So you are moving house and you are worried about your pets escaping back to your old home?
Moving house is not only stressful for humans it can upset and confuse your pet dogs or cats. One of the biggest problems you will face is that your dog or cat may escape from your new home and get lost, because of all the new surroundings; it may be quite confusing for your pet.
For dogs, this means that you must examine the fences of your new home in detail to ensure they are dog proof. Any escape routes should be immediately fixed.
Stopping your cat from escaping through fences, gates, etc… after moving house is more difficult. Cat enclosed spaces can be constructed and are available commercially. Instead, you can keep your cat inside the new house for a while until it gets used to its new home, and can understand its new territory. Most cats just eat and sleep, so work on these aspects of your cat's new lifestyle first. Feed your cat small tasty meals four to five times daily. This will give it a ‘fun focus' associated with its new eating spot. Let the cat hunt for its food around the new house, by leaving small amounts of cat food in several locations or by scattering dry food over the floor in the laundry, let your cat feel comfortable and safe, so it will not want to escape.
Familiarity
To help ease them in, you can bring a familiar toy from the old house and bring it to the new one, so they can have something that is exactly the same in their new surroundings; it will help with the change and may even be comforting.
