Moving!!! Yikes~

I would say for the cat make sure the carpets are cleaned if you have them. I had an older cat when we last moved and she did fine. We let her explore the place when she got there (after all the stuff was moved) and find her food and litter box. If you are really going to get upset about even 1 accident you might put the cat in a room with his litter box and food and an easy to clean floor then it would be much less of a big deal. He could be in there a day or a few days until things settle down a little. I have always had cats as an adult and growing up. I have rarely had problems with cats peeing outside the box except when there was a medical reason (urinary infection, kidney problems, blindness, very old age--about 19 or 20). But we mostly had female cats, unfixed males seem more prone to marking territory by peeing.

My only advice is to lighten up. One accident and the cat is gone?! Unreasonable. One accident does not mean he'll have a second. I suggest this puts too much pressure on your 11 yo who my unconsciously feel that "one accident" and she's gone. This one statement says to me that you're expecting perfection and it just isn't going to happen that way.

You already know change is hard for you and your family; so work on accepting change by accepting your cat having an accident. Your cat is likely to make the move just fine without an accident. Take the usual precautions such as confining him to a room with a hard floor until he's more accustomed to the move. Keep him in the house once you let him out of the room. Give him or have your children give him lots of love so that he feels secure.

Start some positive affirmations, such as "I will do well with this move" instead of the negative, "I don't accept change." We usually get what we expect. If we expect to have difficulty we usually have it.

Talk to your vet or someone at a petstore. There are natural things to treat anxiety. There is a plug in something and a dropper of something else. It might be called Rescue. It helps with adored animals to help make the transition easier. Good luck!

Think positive!
We moved here from Great Britain and it took 6 weeks for our stuff to arrive by ship and we had 18 month old twins at the time so your move will be easy!! Your daughter sounds fine - stay positive in front of her so she doesn't think "Oh no, I'm leaving the only home I have ever known" - for her it may be no biggie!!
Try and go though your stuff one room at a a time and really clear out the trash - believe me, you really don't need your school work from 20 years ago or your kids first tooth - let it go and imagine that with each piece of trash you throw out, a little bit of worry or stress goes with it and it might make your move smoother.
Good luck!

Your dauaghter will probably have similar to what you are feeling. Stay upbeat, look at it as very positive and fun...she will probably follow suit. Let her pick the paint for her new room and arrange it how SHE wants...the little things. As for the cat, I would take a DIRTY litter box to the house so at least that will be the same. Cat might do some things by instinct and you might decide to give up a good pet just because "cat " is doing what cats do in a changing environment. Clean the house really good BEFORE you move the cat, carpets too. Even though animals can smell beyond the clean, it might help. Good luck with the move!

First of all, when you adopt a pet, you accept responsibility for them for their lives. You don't just "get rid" of them for 1 accident.

I have moved several times over the years with cats and have never had a problem. Make sure you take her litter box and place it someplace easy for her to get to. I always stick the cat right in the box as soon as we get in the door, then let the cat explore from there. The last time we moved my 3 cats found hiding places for a few days...we didn't see them much, but they all found their food and the box without an incident. Slowly they all came out of hiding. Like another writer said, clean the carpets first, and if there's a basement, wash that down if you can (the basement is probably where other cats may have left their mark, or in the corners of rooms).

For the kiids, make it an adventure. They get to decorate a whole new room! They're going to take their cues from you - if you're stressed and worried, then they will be too.

In general, when you pack boxes, make sure you only put things from 1 room in any box and mark the box with what room it goes in. Then as you unload the boxes, you put that box in the room it belongs in. That way it saves you having to search for things when you get there. I don't know how much time you have for your move...so if you can, do all the cleaning at the new house before you move in, make sure there's tp and soap in the bathroom, because you and your movers will need it the day you move in. Also, maybe something to drink in the fridge so it's already cold. The last move we made, we had family and friends helping, so we bought pizza, beer, pop, etc. for everyone. Spend the money for a rental truck (my husband has rented from Ryder, UHaul doesn't take very good care of their trucks), you'll need it for the bigger furniture, and it allows you to move more at a time. You can have your cable hooked up the same day you move in (I stayed at the new house and directed where things went, started some unpacking, and finished cleaning while everyone else loaded & moved things from the old house). Have the power turned on before the move, DTE will add a 2nd account before the 1st is turned off without a problem (the issue we found was that the other people had interruptable service & we didn't want that, but didn't realize that the central air was hooked up to it's own meter box....when we couldn't figure out why the air wouldn't work, called the HVAC guys & they suggested an electrician to re-wire the air to the regular box. only took a few minutes for them to fix, but glad we found out before moving day).
Good Luck! and stay positive!
D.

I would like to echo what someone else said about the cat... I'm not a huge fan of pet accidents either, but sometimes they DO happen. This move could cause it, or an illness somewhere down the line. It doesn't mean a chronic condition will occur. Saying you'll get rid of the cat after one incident is unreasonable. There are no "guarantees" with pets. As a responsible and caring pet owner, you should work on finding the solution to that kind of problem before banishing him from your home IF it happens. Probably everything will be just fine. But please have some compassion for your cat - and for your kids, who would be really upset to lose him. I can't read/answer any other other questions you have about your move because what you said about the cat disturbs me too much.

No advice, but good luck. We are in a similar situation, moving about 4 minutes away, but with a two year old and a 5 month old next month. We have lived here for 6 years and have WAY TOO MUCH stuff!!!

So good luck! And pass all your great advice my way!