Moving Tips for Pet Owners: How to Help Your Pet Deal with Relocation and Settling into Your New Home

Moving can be a traumatic experience for many pets, especially if it is their first time. From our own experiences in many moves—short distance, long distance, overseas—we have compiled the following tips as well as this Pet Owner Relocation Checklist to help you make your move easier one your pet.

1. Get your pet comfortable with his mode of transportation before the move. Leave crates and carriers open in a room you and your pet use every day. Feed him meals and treats inside the carrier. Confine him inside the carrier a few minutes at a time to begin with. Gradually lengthen the time until he is comfortable spending an entire night in his carrier.
2. If your move requires long-distance driving, take your pet for short rides in the car the weeks before the move. If your car will be packed full of things, let your pets ride in crates so they do not get hit, squished, or poked by shifting objects.
3. If you must travel by plane with an anxious or aggressive pet, your vet may provide you with tranquilizer pills to give him before checking in.
4. Tape a spare leash and collar to the top of the crate in case your pet needs to be removed from the crate during the flight.
5. Confine your pets while your things are being packed up and loaded. Bathrooms are a good place for this. Pets can become frightened by movers, get trodden on, or lost during the confusion of moving. Cats may even slip inside shipping containers or moving trucks and get carried off without your knowlege.
6. Lock up your pets the night before the move. You do not want to risk not being able to find them when it is time to leave.
7. Make sure ID tags are updated with your new contact information. If you do not have new ID tags yet, type or neatly print your information and tape it onto the old ID tags with clear packing tape over the entire tag before departing for your new home.
8. Be sure to take your pet’s personal items to your new home. Your pet will feel much better in a strange place if he sees his crate, bed, dishes and toys all set up in one area.
9. Show your pet where his new potty is shortly after arrival to reduce accidents. He may still forget in the beginning and you should correct him firmly and show him his potty again to prevent developing a bad habit. Do not express anger as anxiety is likely to be part of the problem.
10. Check your new house and yard for hazards, loose electrical wiring, poisonous baits and traps left by previous residents, loose fencing, gaps around gates, poisonous plants, neighbors’ pets, strays and wild animals. Before letting your cat or small dog outside, make sure it is not in danger of loose dogs.
11. Do not let your cat out of the house until he is settled in and happy. Some cats only need a few days, others should be kept in for several weeks. Cats may wander off in a strange place or even walk back to their old home (they have a way of knowing how to do this) even if it is 30 or 100 miles away.
12. Spend extra time with your pet in your new home. Let him sleep where he can see you (if he is not allowed on your bed).
13. Follow familiar routines, play familiar games, and spend a lot of time just hanging out together while watching TV or reading.
14. Don’t forget to visit your new City Hall or local animal shelter to obtain a new license for you pet.
15. Feel free to print our Pet Owner Relocation Checklist to help you and your pet in your move.

Tags: cats, dogs, Pet Care Articles, pet safety

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