Cats - Moving house advice & tracking collars
Hey everyone,
I have adopted two British shorthair cats, brother and sister, aged 8 years old. They were not my cats originally, and have lived their whole lives as outside cats. They currently live in the middle of a city, but typically do not cross any of the main roads. They do love to go into neighbour's houses, and though people have been asked not to feed them, I think it still goes on!
I am moving house in 3 months, and really want to make this a smooth transition. I am looking for moving advice and advice on tracking collars, particularly PetTracer and Tractive.
On moving:
- Neither cat likes being kept inside (in fact, on the rare occasion I need to keep them inside, they develop urinary and stool issues. The vet has said to avoid keeping them inside unless absolutely necessary).
- Neither cat currently wears a collar and both have quite chonky necks. They wore collars as kittens, then apparently kept slipping out of the collars so much the previous owners stopped bothering.
- We are moving from city centre to semi-rural village over 5 miles away. The village has one main road running through it. We are on the edge and the garden backs out onto a mix of forest and farmland.
I'm wondering a) how to keep them calm whilst keeping them inside after the move. Online advice seems to say keep them inside for 3-4 weeks or more. I will ask my vet as well for advice at their next appointment. and once I move I'll make them wear the new tracking collars inside b) Out of PetTracer and Tractive, are either more suitable for cats with chonky necks? and c) is there anything I could be doing now, in the lead up to the move, to make things easier? Should I make them wear a tracking collar now to test it out before moving? Any pheromone sprays or tips like that for moving?
After the move
- The girl cat is the one who likes to move into neighbour's houses and can vanish for 3-5 days at a time right now. I'm desperately trying to discourage this by making home as attractive as possible. I'm leaning towards PetTracer for her given Tractive's limited battery life, and her tendency to go inside buildings.
- The boy cat has the chonkier neck. He tends to wander but tends to stay outside rather than go into other people's houses as far as I know. I'm leaning more towards Tractive for him, to have more precise GPS, and he comes home regularly so I could charge the collar easier.
I'm sure I'm overthinking this, but I love these cats so much and they're my first cats, I want them to be happy, calm, and safe!