Moving House With Pets: A Guide

March 21, 2017

As everyone knows, moving house is an extremely stressful time. Getting everything organised as efficiently as possible is a huge undertaking which is sure to test the patience of those with even the strongest of wills. AnyVan’s convenient system for booking home removals makes relocating much easier, but with so much to take into consideration, it might be easy to forget certain other travellers who will be along for the journey.

For a pet, moving house is a disorienting experience. Your cat or dog won’t be able to tell you directly how the change to their environment is affecting them. It is therefore imperative that you make their move as comfortable as possible in order to minimise the distress and best allow them to adjust to their new surroundings.

Things to do before you move with a pet

  1. Make sure to update any documentation such as pet passports and microchip ID details, as well as insurance. If you don’t already have one, purchase a collar and have your details engraved on it in case your pet goes missing.
  2. In order to save time and hassle at the other end, organise registration with a new vet in advance of moving day.
  3. If possible, pack up the room where your pet spends the most time last. At the beginning of moving day, keep your pet safe in that same room, complete with food and water, its basket or blanket, and favourite toys.
  4. Allocate one member of your family to be in charge of your pet’s welfare, checking on them periodically in order to make sure they aren't distressed.
  5. Ensure the removal team know where your pet is, and ask them to pack that room up last. This will not only keep your pet out of the way of the movers but gives them as much time in the old home as possible.

Moving house with a cat

The tricks to successfully moving home with a cat are similar to those for dogs. Keeping your cat in one room while you move, with food, water, toys, a litter tray and their bed, is the best way to avoid exposing them to the mayhem going on in the house. If your cat is particularly prone to anxiety, using a pheromone spray can be an essential tool to keep them calm.

Transport your cat in a secure cat carrier, ensuring you do not feed them less than two hours prior to leaving - this could make your cat travel sick. Line the carrier with a waterproof sheet (in case of emergency), and ensure it is put into a part of the car which won’t distract the driver.

Once you get to your new home, unpack a room for your cat to stay in whilst you unload the rest of your belongings. Again, pheromone spray or a blanket will help with keeping your cat more sedate, and using this spray on surfaces where the cat is likely to go will help them feel more at home. Let your cat look around their new home gradually, perhaps one room at a time, and keep your cat indoors until you’re sure they will be comfortable looking outside. The most important thing is to be patient.

Also, in the interest of debunking a myth, putting butter on cats’ paws does not help cats moving house adjust to their location more quickly. The logic behind this old wives’ tale seems to be that, by licking the butter off their paws, they are removing the smell of their old home and gradually growing more accustomed to the odours of the new one.

Although it makes sense in theory, what you are left with in practice are some greasy paw prints and a potentially agitated cat who has been liberally daubed with butter. Cat owners will be aware that their feline companions prefer to explore new territory on their own terms, and ideally not with unintentionally well-lubricated paws.

Moving house with a dog

The most important thing to do when moving house with a dog is to remain calm and try not to appear anxious about the task at hand. As best you can, try to avoid disrupting your regular domestic routine; your dog will be as sensitive to any changes as yourself. One way to address this would be to book a boarding kennel, a home boarding service or ask a friend to look after your dog, which means you will only have to worry about them settling into the new environment once you have.

However, if you would prefer to have your pet present, the journey to your new home should be no different from any other time you travel with your dog. Make sure your dog is fed before leaving. Keep them in a dog cage if possible, and pack the cage away with your luggage, ensuring the car is ventilated. If there is no room and the dog needs to travel with the passengers, secure them with a seatbelt or use a fitted dog guard to partition them off in the back. If you have to travel a long distance to your new home, allow your dog one or two stops along the way to exercise and drink water.

When you arrive at your new home, keep your dog in a cage until you have unpacked one room, as well as some of their toys or bed/basket. You can then keep your dog in this room whilst you continue with the unpacking, in much the same way as you did when leaving your old house. Once you have unpacked, take your dog out on a leash and let them explore the house (and garden if you have one!).

Moving house with a rabbit (or other small mammals)

Unlike moving with cats and dogs, transporting a rabbit from one place to another is a relatively simple task, given their size. However, it’s crucial is to prevent your car from getting too hot on the journey. Excessive heat can have negative consequences on rabbits - they’re particularly prone to heat stroke - so don’t let your car get any hotter than 23°C if at all possible.

The other important thing is to ensure you invest in a good rabbit carry case, with plenty of cups of food and water attached for the journey. For one thing, you’ll know where your bunny buddy is at all times, and they won’t get in the way of anyone engaging in some particularly heavy lifting. When it comes to transporting a rabbit, make sure to put the travel carrier on a flat surface in the car, and endeavour to drive as smoothly (and with as few stops and starts) as possible.

On arrival at your new house, pick a quiet room for your rabbit to stay in for a few weeks while the unpacking and settling in takes place; also try to leave something with them which still carries the scent of the old house if possible. During this time, help your bunny explore the house more frequently, always bringing them back to “their room” afterwards; after the first month, your rabbit should begin to feel more comfortable with roaming around your house. At this stage, you can incrementally put its things away where you plan to keep them long-term so that they slowly get an understanding of where their belongings are.

Moving house with a fish

If you’re the owner of a humble goldfish, the moving process isn’t too tricky. Gradually take ornaments out of your goldfish’s tank, and change the water by 15-20% daily, ensuring that the water in the fish tank is clean but stable by moving day.

Package your fish in a thick plastic bag with enough oxygen and water, and seal it well, storing the bag in a dark, padded box. To further aid the ease of the process for all concerned, part-fill the bag with tank water that’s familiar to the fish. The items needed for the move can be found at any good pet shop.

Put the tank back together quickly once you have arrived at your new home, giving the tank half an hour or so to settle once all of the pumps and filters have been turned on.

When reintroducing your fish to the tank, do what you did when you had just bought them - keep the lights down and float the bag into the tank to determine a constant water temperature as the water from the bag and tank mix. Then simply let your fish into the tank.