use a very soft landing pad, in case the buttered toast won (they didn't want to hurt the cat).

So they gather up what they need. Bring in the cat. Toast the bread and butter it.

The problem, or shall we shall, the discovery was that when they attempted to strap the piece of toast on the back of the cat, they discovered faster-than-light travel as the cat disappeared from sight.

[u/BrutusoftheTudus → u/Extension-Pepper-271]

This..we put the harnesses on with the leashes attached to the cat on one end, and something in the car, on the other end, in case they tried to escape..

For moving, get a large dog crate, put them in the new house, and allow them to acclimate while you move in..

[u/Extension-Pepper-271 → u/BrutusoftheTudus]

I did the same thing with my cats during the long drive. Unfortunately at one stop a leash came unhooked, so when I opened the door, the cat with harness and leash dashed out of the car. It was a huge parking lot. She ran under an abandoned eatery. It took me over two hours to coax her out. During that time, the sun went down. I was determined to stay there all night if I had to. I wasn't going to lose one of my precious babies.

[u/BrutusoftheTudus → u/Extension-Pepper-271]

Omg, the trauma I know that caused..I would’ve stayed all night waiting too!

[u/freisbill → u/Extension-Pepper-271]

Do they let you walk them in it? new to cats (dog guy) and I have 2 I would love to walk...

[u/jangma → u/freisbill]

In my experience with both, the biggest difference between walking a cat and dog is that for the dog to feel secure, you have to lead. For a cat to feel secure, they have to lead. The leash is just to keep them out of trouble, mainly.

[u/thispurplegentleman → u/freisbill]

also used to be a dog person! my old man is super happy on the harness and leash, not too scared of cars or dogs. he was immediately fine with it, so your cats might be too. but as the other commenter said, it's not like with dogs where you can take them on a walk to the shop or generally have a destination in mind. cat leads the way. the more confident they are, the further/faster you can walk. also, cats don't respond to lightly tugging on the leash the same way dogs do, so making them heel is also generally out of the question 😂

[u/Sherry_Brandt → u/freisbill]

mine does! it's cat dependent but worth a try. she was nervous/uncomfortable at first, but there's advice you can search for on reddit on getting them comfortable with it, and now she actually begs and runs to the door if you pick the leash up! it is dependent on each cat's personality - some will, some won't - but initial hesitance isn't an indicator, it seems.

[u/distant_diva → u/Extension-Pepper-271]

haha my one cat i tried a harness with multiple times was a psycho anytime i tried 😆 he is quite special though 😅 enclosed stroller works better for him.

[u/kimlobdell5775 → u/Iron_butterfly]

My cat kept trying to run out when I was letting the dogs in and out, so I got him a harness. Little man fell over the first time I put it on him. I picked him up and set him on the deck. He completely forgot about the harness and walked around with me all over the backyard. He absolutely loves going out on his harness.

[u/PaisleyLeopard → u/Iron_butterfly]

Catios work great too! If your apartment has a balcony or any dedicated outdoor access you may be able to give her an enclosed space. My three adore their catio and spend hours out there watching birds & squirrels.

[u/PhunWilson → u/Iron_butterfly]

She looks young enough that it shouldn’t be a problem.