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You might have just moved to your new home with your cat and you probably have noticed your cat is meowing a lot for some reason. Well why is this exactly? The most common reason that your cat meows after a new move is because they feel anxious over the new environment. Cats are very ritualistic creatures so when you take them out of that pattern they tend to feel anxious until they adjust after some time.
Why Do Cats Feel Anxious After Moving To A New Home?
The reason why they get scarred is because they want to go home where they are used to. They lost their territory. They smell all the wrong smells, see all the wrong things and hear all the wrong things and they don’t like the idea of this. Once they get used to the new environment they act normal like they were in your old home.
How Long Does It Take For A Cat To Adjust After Moving?
Generally it will take about 2 weeks or so for your cat to feel normal again but it can take shorter or longer (even as long as a couple of months) depending on the cat that you have and their personality. You don’t want them to go outside during this time because there is a chance they will run away and try to go back to your old home and they could potentially get lost. Once this period is over with then you can let them go outside again.
How To Settle A Cat Down When You Move?
There are some thing that you can do to help your cat calm down during the adjustment period. Here are some of the best things that you can do to help them relax and adjust.
Let Them Look Out The Window
Let your cat have access to your windows (closed of course) so they can look outside. This will help them a lot with relaxing in their new environment.
Pheromone Products
These are cat products that you spray in the air and it helps your cat calm down. One of my favorite sprays to use is the “Feliway MultiCat 30 Day Starter Kit Plug-In Diffuser & Refill + Diffuser Refill (click here for the chewy.com link)“. You plug these in one of your outlets and It will release the pheromones in the air to help your cat calm down a bit. You can also get collar, and spray versions of these as well.
Anxiety Jacket
Another way you can help your cat calm down is use an anxiety jacket. These are a type of vest that your cat wears and it helps your cat calm down. One of the best ones is the “ThunderShirt (click here for the chewy.com link)“. In fact its so effective it has an 80% success rate. I also wrote an article about these jackets here “Best Anxiety Jackets For Cats: Some Of My Favorites“.
Conclusion
Moving with your cat can be hard but if you give it time they will relax and feel normal again.