Moving Your Cats & Dogs To A New Home: The Ultimate Guide 2022

You can cut the stress associated with your long-distance move by preparing well for your relocation. The best approach is to stay relaxed and follow through with tips for moving with pets so you may follow the best way to move a cat across country (or a dog); the first step in this regard would be to prepare your checklist. Your checklist will let you better organize your efforts and get things done step-wise so that you don't get overwhelmed at the last hour. In contrast, doing things at the end never works out, or at least, never as you want it to.

At California Movers, our long-distance moving professionals will help you get moving across country with cats or dogs timely and safely, but there are things you can do on your end as well for a better cross-country moving experience.

How To Move Cats To A New Home?

Local moving is difficult when you have pets. But, there’s lots of stress and effort for you when moving with a cat, especially if the relocation is over a long distance. But there’s much you can do to make the experience manageable and cut down the stress associated with moving a cat to a new home. It’s tough for your furry little fellows too, so be sure that you’re prepared ahead of time.

Here’s a checklist of things you can do in this regard:

Visit Your Vet & See If Your Vaccination Is Up-To-Date

This must sound pretty familiar in the backdrop of COVID-19 but having your cat properly vaccinated , in accordance with the recommendations of the destination or the air travel agency (if you plan on flying cross country with your cat), is very important. Just visit your local vet for a routine checkup and make sure that all the vaccinations are up to date.

Get A Microchip

This is self-explanatory; if you don't have a microchip, get one immediately. The ability to track your pet while transporting cats across country is vital to the whole process.

Set Up A Traveling Pack

Traveling preparations are a must either way, but when transporting cats across country, you’ll have to take some extra steps and always make sure you use a moving company to help. Your traveling pack should contain everything your pet needs; if you have some experience moving with a cat, this part should be quite familiar.

You need to put together a pack of the following:

• Bottled water
• The food your cat is eating regularly at the moment
• Bowls for both water and food, preferably portable ones
• A litter tray, preferably a small one
• Plastic bags to dispose of the litter
• A small scoop

You may have to stop during your travel and give your cat a litter break because the little feline fellow may not litter for hours under stress. Plus, be sure you don't switch your cat's food because that can make them more stressful, plus be sure to check out any care tips for moving cats for your reference.

Don’t Stress Out

This may seem rather obvious and unnecessary, but there's a reason why we said so. Cats can sense your stress, and this affects them directly . If you show calm and composure during this drastic shift of environments, your little furry fellow will also stay calm while you're busy moving your cat to new home.

Give your cat enough playing opportunities, maintain the ongoing schedule, play with your feline companion, pet them, and show them that all is well. You can use drug-free calming collars to keep your pet relaxed throughout this period.

Be Prepared For The Moving Day

Cats can get nervous very easily, so you need to keep them calm on the moving day. You'll probably have several long-distance movers at your place, moving boxes and preparing your stuff for the relocation, and so many strange faces can unnerve your feline partner. It would be best to keep the littler fur pal inside the bathroom, with the litter box and feeding bowls.

Or, you can keep them in their carrier, just don’t let them roam the whole place freely, not only will they freak out, but they might even try to dash outside if the door is open. The last thing you want on your list of problems with transporting cats across country is to have one of your furball machines run away.

Prepare For Car Travel

Unless you're flying to your destination, you'll have to get your kitties acquainted with a long car ride, if they aren't so already. Notice if your cat shows any signs of car sickness, and if that is so, avoid feeding the cat before you start your journey . Plus, always make sure that the cat is secured inside its carrier when opening the car door.

And with this, you’re all set for moving across country with cats.

How To Handle Moving With A Dog?

As with the previous case, moving with a dog presents challenges of its own, in many ways, the same or similar as those mentioned before. Dogs too tend to get stressed out easily , and you'll have to make some preparations in advance for moving your dog to a new home, especially if you plan on relocating long-distance.

Desensitize Your Dog

On the moving day, your pawtner is going to see lots and lots of packing boxes, moving supplies, and so on. Since dogs react to abrupt changes in the routine, the sudden sight may stress them out. Your priority should be to get your little pal acquainted with the sight beforehand.

This way, when the moving day draws near, your dogs won’t feel overwhelmed at the sight of the moving supplies.

You won’t have to do much, just place some packing boxes out in the open in your house so your dog can see them and get used to the sight, this way you’ll have a much easier time moving your dog. If you notice any signs of stress, treat your dog with something they'll love to eat or relieve them otherwise .

Your goal here is to have your dogs associate the boxes and moving supplies with something positive, or at worst, neutral, not negative.

And with your supplies out in the open, you won’t have trouble finding the stuff on moving day, thus you’ll have a much better time moving your dog to a new home.

A win-win for all!

Stick To The Routine

Moving your dog to a new home does not have to be a nightmare, in fact, you don’t even have to behave as if a major change is underway. It would be better if you don’t – your dog will sense a change in routine, so make sure you show your pet that all is well.

By keeping the routine consistent, you will instill a sense of calm and reassurance for your dog.

Update The Microchip

This is pretty much the same as discussed before; if you don’t have a microchip, get one , and if you do, make sure that it is up-to-date.

Visit The Vet

On top of a regular checkup, you should also consult with the vet about the vaccination requirements of moving your dog cross country . Also, make sure you get in touch with a local vet near your new place in advance, just in case.

Exercise & Entertainment Can Help

As the moving day draws nearer, you’ll have more and more work on your hands, but do reserve some time for your dog – give it regular exercise and entertainment. Routine walks can help, but you need to go beyond that, perhaps with games of catch or by letting your dog play with other canine companions.

Swimming exercises are also a great way to fire up those doggy muscles.

As for the entertainment, make sure that your canine friend has all of its favorite toys at paw, so the fun never ends for them.

Exercise and entertainment have the same positive mental effects on dogs as it does on humans, so there is much merit in both pursuits.

Hopefully, this will put you in a much better position for moving your dog to a new home.

Bottom Line

Moving with your pets does not have to be half as stressful as most people make it . Lack of preparedness is one of the most important factors that complicate things here. This is where a moving company can help. Unless you make your checklist in advance, prepare for your move, and discuss matters with California Movers professionals (since we do have vast experience working with pet owners wishing to relocate long distance), things will be a bit problematic.

Just follow the general moving with pets’ tips that we have shared, and hopefully, you'll be all set for moving with pets to your new location!