Care Guides

Moving day is chaos by definition. Doors propped open, strangers carrying boxes, furniture disappearing, and somewhere in the middle of it a cat who has decided the safest place in the world is inside the sofa that is about to go on a lorry.

Pets do not understand moving. They understand that their territory is being dismantled and that the humans are behaving strangely. Most of the stress you can prevent comes down to planning that starts weeks before the van arrives.

Start early, and start with boxes

Bring packing materials into the house gradually rather than all at once. A few boxes appearing over two weeks is a much smaller event than the entire house being packed on a Saturday.

Leave boxes out, let pets investigate them, and carry on normally. Cats in particular will sit in them, which is fine and helps. What you are avoiding is the sudden overnight transformation that tells an animal something is badly wrong.

Keep your pet's own things — beds, bowls, litter trays, favourite toys — unpacked until the very last moment. These carry familiar scent and are the anchors in a house that smells increasingly unfamiliar.

Resist the urge to wash everything before the move. That blanket that looks grubby is a scent library. Bring it dirty.

Admin nobody remembers until it is urgent

Update the microchip registration. This is the single most important thing on the list and the most commonly forgotten. A microchip with your old address is close to useless if the pet bolts on moving day, which is exactly when pets bolt.

Do it before the move, not after. Update the phone number too while you are in there.

Order a new ID tag with the new address, or at minimum a current mobile number. Request your pet's medical records from your current vet, or ask them to transfer to a new practice. Find and register with a vet near the new home before you need one, and note the nearest emergency clinic's address and hours.

If you are moving far enough that travel takes a full day, refill any medications so you are not searching for a pharmacy mid-move.

Moving day: separate the pet from the process

The best plan for most animals is to not be there at all.

Boarding for the day, a day at daycare, or a friend's house removes almost every risk — the open front door, the propped gate, the stranger who leaves a room unlatched, the noise, the stress. If you can arrange it, do.

If the pet must stay, pick one room and make it the safe room. Empty it last. Put the pet inside with water, bedding, litter tray for cats, and a chew or puzzle toy. Close the door and put a large sign on it: DO NOT OPEN — PET INSIDE. Tell the movers explicitly, in words, at the start of the day. Signs get ignored; a direct conversation does not.

Check on the pet periodically. Do not open the door wide.

The journey

Cats travel in carriers, secured with a seatbelt or wedged in a footwell, never loose. Dogs travel in a crate or a crash-tested harness. A loose animal in a car during a stressful, distracted day is a genuine danger to itself and to you.

Feed a light meal several hours before travelling rather than immediately before. Offer water at stops. On long drives, dogs need toilet breaks on a lead — every single time, no exceptions, no matter how reliable the recall usually is. Unfamiliar territory plus a stressed dog equals a dog that runs.

Do not open a cat carrier in the car for any reason. Not to comfort, not to offer water. Cats have escaped through car windows on moving days and the outcomes are grim.

For pets with real travel anxiety, talk to your vet in advance about medication. Same principle as vet visits — there is no prize for doing it the hard way.

Arriving: one room first

Do not release a pet into a whole unfamiliar house. Set up a single room before anything else — bedding, bowls, litter tray, toys, all the familiar-smelling items — and put the pet in there while the rest of the unloading happens.

For cats, keep them in that room for several days at minimum. A week is better. This gives them time to build a scent-marked base they can retreat to before they explore further. Let them out into the rest of the house gradually, ideally when the movers are gone and the house is quiet.

Cats should stay entirely indoors for at least two to three weeks after a move, even if they were previously outdoor cats. Cats have been known to travel remarkable distances trying to return to a previous home. Let them build an association with the new place first. When you do let them out, do it before a meal so they have a reason to come back, and go with them the first few times.

Dogs adapt faster but still need boundaries. Walk the perimeter of the garden with them on a lead and check the fence line properly for gaps before trusting it.

The settling-in weeks

Expect some regression. House-trained dogs having accidents, cats going outside the litter tray, appetite changes, extra clinginess, hiding, or unusual vocalising are all common in the first fortnight. Treat it as stress rather than misbehaviour and go back to basics — more frequent toilet trips, more supervision, no punishment.

The fastest route back to normal is routine. Feed at the same times you always did. Walk at the same times. Keep bedtime consistent. Familiar rhythm in an unfamiliar house does most of the reassuring for you.

Most pets are visibly settled within two to four weeks. If your animal is still not eating properly after a few days, or a cat has not used the litter tray at all, that is worth a vet call rather than more waiting.