how to stop cat wandering when moving home?

pookiesboo

can ye advise me please? we are about to move home and are worried that our tom cat might try to get back to where we live.
Our new home is only up the road from where we live now so he'll still be able to get the scent of his old home.
does anyone know how to stop this from happening?hes an indoor/outdoor cat (sleeps inside at night and a lot during the day!) and hes not neutered and just over a year old.
id hate for him to go missing.

thanks for advice in advance!:)

Whispered

When you move you will need to keep him in for a while. I'd usually say 3-4 weeks, but seeing as how close your old place is maybe do it for longer. You're his family so he should be happy enough to stay close

If you're worried about your cat wandering you will have to have him neutered. If not I promise you he WILL go missing at some stage. Not to mention risks to his health through fighting and of course all of the diseases he will catch through mating with strays (it's usually strays who are not neutered now and they tend to carry diseases).

pookiesboo

Whispered wrote: »

When you move you will need to keep him in for a while. I'd usually say 3-4 weeks, but seeing as how close your old place is maybe do it for longer. You're his family so he should be happy enough to stay close

If you're worried about your cat wandering you will have to have him neutered. If not I promise you he WILL go missing at some stage. Not to mention risks to his health through fighting and of course all of the diseases he will catch through mating with strays (it's usually strays who are not neutered now and they tend to carry diseases).

i know i definitely have to get him neutered,poor thing wont know whats hit him,new home and no testes! its the keeping him in for a few weeks thats going to be hard, he likes his ventures outside! i heard that butter on their paws is another good one but maybe an oldwives tale!

boomerang

The neutering op itself is very minor, he'll be back to his old self in 24 hours! Lots of good reasons to do it, especially if he's allowed outdoors. I read a study on the effects of neutering; neutered males have a much smaller territorial range than un-neutered males, so he will stay closer to home. Plus he's less likely to get in fights with other males - a bite or a scratch from another tom and he could be infected with one of two incurable cat viruses - Feline Leukaemia and FIV.

You'll definitely have to keep him in for a few weeks (ideal time to have him neutered, actually!) and then start letting him out gradually, ideally before his normal feeding times so he's hungry and won't go too far at first. Just out of curiosity, is he not scent-marking at all yet? That's the one big reason for people to neuter their male cats... The pong when they do that in the house!

Whispered

I heard the butter on the paws thing too! No idea if it works though. Or why it might.

As boomerang said, it's a good idea to let him out bit by bit and make sure he's really hungry. Even if you can skip brekkie so he's likely to hang around.

pookiesboo

boomerang wrote: »

The neutering op itself is very minor, he'll be back to his old self in 24 hours! Lots of good reasons to do it, especially if he's allowed outdoors. I read a study on the effects of neutering; neutered males have a much smaller territorial range than un-neutered males, so he will stay closer to home. Plus he's less likely to get in fights with other males - a bite or a scratch from another tom and he could be infected with one of two incurable cat viruses - Feline Leukaemia and FIV.

You'll definitely have to keep him in for a few weeks (ideal time to have him neutered, actually!) and then start letting him out gradually, ideally before his normal feeding times so he's hungry and won't go too far at first. Just out of curiosity, is he not scent-marking at all yet? That's the one big reason for people to neuter their male cats... The pong when they do that in the house!

ya it would be perfect timing actually to get it done while when we move, thanks boomerang

pookiesboo

Whispered wrote: »

I heard the butter on the paws thing too! No idea if it works though. Or why it might.

As boomerang said, it's a good idea to let him out bit by bit and make sure he's really hungry. Even if you can skip brekkie so he's likely to hang around.

thanks whispered!:D