MOVING WITH YOUR PET

Reprinted from Takeyourpet.com. Pet Travel Newsletter is the electronic newsletter devoted to traveling with your pet.

Many people plan their move to a new home during the summer. To help make your move more enjoyable for your pets, here is a checklist:

• Prepare a new ID for each of them before the move with the new address and phone number, if possible. If you don’t have a new phone number yet, use a temporary emergency number.

• Get your animals used to being in a crate, if they are going to be transported that way, before the day of the move so that it won’t be a frightening or stressful experience.

• Don’t dispose of the familiar. Even if your pets’ ratty old blankets don’t quite go with your great new décor, they’re familiar and comforting to them. Once they adjust to their new digs, you can swap the old blankets for the snazzy new LL Bean numbers. The same goes for their food and water bowls. Bring plenty of both from the old house.

• Select a safe room for the newly arrived animals, with their own food and water dishes and familiar bedding already in place, and put notices on the door to warn movers not to open that door.

• Check doors and windows. When the movers have left, make sure that all the doors and windows are secured before letting any animals out into the rest of the house.

We don’t recommend letting cats outside, except into a fully screened porch, cattery, or a yard with special cat fencing. But I know some people like to let their cats out for some supervised garden time. Experts suggest keeping your cat inside for a minimum of one month before even attempting an outside trip. After that, the first few outings need to be brief and well supervised. Cats are very place-oriented, and there are numerous stories of cats trying to go back to their old homes.

The transition from old to new will not happen overnight. There will be times when you will fear that they will never forgive you for uprooting them. But they always do. That’s the beauty of animals. It’s quite likely that your kids will still be complaining about the new school and missing their old friends long after the animals have settled in.