Taking the barn cats along when we move?

[Hermein]

We are moving permanently to the mountains this summer, and I do NOT want to leave our barn kitties behind. Some of them were born here, some just wandered in, and they’re all quite sociable. They were spayed or neutered as soon as I could catch them. There are six of them.

I know they’d rather stay here, and I’ve read stories of cats traveling on their own for hundreds of miles to return to their “homes”, but I shudder to think of them traversing mountains and towns. However, I don’t think I can count on tenants or neighbors to take care of them.

The tentative plan is to keep them in the garage until they decide that they have a new home, but I don’t know how long that might take. I’ve brought a couple of them in the house and kept them there for a week or so, but they’ve gone back outside as soon as they got a chance.

So…Is there a particular amount of time to keep them inside before they decide to stay? Is there anything else that we could do to help them accept their new digs?

TIA.

[Trails]

I was given 2 feral cats and was told to keep them closed in for 3 weeks. I did put in some dry food but was told to feed them wet food every morning. After the 3 weeks, I left the door open. The ventured out but were back in the room in the morning for their wet food. I then began weaning them off the wet food. They stayed and knew this was their new home.
I imagine it would be a lot easier with your cats as they are not really feral. I would contain them until they got use to the new smells etc. Feed them really tasty food but confine them for a couple of weeks. I bet they stay around.

[Mukluk]

So glad you are wanting to do right by those kitties. It’s sad how many would just get left. Kudos to you and best of luck!

[khall]

We brought our barn kitty with us no trouble. She never tried to go back “home” even though we were only 8 miles away. She was a very friendly barn cat and had actually lived in a home until she packed her bags when they brought in two new kittens and moved to the barn. My barn cats are kept locked up at night though because we have great horned owls and coyotes here with the occasional stray dog that comes through.

[Zu_Zu]

search this - many threads

I have moved with ferals , derals ( domesticated ferals) and domesticated cats •
all three types of barn cats.

Main ideas :

Pair them or group for the trip in carriers
Contain them for three weeks … gradually increasing their space
garage / tack room / barn
Help them know they are ‘home’ = mark their property before allowing them outside.

• scatter a little of their litter box scat / at the corners of the buildings / house & barn and any other sheds … that tells them it’s their home as well as informs wandering cats that they are “TRESPASSING”

GOOD LUCK

• with pre-planning and patience this relocation should go smoothly !

[saje]

I’ve done it, but I turned them into house cats with access to a cat-fenced yard. The place we moved to is not a good one for outdoor cats, and I couldn’t bear to lose them. They’ve adjusted well, and all of them were born outside and spent all but the worst of days outdoors.

[NoDQhere]

When we moved our entire farm, the cats came along. I kept them in a large, outside pen for about a month, until we had the people houses ready. Everyone did great.

[cloudyandcallie]

[QUOTE=Mukluk;8694515]
So glad you are wanting to do right by those kitties. It’s sad how many would just get left. Kudos to you and best of luck![/QUOTE]

I agree. Take the kitties.

[LilyandBaron]

Yep, agree with posters - takes at least 2 weeks, preferably 3-4, to reset their little GPS units. I bought a farm and brought a few cats from my old boarding barn that was changing ownership, and kept them in an unoccupied chicken coop for the first 3 weeks. They were always super tame, and I fed them wet food am/pm, with dry food available otherwise. It took about a year, but I built a tack room and have a cat door, so now they are locked up at night. One has made herself the indoor tack room cat, pretty much, lol.

[js]

Take them, if the garage has a man door to the outside make or buy a cat safe outdoor enclosure where they can see and smell the new outdoor location and still have access to the garage. I’d give them 3-4 weeks to adjust. They won’t be happy with the trip or settling at first but they’ll adjust in time. That is much better then leaving them behind at the mercy of a tenet or neighbor. It isn’t just the familiarity of the place but the people too.

[rb5007]

I have 6 former barn cats, taken with me at different times when I left prior barns. The first 2-3 weeks were rough but they all settled in beautifully after that. I just bought a farm and was all excited for them to be barn cats - or at least be indoor/outdoor cats - again. No such luck. And one of the two barn cats who came with the farm has now moved into the house as well… I think it really helps if they all know each other too.

[DressageFancy]

Outside pens that you can move around to all the places you want them to know. Keep moving them as you move and work around the property/barn. Shut in tack room or leave in cage in barn at night. Get them out and handle/play with them as they show you they are comfortable in new surroundings. Back in cage when you are not with them. Then gradually let them out for longer periods until you are comfortable that they know that you (and their feed can!) now lives in new home. Sometimes it only takes a few days (with only shut up at night) to a couple weeks. Depends on the cats and their attachment to you and your family.

[Foxtrot_s]

Good luck, because the alternative of leaving them behind is no favour to the new owners who may or may not be thrilled…we arrived here with a couple of abandoned feral cats - who then had kittens waaaaay under the barn and it was a bit of a job to dig them out, all fighting and scratching all the way.

[redalter]

All great suggestions - good luck with your move and the kitties!

[EventerAJ]

I moved my 3 barn cats from FL to KY this spring. They are tame, friendly, and very much used to a routine of 2x daily feedings. I kept them shut in the tack room for 48hrs…wanted to keep them there longer, but they found an escape route on their own. They adjusted immediately once they saw their best friend (my dog) was there, too.

One of them went missing about 2 weeks after the move, I’m afraid something got her when she was hunting in the fields. The remaining two have adapted to the normal routine, fed A.M. and P.M., and hang out in the barn, climb the loft, nap under the porch at the house, and hunt mice in empty horse stalls. I was really worried they’d run away in a new place, but they’ve transitioned very well.