Saturday, Not Caturday

Mom Lynne here.

I wanted to answer some of the questions and the comments about our prospective move. Millie has allowed me to take the floor, so to speak.

Signing papers at the closing.

We're moving about 4-5 miles away, to the next town north. It's an over-55 cooperative. We'll have our own 2 BR, 2 bath home with a large living room and a sun-room. Everything is on one floor, which pleases me to no end because I won't have to go down to the basement to do the laundry. The house is climate controlled, so it won't get too hot in the summer. The driveway is significantly shorter so snow removal will be a lot easier, and I've got room for a garden. Millie and I will also have a small screened in front porch. I know she'll love it, but it may be too cool to enjoy it by the time we move in.

I've been contemplating a move for about the last two or three years, and I've been de-cluttering since then so although I've lived in this apartment over 27 years, I don't have 27 years worth of stuff. At this stage of the game, if it's in the apartment, it's coming to the new house. I'll be getting boxes next week and I'll start packing.  Millie is always aware when I am packing for a trip, and she'll certainly be aware something is up when I start putting things into boxes.

I want to leave as many things the same as possible for as long as possible to keep her stress level down. No matter how messy the new place is, I want to set up her food area, her litter boxes, and the kitty condo before I do anything else.

I had a long talk with April of The Teacher's Pets about how to handle Millie during the move itself. I cannot stress enough how fearful Millie still is of being captured. April and I agreed that it would be more traumatic for Millie if I boarded her somewhere than it would if I stuck her in one room during the move. April suggested a homeopathic solution to give Millie to help her relax a bit. The plan is to somehow get her into the bathroom during the move, and leave her there. When the move is completed, I can go back, corral her into a box and bring her to the new house.  That's the plan of course. We'll see how it works out. We also do not want to keep Millie in a crate all day either.

I'd love to be able to get her into a carrier and then let her out into one room at the new place, but unfortunately I can't simply "get her into a carrier" and I don't think I can expect the movers to come in and out all day and leave one room alone. Besides, heavy stuff needs to be moved into each room and I need the movers to do that.

It's much too risky to let her run around while the guys come in and out. We just can't guarantee Millie will not bolt and run outside.

I'll try the anti-stress solution to get her to the vet next week too. Once the vet sees her, he may be able to proscribe some other medication to help manage the move.

That's my biggest concern. Otherwise, Millie will be with me, meaning wherever I sleep, Millie will too. I won't leave her in an empty apartment alone overnight.  I also plan to take a few days off for the move so if I move mid-week, I'll be with Millie for four or five days in the new house before I go back to work.

I've worked up floor plans for each room so we ought to get settled fairly quickly. The neighborhood is VERY quiet, so there won't be a lot of traffic going by each day.

Thanks in advance for all your help, suggestions and support.