Keep Kittie in???

[Greedyfly]

I am having to move house soon and will have to move into a flat on an apartment within the city centre and I will be taking my cat. He doesnt go out much anyways but I am worried that when I move he won't be able to go out at all. He already has a litter box and has had the 'snip' but I wonder if it is kinder to give him away than keep him locked up? - I really dont want to let him go but I dont know what to do for the best!..... Help please?

[PurplePixie]

Why don't you take him and give it a go...many people do keep their cats in these days & at least he'll be safe away from traffic and other dangers. I'd say that it depends on the cat, as long as you take care to make sure he has plenty of toys and scratching posts...and places to sit and watch the world go by, then the chances are that he'll be much happier to move with you rather than go through the trauma of re-housing. Good luck with the move!

[IggyB]

moving cats is not easy... some friends of mine moved to australia leaving their 18 year old cat with me. The cat and i then played a game of its creation, the games was called "ESCAPE", this involved the cat coming up with ever increasingly impressive ways of legging it back to its old territory and sitting on the front door step of its old house until i went and picked him up (he was alwas pleased to see me!) - this esculated to the point of this old cat ripping the locked cat flap out the door in the middle of the night. It was at this point i thought i'd teach him a lesson... i didn't go and get him for a full 24 hours... this might have been a mistake, because when i went to get him not only did i get a cat; i got a shadow! This cat followed me everywhere and WOULD NOT go outside without me... yes we got to going for walks together in the evening (no leads or weird cat torture equipment), i got some strange looks from the neighbours. He lived for another 3 years but never really got over the shock of moving, soooooooooo in conclusion you should definately take your cat with you as at least he will have one constant in his life, and should be able to settle quicker (i wouldn't recommend the walks in the evening tho)

[brawburd]

I had a cat for 16 years and she moved with me 6 times, with no ill effect. Supporting what Iggy has said, at one point we were separated for over a year due to domestic circumstances and I didn't see her at all. She was well looked after but I jumped at the chance to get her back. She recognised me immediately and voluntarily climbed into the cat box (which she had never done before and didn't after!). Cats know which side their bread's buttered!