Advice on moving house

Hi Brenda, your dog should be just fine as long as you stop off every 1-1 and 1/2 hours to give you dog a drink a snack and to relieve himself. Make sure your cats carriers are plenty big enough and comfortable enough. Make sure your cats and dogs are microchipped with your new address registered and make sure your pets are all wearing tags with a contact number on. With your small furries make sure they also have comfortable carriers and make sure you feed them as you usually would. On your trip there.

Hope this has helped a bit Jojo

We´ll all want to know how you get on Brenda - its a long way to go.

You are doing the right thing by having a good clear out before your move. I try and do this about 3 times a year including paper work then it never mounts up to omuch. I think it depends on the cats temprament but usually about a couple of weeks and then only for a quick look round with the door open so they can come straight back in. As they gain their confidence it can be a little longer each day but I would keep them in at night. They used to say butter on the paws so they can find their way back if they stray too far.

They say moving house is the most stressful thing you can do. When we moved into the house we are in now my boys were toddlers which was very hard. At least now they are all older and willing to help. We are also having a major clear out so we don´t take anything with us that we don´t really need. I have a new motto "If an item hasn´t been looked at/used in 6 months then we don´t need it".
My main worry is the animals but i´m taking on board all the advice and i´m sure they will be ok.
Once we have moved how long should i keep the cats indoors as they have only ever known this area and i´m scared that they could go missing.

Sounds very stressful for you Brenda, hope you have got lots of helpers with your mass exodus to In verness! Good luck with everything!

That would be the best idea Brenda..for you to be there ready and waiting and have all the animal enclosures/area´s ready for when they arrive,as it is bound to be dark and the animals will need dealing with straight away on arrival.

That´s what we did.....mum had the hen house ready and we just popped them in to roost as it was about 10.45pm,when we finally got there..we left about 8.45am that day......I think,you being there and having the home comforts all ready and waiting,is a practical idea all round!.....good luck with the move!.

Thanks Rosie & Mary. My hubby could proberly do the drive all in one day but i can´t. What i could do however is to get to our new house in Scotland before hubby so when he arrives with the animals the first thing they will see is mummy´s welcoming arms. I also throught about trying to teach the cats to walk on a lead so they can come out of their baskets and stretch their legs. I would make sure that my son Matthew would travel with hubby because when i´m not available they are just as happy with Matthew.

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Lucky you Brenda!!
Is the overnight stop with friends?? I only ask because, at that time of the year, it would probably be too cold to leave all your animals in the car overnight.
Re the very small furries, I would let them travel up in Hagens with a deep layer of shavings & bedding. Less chance of injury. Some dry food & a chunk of cucumber, for example, for moisture would be needed in each container.
For everyone else, I agree with Mary. They should travel ok because their ´mum´ is travelling with them..!!

OOOOOOOOOO---lucky you!...just in time for all the lovely snow (LOL).

I´ve transported a kitten and 4 chickens from Plymouth to just outside Inverness and that was at least a 13 hour drive.

The chickens were put into spacious baskets,so that they could move around and were offered frequent drinking water when we stopped about 3-4 times during the journey.
The kitten had her basket too,again with a little dry food and fresh drinking water,but she prefered to sleep on my lap,all of the way and travelled up beautifully with no accidents and no sickness.

The small furries you can leave in their cages,just stack them carefully so that they don´t slide around or topple over during the journey and the cats provide them with spacious cat baskets and offer them water and a little dry biccies frequently,line the baskets with newspaper as well as a blanket,just in case they wish to soil.
Your dog should be fine loose,unless you would rather crate her......I advise not to feed cats or dogs a main sloppy meal 2-3 hours before travelling,and hence why,keep a few dry biccies handy to feed throughout the journey,so as not to aggravate any stomachs on such a long journey......allow your dog a walk and time to relieve itself at all service stations and for the chickens,box up and again,ensure they have water and plenty of newspaper underneath them to collect their droppings.

I have done the 13 hour drive to my parent´s home many a time and do it in one hit (or my Dad does)..he drive´s down,stay´s the night and then we head back the very next day early.....the same applies for bringing me home....we prefer just to get there and staying overnight with the animals would be most awkward as there are hardly many places that will allow you to bring in pets,especially an Ark of them and chickens.

Good luck with the move and I hope some of my advice may be of help to you!.