Moving with Pets: Tips to Ensure a Smooth Relocation

While moving can be stressful, moving with pets is a completely different…well, animal! When moving with cats or dogs to a new home, you will want to take certain precautions to ensure their safety and happiness. Not only will this help decrease your stress, but even more importantly it will decrease the stress of your 4-legged family members!

 Throughout our 35 years of service Camelot Moving & Storage has garnered tons of experience moving families that are transporting pets; cross-country trips included! We even once transported the white tigers of Siegfried and Roy! We’re happy to share some of our clients’ tips on moving with their pets that we have picked up from them along the way so that you can move the entire family more comfortably to a new home.

Getting Ready to Pack Up

When moving with pets, know that the smarter the animal, the more they tend to fear change. New sights and especially new smells are off-putting for cats and dogs, so introduce them to cardboard moving boxes early. While moving boxes can be used more than once, be aware that used cardboard boxes can carry other, smaller, not-so-cute critters as well as other contaminants that may be harmful to your 4-legged family members. You may opt only to use new boxes available from one of your local moving companies. By introducing them to the packing process early, your pets will have plenty of time to get acclimated to the new sounds and smells of moving day.

The Big Day

Nervousness aside, the greatest danger to your pets on Moving Day is an open front door that they can run through out of fear or confusion. Consider hiring a moving company to complete the moving process as quickly and efficiently as possible. The shorter the window of time they have to run through the open front door, the safer and less stressed your pets will be.

When the move is taking place, the safest place for your pet is in a closed-off and quiet area, ideally a small bedroom that has already been packed and emptied so no one will be opening that door until it is time to leave. Alternatively, if you’re moving with dogs to a new home, you could take them to a familiar friend or a kennel they enjoy. Assign one family member to monitor each pet throughout the day if possible.

Prepare your pets’ Moving Day bag with familiar toys, blankets, food, water, and their food dish. Keep the bag and the carrier or leash in the quiet room with your pet. They’ll be the last ones to leave the house and the first ones to arrive at the new one, where they should again be placed in a quiet, closed-off room until the movers are gone.

Settling into Your New Home

As you and the pets adjust to the new home, be sure to pet-proof it, including the yard. It’s especially important to identify ways your dog may escape. While it will take some time to completely unpack, try to put as much of your furniture in place as possible and don’t leave anything precariously placed or any towers of boxes too tall before letting your pets out of their safe space.

Outdoor cats should remain indoors for at least 3 days before they are allowed outside. Ease them into the outdoors, too. If you can limit their outdoor activities to within 10-15 yards of the home for the first days, it will help teach the cat that this is their “home base.” Many freshly relocated cats find their way back to their old home, but following these steps will readjust your cats’ bearings to the new home.

If you can, allow cats on top of tall pieces of furniture around the home, like bookshelves or cabinets. Cats like to be in safe, high-up places at first so they can survey the room and its occupants.

Take time to settle into your new home with your pets. Monitor their behavior and curiosity to ensure their emotional and physical safety. Give your pets plenty of time and attention for a period of time after a move. You’ll unpack your boxes with time and as needed. The boxes are literally not going anywhere. Your pets, on the other hand, need your love and attention to reassure them that they are indeed home.

Camelot Moving & Storage: 35 Years of Helping Families and Pets Arrive Safely to Their New Homes

Whether you’re transporting pets cross country, or just moving with pets down the street, you’ll find comfort and support when you trust a local moving company that has plenty of experience in the matter. You focus on your furry friends, and we’ll handle the heavy stuff. Learn more about the expert movers at Camelot Moving & Storage.

To schedule a move with us today, contact us at (661) 255-3112.