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Health & Fitness

Moving with Pets: Part I

Moving is stressful for everyone, including your pets. Here are some helpful hints to make everyone more comfortable in your new home.

Moving with Pets, Part 1

It's difficult moving. The packing, cleaning, huffing and puffing and then the unpacking and associated dramas at your new home are as stressful for you as they are for your pets. The most dangerous problem you will face is that your dog or cat will escape from your new house and become lost, as it is not familiar with your new surroundings.


For dogs, this means that you must examine the fences of your new home in detail to ensure they are dog proof. Any deficiencies should be repaired.

If you need to construct a fence, a chain mesh and pipe fence is the standard type of dog fence, and is probably the cheapest. A picket fence makes a good dog enclosure, though dogs often get their paws lodged between the pickets at the top of the fence. This is very dangerous but can be easily prevented by covering the gap between the top of each picket with a horizontal paling, running the entire length of the fence.

The best dog fence by far is a solid wooden fence. Just make sure the horizontal beams do not become a ladder to help the dog climb the fence.

Stopping your cat from roaming through your fences after the move is more difficult. Cat enclosures can be constructed and are available commercially. Alternatively, keep your cat inside the house and endeavor to ensure it is totally familiar with its new territory. This can take from a few days to a few weeks.

The priority for most cats is to eat and sleep, so work on these aspects of your cat's new lifestyle first. On the cuisine side, feed the cat small tasty meals four to five times daily. This will give it a 'fun focus' associated with its new eating spot. Let the cat hunt for its food by leaving small amounts of cat food in several locations or by scattering dry food over the floor in the laundry or a secure deck.

On the boudoir side, take some familiar article of bedding from your old home, complete with bits of cat hair, and leave that in what you feel is likely to be the cat's favorite resting spot. Let your cat set the location and place the bedding in that area.

Allow your cat to perch on furniture near an outside window so that it can view its new territory, without getting out just yet.

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Check back for Part 2, "Making The New Place Smell Like Home to Your Pets"

Regina Sauer is an Orange native and realtor with Real Living Wareck D'Ostilio Real Estate. Contact her at 203.494.3421

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