relocating cat from house to apartment

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zutalors@btopenworld.com - 05 Aug 2003 01:02 GMT

I'm thinking about getting a cat for our house, perhaps a kitten. But
within a year or two it is possible we may be moving to an apartment.
Is there general advice as to re-housing a cat in a more limited
space, from a big house to a smaller 1-bedroom apt say? Does it depend
on the personality characteristics of the cat? Does climate
difference, eg from temperate to warmer climate, matter to how the cat
adapts and its wellbeing?

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Gee - 05 Aug 2003 08:32 GMT

> I'm thinking about getting a cat for our house, perhaps a kitten. But
> within a year or two it is possible we may be moving to an apartment.
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> difference, eg from temperate to warmer climate, matter to how the cat
> adapts and its wellbeing?

The cat will adopt. The size is not end all. Besides, don;t look at small
apartment in one dimension. Cats like heights.Make second floor for him/her.
I put up some zig zag shelfs (painted in room colors)on the wall, which they
use as stairs to get to the top of a cupboard. There they have a "bedroom"
with nice boxes(again in matching room colors). They love it! And it really
looks good. I also placed couple of scratching posts on top of another
unit, so they love going all over the place.

Check "The cat house" book. I got many ideas from there.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0836221834/qid=1060068669/sr=1-3/ref=sr
_1_0_3/026-3648498-7428424

Gee

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bewtifulfreak - 05 Aug 2003 19:04 GMT

> Check "The cat house" book. I got many ideas from there.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0836221834/qid=1060068669/sr=1-3/re
f=sr_1_0_3/026-3648498-7428424

Thanks for posting that, Gee; I remember seeing on telly once these people's
house, and it was fully catified, a veritable playground for the cats, and
looked wonderful as well! It had carpeted beams and things along the walls
and ceilings for them to walk along, and even holes at the top of each door
for them to go on the beams from one room into the other, and ramps down to
the floor. I always wanted to customize my house in some way like that for
the cats, but had no idea where to begin; this book looks like just the
place. :)

Thanks again!

Ann

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Gee - 06 Aug 2003 08:41 GMT

> > Check "The cat house" book. I got many ideas from there.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0836221834/qid=1060068669/sr=1-3/re

> f=sr_1_0_3/026-3648498-7428424
>
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
>
> Ann

Hey you are welcome, that book has changed our life. And yes, it is the same
people you've seen.

Love how you put it: "catified" LOL. But yeah, the book and what they've
done is tottaly amazing, catastic, and tottaly acceptible as a home design
for humans as well ! And love the mexican colors! They must have some
fabulous times just watching their 9 cats playing around the ceilings :) I
only feel sorry for their dog, who thinks is a cat, but cannot get up there
with them he he :)

They used to have amazing website similar to the book, with a webcam taking
the picture of them every few seconds during the sleeping hours. It would
show how the 9 cats and a dog sleep with them in bed, in all sorts of
positions. Very different.(and nothing sorded for those with dirty minds).
Unfortunately the site has closed down for some reason. Shame really, it had
good fun stuff and pictures.

They also have a few books out with beautifull pics of their cats. You can
find them also on Amazon.

Gee

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maz - 05 Aug 2003 18:46 GMT

<zutalors@btopenworld.com> wrote in message

> I'm thinking about getting a cat for our house, perhaps a kitten. But
> within a year or two it is possible we may be moving to an apartment.
> Is there general advice as to re-housing a cat in a more limited
> space, from a big house to a smaller 1-bedroom apt say?

It depends on a lot of different factors. If you plan to have a cat with
outdoor access while living in your house, rehoming to an apartment with
limited or no outdoor access can stress the cat immensely. It's almost
always difficult and a lot of "outdoor" cats cannot adapt to permanent
indoor "confinement"..
If that's the case, I'd be patient and wait getting a cat till after you
have moved - even if it is two years from now.
I have experienced it myself and seen many cases with "outdoor" cats, who
had to be relocated because they could't adapt to indoor life....

>Does it depend
> on the personality characteristics of the cat?

To some extend it does. Some cats that are rehomed adapt very smooth and
fast, others don't.

>Does climate
> difference, eg from temperate to warmer climate, matter to how the cat
> adapts and its wellbeing?

Of course ;-) But those kind of changes are usually just a matter of
time....

/M

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Eric Lee Green - 06 Aug 2003 15:30 GMT

In article <3f2fed83$0$76052$edfadb0f@dread11.news.tele.dk>, maz burped:

><zutalors@btopenworld.com> wrote in message
>> I'm thinking about getting a cat for our house, perhaps a kitten. But
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> outdoor access while living in your house, rehoming to an apartment with
> limited or no outdoor access can stress the cat immensely. It's almost

Or not. I had two indoor-outdoor cats (they spent summers outdoors,
winters solely as indoors cats). I moved from a rural farm to an
apartment in the city with no problem other than one of the cats
thinking the top shelf of my bookshelf was his personal hidey-hole,
and moving the books off of it regularly to properly prepare it for
his slumber (said books ending up on the floor, of course!). I do
think, however, the fact that they were litter-mates had a lot to do
with it... when they were stressed, they'd pile together into a cat
heap and groom each other until they were soothed.

> always difficult and a lot of "outdoor" cats cannot adapt to permanent
> indoor "confinement"..

Well, where I was living, a shorthair cat didn't go outside in the winter.
So they weren't "permenant" outdoor cats. That may have helped too.
I would say that a) if you get cats now while in a house, don't let them
go outside (keep them as indoor cats), and b) get two cats -- littermates,
preferably -- so that they can help sooth each other over the stress of
the move. I hauled those two cats over most of the United States before
they finally kicked the bucket from old age/cancer. They hated travel --
they once yowled at me for two days straight from their cat carrier as I
drove from Alexandria LA to Phoenix AZ -- but seemed to adapt just fine
once they got there and got their routines re-established.

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Eric Lee Green mailto:eric@badtux.org
Unix/Linux/Storage Software Engineer needs job --
see http://badtux.org for resume

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