How to transition an outdoor cat to a new home?

by Hannah
(South Carolina, USA)

In the next year, I am looking to move to Charleston, SC, from Columbia, SC, and currently live in a neighborhood where I found my kitty! He loves going outdoors and I am so comfortable with him going outside here because our neighbors know him and I know he knows the area to return home.


I am ideally wanting to move to the peninsula where it will be high traffic and not as great an environment for a cat to go outdoors, but don't want my little baby to hate his life being trapped indoors.

I have not decided on a location yet but am wondering if I should sacrifice my location on the peninsula for a better home for him further from the downtown area. I know I am the human and he is a cat, but he is my baby and I want him to be able to enjoy his life and continue going outdoors because he loves it so much.

Would it be worth it to move further away for him to have his outdoor life also? If so, how should I go about transitioning him to a new area to make sure he doesn't get lost when going outside?

If you think I should move to the area I ideally want to be in, how should I transition him into being indoors when he is outside probably 60% of the day?

Comments for How to transition an outdoor cat to a new home?

Average Rating starstarstarstarstar

Click here to add your own comments

Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Catio?
by: Kurt (Admin)

It's great that you're considering your cat's happiness and safety in your move. Moving an outdoor cat to a new location can be a challenge. What has worked for some is to keep the cat indoors for a time before allowing the cat outside.

There might be a compromise, though. Many cats can go outside safely in an outdoor enclosure, or "catio." Some are simple. Some are very elaborate. If you could build one of these at your new house, your cat could experience the outdoors and still be safe in a busy neighborhood.

Here's some information from PetMD on moving an outdoor cat.

Click here to add your own comments

Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How? Simply click here to return to Cat Questions.