Surprising Factors Influence Your Four-Footed Family Members
We love our pets. Cats, dogs, birds, fish, even frogs—they’re members of our family, after a certain time. When an older pet gets sick, you want that animal to be comfortable, and get better. Even a cat that’s eighteen years old may become the recipient of thousands of dollars in veterinary care. These are our non-human family members, and we want the best for them. Moving with pets requires special consideration.
Because animals don’t think like humans, they don’t have the cognitive capacity to critically examine events. A cat or a dog doesn’t understand you’re changing up their home because you’re moving. They see furniture re-positioned, floors vacuumed, walls painted, and all the other things which accompany a move as chaos—or even something negative.
Animals And Emotions
Animals do feel emotions. We live in a much more complicated reality than we are often taught in primary or secondary educational facilities. Ask some scientists what they think of animals, and you may get a response that is built on interpretations of instinct and reflexes. Many scientists aren’t good with cats and dogs, because they see them mechanistically. They have to; such animals are those on which they conduct tests.
That’s certainly not all scientists. Plenty of biological professionals understand the issue with animals is their level of consciousness. They understand animal intelligence differs from human intelligence, it isn’t non-existent. This is something that has to lead to quite a few breakthroughs. For example: did you know ravens are smarter than most animals?
Ravens and parrots get about as smart as a three or four-year-old child if we’re using human terms for comparison. Meanwhile, cats and dogs, by the time they are at their most mature, are in a similar plane of intelligence. Animals each have unique personalities, and they feel things like joy, fear, pain, anger, or jealousy.
Have you ever had a dog who whines and misbehaves if you pet a different dog? Your pup is probably jealous! They know when they’ve done something they shouldn’t, and they know when you’re happy. In a lot of ways, pets act as an empathy mirror to what you feel. Now, what do you feel when you’re moving? You feel stressed, tired, and driven.
Pet Behaviors To Expect
Cats are going to hide when you move. Your dog may be alright, but there are going to be a lot of loud noises, things are going to fall, and the pup may get startled. You’re going to stress out your pets with a move any way you slice it, but there are ways to diminish that stress strategically beforehand.
One way might be to round up the pets and put them in an empty room with food, water, and restroom options while you transport possessions from one location to another, then bring them over last. This can be stressful as well, though, as they’re stuck in a little room, they hear a lot of loud noises, and you’re not there. They may bark or yowl constantly in stress.
When they get to the new house, they’re going to be confused. Your cat may take a month to adjust, or even more—cats hate moving. Your dog will likely adjust quicker, but they’ll still have to run around sniffing everything and learning the new area. However, there’s kind of a way to have your cake and eat it too, as the saying goes.
Measures To Reduce Pet Stress
Using external solutions like UMoveFree allow you to personally transport your pets without putting them in danger from parcels packed poorly in a cramped vehicle, and the terror which can assail an animal in these conditions. You don’t have to keep your animal locked in a room for most of a day, or several days, either.
Basically, you have the movers pack up the parcels you’ve prepared for the move, and while they’re transporting everything, you can bring your animal separately, diminishing the overall impact of the stressful situation on them.
It’s best if you’re able to unpack as much as you can before you give the animals free reign of a new space. Granted, you don’t have to, but it will diminish the associated complication of the move. If you let the animals out while you’re unpacking, they’re going to find new “territory” that soon gets covered in furniture or other possessions.
Catty Pets
A cat may decide to mark new territory using methods that have a distinct smell. Dogs may do something similar, though this isn’t as likely if you’ve got them well trained. That said, whether you unpack before or after you give the pets free rein, be sure to get the “bathroom” situation figured out.
When you bring a cat to a new place, you need to immediately show them where the litter box is. Generally, this is as simple as placing them in the box for a moment, then letting them out. They’ll remember the smell and location. Even so, don’t be surprised if they leave you a few “gifts” right outside the box initially. This is a way cats communicate irritation. It may take them a few weeks to settle in.
Getting Things Re-Adjusted
The good news is, it usually takes pets about as long to get used to a new place as it takes you to get used to it. They, like empathy mirrors, will reflect your ease—or lack thereof. So with that in mind, you’ll want to make sure you’re secure in your new premises and find your own peace of mind after the move.
Finding Help with Moving Professionals
We hope you found this blog post on Make Your Moving Stressless For Your Pets! useful. Be sure to check out our post on How Do You Help Dogs Adjust to Moving? for more great tips!
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