This is almost, but not quite, the last chapter in the saga of a move we made in 2000. If you’d like to read it from the beginning, the links to earlier chapters are below.
Chapter 9 The Cat’s in the Kettle at the Peking Moon….
The cats were settling in pretty well. They liked the big window in “their” room, along with their multi-level “jungle-gym”: the six cardboard moving wardrobes containing my “excess”clothing. The closets in the new house were small. Very small. So small that I needed to keep the wardrobe boxes, at least until I figured out what to do with the clothes they contained.
Cecily and Tyler were dying to go outside, casting longing looks at squirrels and birds through the sliding glass doors in the family room. Taz sat in a corner of his room looking evilly at us all, his conversion to ‘normal kitty’ short-lived.
While our home in Tampa had been very close to a busy road, Whitehall Avenue had little traffic. We could let the cats out to play in our new neighborhood, as soon as they were ‘bonded’ to the house. Just another week, I reckoned.
Even I had cabin fever, after several days of nonstop unpacking. It was time to take a walk and explore our new neighborhood. Bob had asked me if I’d seen a Radio Shack in the vicinity, and sure enough, as I reached the corner I saw a Radio Shack. But it was the nearby shops that really caught my eye.
One read “Bangkok Pet and Supply”. The other read “High Thai restaurant”. They were adjacent.
I was immediately nervous about letting the cats out. Not to mention about the contents of the Thai take-out Bob had brought home the evening before.
Do you remember this parody by Weird Al, called Cat in the Kettle? You just never know. (If you don’t know this parody, you simply must click the link to listen. Don’t worry. It should open in a new window and you can come right back to finish reading this riveting post.)
Still, I thought it was worth the risk. I had Asian friends and I knew they didn’t eat cat.
Any more.
These are things that must be considered when moving cats.
But first, I had to send away for kitty identification tags with our new address and phone number. I was still looking for the forms packed away. I also knew given Bob’s packing scheme, I’d never find them. Of course, this was before we were used to just going on line to solve all our problems. Besides, I didn’t have internet yet.
Looking for the earlier chapters?
When we moved into our new home one of my cats hid in the litter box, in a closet, for 2 days. We ended up buying a covered cat bed and had to force her out into the world. As soon as she realized that the ice maker, washing machine, and clothes dryer were not out to get her (our old apartment didn’t have an ice maker and laundry was 2 floors down) she started to calm down and get back to her normal self.
I always remember when I was younger dropping our cat off at our nans to stay for 2 weeks whilst we was away on holiday. He ended up running away back to our house whilst we was away. Dread to think what he would be like if we moved away!
Moving pets is not an easy task. Since I got my cat I moved to Dubai, then to Brazil, then to Chile and now to England, if I had taken my cat along with me she would be crazy now…
So I left her with my parents in the same location and she loves it this way.
I’m moving to Asia in the middle of the next year, with my cat. I’m trying to organize things earlier (on time, because I’m always late) and I hope everything’s gonna be fine with my lovely pet. Thanks for this great article, it’s very helpful and informative, I’ve found some more issues to deal with while organizing. Greets!
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My cat is really good in the car, but if she had to get acclimated to a new house I’m sure she would hide for at least two days!
Oh yeah! Typical kitty behavior. Hide!
Great post! I haven’t moved in 27 years and I have never moved a cat. Good advice it I ever go through it!
The only advice here is to stay away from places that might be tempted to plate the cat! LOL
I’ve never had a cat, always wanted on though. 🙁 this makes me want to own a cat now
I love you for siting Weird Al’s Cat in the Kettle. I had forgotten about that one!
When we moved into our new home one of my cats hid in the litter box, in a closet, for 2 days. We ended up buying a covered cat bed and had to force her out into the world. As soon as she realized that the ice maker, washing machine, and clothes dryer were not out to get her (our old apartment didn’t have an ice maker and laundry was 2 floors down) she started to calm down and get back to her normal self.
I always remember when I was younger dropping our cat off at our nans to stay for 2 weeks whilst we was away on holiday. He ended up running away back to our house whilst we was away. Dread to think what he would be like if we moved away!
Moving pets is not an easy task. Since I got my cat I moved to Dubai, then to Brazil, then to Chile and now to England, if I had taken my cat along with me she would be crazy now…
So I left her with my parents in the same location and she loves it this way.
I am not a cat person — we’ve always had dogs — but I can totally empathize. I’m gagging a little at the idea of the Asian restaurant …
Oh my gosh, that parody! I sure hope they don’t cook with any pet meat, eek! I know in China they still have a dog meat festival. So sad!
I’m moving to Asia in the middle of the next year, with my cat. I’m trying to organize things earlier (on time, because I’m always late) and I hope everything’s gonna be fine with my lovely pet. Thanks for this great article, it’s very helpful and informative, I’ve found some more issues to deal with while organizing. Greets!