That hectic chaos caused by packing and moving can get quite overwhelming for a mere human, so can you imagine how stressful and anxious it can be for your pet? Animals are much more sensitive to these kinds of things and especially when you, their safe and favorite person, are troubled and all over the place.
Whether you hire household movers or you are moving on your own, taking care of your pets’ needs and safety is non-negotiable. What can you do, before and throughout the moving process, to reduce your pets’ anxiety levels to minimum? Let’s find out.
Schedule an appointment with your vet
Few weeks before the moving day, take your pet for a check up. Making sure they are healthy enough to endure a local or a long-distance move is obviously important, but besides that, asking a professional for a few, moving with pets, tips is very much helpful.
- Do a full health examination and don’t forget to check for fleas.
- Double-check if all vaccinations are up to date and if your new citys’ law requires some specifically.
- If your pet needs any, make sure you have enough prescribed medications to cover for the moving day, trip to the new place, and a few days after you arrive. This period is chaotic enough, you don’t need another task on your to-do list.
- Ask for anxiety reducing tips
- If you’re planning a long-distance move, you will have to find a new vet. Request a copy of all medical records and ask if your current vet can recommend a new one, closer to your new place. Keep all medical documents organized and don’t lose them in piles of boxes.
Stick to the routines
Just like some people, animals are sensitive to changes as well. Moving can quite upset them, so you’ll have to take extra special care of them. Changing daily routines as little as possible, as slowly as you can will give them time to adjust.
Your bunnies, parrots, cats and especially dogs are creatures of habit. If you want to keep them calm, try to do everything the same as you would before this whole moving process. Feed and walk them at the same time you usually do. Try to spend time together playing as much as you can next to all the preparations.
If your new place is not far away, take your dogs for a walk around the new neighborhood. They will adapt much faster if at least one part of this new life chapter is familiar. Few weeks before the moving day, start using scented diffusers or candles. Prepare a few for the new house and put them to use as soon as you arrive. With their sensitive sense of smell, connecting the aroma with your old house and their safe place will be a piece of cake and will ease their mind.
If you plan to transport your pet in a way they are not used to, add playtime in a new career or bird cage in the daily routine. Show them it is something fun and not a threat, so when the day comes there won’t be any problems.
Prepare an essentials kit
Packing your animal friends’ things goes the same as your own. First take care of the stuff they use the least and leave favorites for the end. Don’t forget to prepare a separate box, so nothing gets lost. Just like you, they will need some things throughout the moving day and as soon as you move in, therefore having those stuff at arms reach would be ideal. What should an essential kit for your pet contain?
- Enough food and water for a few days
- Kitty litter
- Blanket or something else they can lay on
- Favorite toys
- Treats
- Poop bags
- Meds
If anything else could make this process less stressful for them, it is E S S E N T I A L! Besides regular meds your pet takes, in some cases of possible severe anxiety, your vet could recommend sedatives. If so, make sure they are in an essential kit as well.
Love and patience
You have to understand your pets are at home the most. When you work, they wait for you at home. When you are at school they are at home, when you go to your friends or even at the grocery store, guess what? They are at home. Your buddy knows every single corner of that house or apartment and feels the safest right there. It’s not easy to just leave it, when you don’t even understand why. They will need your love and a lot of patience, so make sure to give them just that.
Did you know they could feel your emotions? Yes, they might not understand what is going on, but they will surely feel your stress and nervousness. If you want to help your pet feel at ease, you need to help yourself first. Try to stay organized and make sure you plan everything beforehand. Consider hiring professional movers to help you move without stress, plus, you’ll have more free time to devote to your pets.
Don’t skip play time. Running or flying around will use up their energy so they will have less to use on stresing around. Tired pet only wants to sleep and in the meantime you can concentrate on packing or finishing up other tasks while your motivated movers handle the heavy work.
How can you tell if your pet is under stress? There will be a few signs, including excessive barking/meowing or urinating around the house. They might even want to hide so you can build them some kind of a shelter. Consider what else you can do to reduce their stress.
Packing days
Whether you hire household movers or move on your own, a lot of new and unfamiliar things will be happening. Big boxes everywhere, strangers around their territory, furniture disappearing one by one,etc. It all looks much scarier from your dogs’ perspective, so they could easily freak out. How to avoid this?
First you’ll have to decide which one it is gonna be. Who will do the packing, professional movers or you? If you hire movers you’ll certainly have more time for your pets and that is exactly what they need right now. You won’t be running everywhere feeling overwhelmed and thus they will also be much more relaxed. On the other hand, there will be a lot of strangers in and out of the house, can your buddy handle that? Here are a few to-dos, so your pets could feel more comfortable while packing.
Transport
You’ll need a game plan for this too. Even if you hire household movers, your pets go with you!
- It is recommended to transport your pets in a carrier or crates. Make sure they feel comfortable and sometimes it’s better if you cover the carrier with a blanket to keep a consistent and secure environment.
- If you’re traveling by car, you’ll want to take a few practice drives to see how your pet reacts before the moving day. Don’t forget to take bathroom stops and if the trip will last for more than one day, research pet-friendly hotels along the way to get some much needed rest together.
- If you’re flying, be sure you know your airline’s pet restrictions. This could involve things like submitting health records and following the carrier sizing guidelines. Confirm with the airline 48 hours before boarding what their pet policies are to guarantee they can travel with you. Larger animals that cannot be carried on, will be transported in cargo. If ground travel is not an option, try to avoid peak travel times and make as few transfers as possible. Storing them in cargo is unpleasant and not guaranteed to be safe.
Adaptation to a new space
Have in mind that this is the longest, but last, part of the process. The main goal of the tips below is to speed up the adaptation, so your pet can finally feel like home again.
- As soon as you arrive, unpack your pet. Put the blanket or bed they sleep on in a corner, kitty litter, as well as bowls with food and water. Make sure their toys are close by too and don’t forget to give them your time and attention.
- Plug in previously mentioned scent diffusers. Animals have a sensitive sense of smell and this one will feel like home.
- Avoid buying new furniture. Seeing and smelling familiar things will relax them and the new house will become their territory soon enough.
- Stick to the old routines and try not to leave them alone for the first few days.
We hope these tips will make the moving process easier for you and your pet. If you have any more questions feel free to call us, as well as emailing or visiting our website for a free quote. We can provide you with labor-only movers, packers and movers, apartment movers, commercial movers, and many more services customized for you and your needs. Let us, OC Moving Services, show you how professional movers do their job.