Moving house with your cat

1. Check the chip and the registration

   Have the vet check that the chip still reads and that your cat is in CatID. Note the chip number and your login details: you will need them to change the address.

2. Make the carrier a piece of furniture

   Leave the carrier or crate open in the living room weeks ahead, with a blanket and now and then a treat inside. A cat that knows its carrier steps in calmly on moving day.

3. Bring moving boxes in early

   Cats dislike change. Boxes that have been there for two weeks are no longer a threat, but a toy and a hiding place.

4. Take sharp photos

   From the side, the front and of distinctive features. If your cat runs off anyway, you lose no time looking for a good photo for the report and the poster.

5. A collar with your mobile number

   A safety collar with a tag or embroidered number: whoever sees your cat calls at once, even without a chip reader. Put your new number on it if it changes.

1. One quiet room, door closed

   In the morning, put your cat in the room that is emptied last, with litter tray, water, food and its carrier. Hang a note on the door: "Cat inside, keep door closed". Tell the movers too.

2. Your cat leaves last

   In the carrier, in the car, never in the removal van. A towel over the carrier makes the ride calmer. Secure the carrier with the seat belt.

3. In the new house, start again with one room

   First set up one room with its own things: carrier, tray, scratching post, blanket with the familiar smell. Let it settle there until the movers have left and all doors and windows are closed.

1. Keep your cat indoors for two to four weeks

   This is the most important step. A cat that goes out too early gets lost or tries to return to the old house. Keep the cat flap closed and tell the whole family and visitors.

2. Let it explore the house room by room

   Open one more door every few days. Rub a soft cloth over its cheeks and then over door frames and furniture at cat height: the house becomes "its" house faster.

3. Keep the routine

   Same feeding times, same playtimes, same sleeping spot. Routine is to a cat what a map is to us.

1. The first time out: short, hungry and accompanied

   Pick a quiet moment just before feeding time. Go into the garden with it, let it sniff for a quarter of an hour and then call it in for its food. Lengthen the outings step by step.

2. Tell the neighbours who it is

   A new cat in the street is quickly taken for a stray and taken in or fed. Give the neighbours the flyer below: name, looks, your house number and mobile number.

3. Watch out for the old address

   Did you move within the same neighbourhood? Cats like to return to their old territory. Ask the new residents of your old house to call you if it turns up and not to feed it.

Make the neighbour flyer

1. New address and mobile number in CatID

   Log in at online.catid.be and update your address, phone number and e-mail address. A chip only helps if the details are correct: otherwise whoever finds your cat and has the chip read sees your old address.

2. Dogs: the same in DogID

   Moving with a dog too? Update its details at online.dogid.be. Your vet can also do this for you.

3. Update the tag and passport too

   A new tag with your new mobile number, and have your vet update the address in the European passport at the next visit.

1. Post a free report straight away

   On Ik ben vermist, neighbours with a neighbourhood alert are notified and your cat appears on the map. You get a poster with QR code and a day-by-day search plan at once.

2. Put up posters in the old and the new neighbourhood

   A cat that has moved is often on its way to its old home, sometimes miles away. So put up posters in both places and tell the neighbours in your old street.

3. Search at dusk and put its scent outside

   Cats hide during the day and come out in the evening. Call softly, shake its kibble and put the litter tray or a blanket with its scent outside. Call the vets and shelters in both neighbourhoods.

Post a report Step-by-step plan "Lost pet"