Moving with a sensitive cat

[gozf]

Tonight, my extra fabulous and sweet one-eyed cat and I are moving from a tiny one bedroom apartment to a three story house. We're also gaining two new roommates -- my boyfriend and his cat.

I have two pressing questions.

1. The litter boxes will be in the basement. Basement door has a little kitty door for access. When I bring Annabelle in, I should release her in the basement so she knows where her box is, yes? And let her find her own way up? She only has one eye, and she's not the brightest bulb, so I'm a little concerned.

2. Other cat has fleas. She's going to the vet tomorrow, and they're aware of the situation, and how important it is for her to be clear before she moves in. They sound confident, and I want to be, too, but I'm not. Is it possible that they can de-louse her so effectively? I mean, Frontline hasn't made a dent.

I do not want my little girl getting fleas. Ack!

[kellbell191]

Multiple things here:

1) We have one sensitive kitty. Every time we move he gets shut in a small room like a bathroom or spare bedroom or something so he can have his calm down time. It usually takes him a few days to a week to feel ok to venture out. The one time DH let him have free roam post move he wound up hiding in the walls in the basement for a few days and DH thought he had run away. While I was sitting for the bar. Fun times.

2) If you have an existing litterbox she uses I would use hers AND the other cats. That way each box will smell like them and familiar to them, which makes them more inclined to use it. Definitely show her where they are. We still have our cat door taped up with duct tape b.c. one of them just could not figure it out. We also started by putting them in the room with the boxes so they had to use the door to get out.

3) For kitty introductions, take it slow and check out the book Cat vs. Cat. We use feliway in our house to keep everyone calm and happy. It makes a huge difference for my sensitive dude.

4) Capstar is a pill that will kill fleas quickly. I would put your cat on Advantage for at least a month to make absolutely sure she doesn't catch them. I have heard of Frotnline resistant fleas but haven't had an issue with them yet. Flea eggs can still hang around for awhile. When we lived in apt buildings, we always did flea treatment for the first month after we moved b.c. who knows if someone else's cat was on preventative and those guys can live in carpet. Gross. The infected cat should probably also be dewormed as fleas frequently carry worm larvae and then the cats ingest them and have worms.

Good luck and congrats on your move!!! PM me if you need anything else, I'll check later.

[gozf]

You are awesome. Thank you SO much!

[kellbell191]

Blush, normally I get called weird cat lady so thanks : ) I really hope it goes well, I bet she loves her huge new place!

[gozf]

I hope so, too. And I hope she can navigate the door, and that she likes her new sister, and that she remains pest-free.

Can I please just fast forward a few months or so? That would be ideal.