It can be extremely traumatic when moving your pets. They have emotional territorial claims to your residence and they have favourite hiding spots and play areas. So on the day you move, with all kinds of strangers present (the removal men helping you to move) they can become very, very upset as their home (so to speak) is being dismantled. Cats can spray and scratch. Dogs can growl, bark loudly and maybe even bite someone. Cats and dogs both can frantically tear around the house, or run out of the house and get lost, or get under foot and end up getting hurt. With open doors in cold weather birds can get chilled and die. So when moving your pet needs special consideration to avoid such problems.

The best policy on moving day is to isolate pets away from the moving origin and destination sites and into as comfortable a temporary surrounding as possible. Try to provide them with familiar human companionship, food, water and a place to relieve themselves. Try to visit and reassure them as often as possible during the move. Try to be as sensitive as possible to their potential for emotional upset. When the move is over and all the people are gone, and then move your pets into the new residence.

If you can, take your pet to the new home prior to move day and let them get acclimated to it. One client we have heard of even camped out with his pet at his new place for a couple of days while he cleaned to prepare for move day. He said that this solved his pet's moving reorientation problem wonderfully. By doing sensitive things like this when moving pets, they will settle in as quickly and nicely as possible.