HOW TO HELP MY CAT WHEN THERE ARE CHANGES IN MY HOUSE
HOW TO HELP MY CAT COPE WITH A CHANGE OF FURNITURE OR REDECORATION
5 Expert Tips to help cats cope with home changes
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Most cats hate change
- Your cat likes everything to be 'just so'
- Changes, even small ones such as moving furniture, can be upsetting for your cat
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FELIWAY Help!
- Releases happy messages into your home for 7 days
- Plug FELIWAY Help! 1-2 days (ideally) before the changes or redecoration are planned where your cat will spend most of their time, and leave plugged in for 7 days
- Suitable for an area up to 50 m2 (approx 2 bed house)
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Try to keep your cat's space the same
- Make sure your cat has a quiet room they can retreat to, away from the changes
- Have elevated and/or hiding places in this room for your cat
- Ensure your cat's resources (water, food, litter tray and scratching post) are still accessible
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Safety first!
- Make sure moved or new items are stable and not likely to fall and hurt your cat
- Be aware of dangerous substances that may be harmful to your cat should not get on their coat, in their eyes or lick/swallow
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Redecoration and renovation can create loud noises
- Your cat should be able to retreat to a quiet room away from the noise
- If you are playing music as you work, consider playing music your cat finds soothing at a moderate volume, or using headphones!
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Further advice
Many cats like to feel in control of their environment and change can reduce their happiness. To help you understand your cat, see our article about routine changes and how this affects your cat.
Your cat may be upset by new smells or a new room layout. Discover why moving furniture could be stressful for your cat in this article. You'll also learn how to maintain their zen-like happiness whilst making changes in your home.
As home changes can be upsetting for cats, some demonstrate their less than happy state by scratching furniture or other inappropriate surfaces (e.g. curtains, doorframes..). If you are in this situation, we recommend reading about how to stop your cat scratching. Here you will find expert tips such as the scratching post 'golden rules' and ways to relieve your cat's stress.
Louis - This is Louis, and although he's had a bit if anxiety in the past, Louis's anxiety got increasingly worse when we had foxes in our garden and despite being an indoor cat, he really suffered because of it! Feliway really helps to keep him calm and able to enjoy his environment. Thank you Feliway.
Simba - he is 11 years old, when he was 6 there was a massive explosion across the road where we live this changed his personality completely from a confident happy boy to being scared and nervous of every noise or bang he heard he went from being top cat over his siblings to even being scared of them.he was spraying badly in the house too.My vet recommended Feliway and it took a while to kick in about 6/7months to see a big difference but it has helped him so much he's back to being a happy content top cat back to who is was all those years ago, so much so I have kept using Feliway every month since over the years to keep him a happy contented boy back to his place of being top cat and standing up for himself again.
Lenny (Lentil) and Edie (Edamame Bean) are both rescue cats - They are special to us because they are extremely affectionate and trusting despite their difficult starts in life. Feliway Optimum was recommended by Edie's behaviourist and made our recent house move much smoother than we expected. We had one plug-in in flat and have two in house. Both like sniffing them on occasion!