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Posted by Martisimo on March 06, 2003 at 08:41:33:

In Reply to: Moving 2m iles away...to a busy street posted by bdouglas97 on March 06, 2003 at 08:14:05:

I would take her with me and make her an indoor-only cat. Undoubtedly she will end up hit on the street if allowed to go out. Is there a reason why she hasn't used a litterbox in 5 years? Does she have one?

Using the litterbox is an instinct that is born with the cat. I've caught several strays as adults, who had no home or box, and made them indoor only cats. It should be a snap to remind her about it. First, confine her to one room with her things, nice fresh litterbox, water, food, toys etc. Show her where it is by sitting her down in it without too much emphasis on it, just comforting words. She'll probaby jump out immediately to explore or hide, but I think you will find that when she has to go, she'll remember that it's there.

After a time, (maybe a week or so) you would just slowly introduce her to the rest of the house a room or so at a time, like you would introducing any cat to a new house. If the house is large or has more than one story (like a basement) then put litterboxes in different locations in the house so she doesn't have to go on a major hike every time she has to go to the bathroom. Scoop daily.

:Hi all,
:We have a wonderful family cat..."the coolest in the neighborhood" per my neighbors. She is an indoor/outdoor cat and uses out petdoor now to go and come freely. We are moving to a new neighborhood about 2 miles away and while the house is in a subdivision, the new house backs up to a busy road. We are afraid that 1) our cat will try to find her way back to the old house and/or 2) jump the fence and find danger on the main road. Should we leave her with the new family who is buying our old home? It would break my kids heart but they would rather do that than to have the cat harmed in the future on teh busy road. She has not used the litter box in 5 years so I am not sure how that would go over. Thanks for the advice.

Follow Ups:

• Re: Moving 2m iles away...to a busy street phwildcat 03/06/03 (0)