Moving with my Chin

[Shenanigans]

I'm moving in a couple months. I've got a cat carrier and it's only a half hour drive in a car with plenty of AC, so I've got a handle on transport. My questions are more about settling my chin into his new home.
When I first got Yuki, his cage was his safe area and we left it as his previous owner had it (except for adding his chin spin back in that he hadn't had for a while). I plan on keeping the cage set up the same as it is now and keeping the same habits with him as much as possible.

Are there any opinions on cage time vs. exploring time in a new home?
Time until any big changes in how the cage is layed out? (he likes investigating new stuff but I dont want to over stress him)
Would new chews and toys be more of a stress or a happy distraction?

I think I know how Yuki will do with everything and he's getting his own room so there wont be a whole lot of moving confusion around him, plus I'll be home all the time to monitor how he's doing, but any opinions/stories/thoughts are more than welcome.

Also, any tips on tricking out a chin room? I as thinking of covering the lower half of the walls and the floor in fleece but I cant think of a good way to fix the fleece to the walls. My next big project may be a chin version of a cat condo or a chin mountain. Any ideas or tips?

Thanks for any input

 

[ticklechin]

I used 1/4" wall board that is glossy to line the walls, you can see it behind the chairs.



I have chin towers in the play room, here is a pic




As far as how the chin will do, all chins are different, just go with how he is to make the decision to have playtime in a new space, new toys etc. He may be pi$$ed for a week, he may want to come out and check everything out as soon as he arrives, just use your best judgment.

 

[javachin]

Just give them time to settle in. Playtime shouldn't be a problem as long as you're not still actively moving things around. As for a cat tower, I think its hit and miss with people. You're better off making something out of wood or cardboard boxes. Its probably cheaper too.

 

[fuji9991]

I have moved her 3 times now where I have set the room up the same way for her each time. There is a period of adjustment where she is much more timid than usual but it goes away. You can set everything up in the same place but the sounds and smells of the place will be totally different and it will take time for them to feel comfortable and they may stay in their safe spots for a while before roaming their territory again.

 

[Godofgods]

ok.. first off, that wooden play stand thingy is amazing. You definitely need to fly down here and make my chins one

As for moving, i just got done moving my 5 chins earlier last month. I have still kept them in there cage. Giving them plenty of time to adjust to new surroundings before letting them out.

Before we got here, i had the walls lined with fleece. I took off the base boards and used poplar boards instead to hold the fleece to the wall. And the same at the top of the fleece. I also put a piece of poplar vertically in each corner of the room so the fleece stay in place. (No arch)

I also had a new floor put in. Linoleum because i wanted something that was one sheet that they wouldn't be able to chew well. Since the multiple square piece kind they could get a corner to chew on and slowly pull it up.

I havnt let them out yet, but it should be interesting to see once i finally do.

 

[Chindiccted]

For setting up fleece on the lower walls i'd use Velcro! Attach it to the back of the fleece and the wall and bam covered I've been considering doing that and + easy clean up just detaching the velcro and shaking it out.

 

[Shenanigans]

Thanks for all the ideas! We'll see what I can do for the walls after the move-I like the velcro idea for cleaning, but I like the chin safe wood trim idea too. I'll see $-wise what I can do. Maybe even a hybrid of the two idea.

 

[Shenanigans]

Alright-another question. Has anyone had to deal with those old floor vent things that go along the whole bottom of a wall? I dont want to put a board along it to block air and a play pen would be weird to rig up and probably loose space. I dont think I want Yuki to be able to chew on it and investigate the holes, so I know I want to block it off but without restricting air to the room (it's the heat and AC). I haven't had to deal with these before and keep forgetting they're in the house.

 

[ticklechin]

Make a crude box around it with hardware cloth?

 

[becky12883]

We just moved into a house with the big old vents. Our solution so far has been to cover it with a folded tv tray. That isn't a permanent solution though, we haven't thought of anything yet.

 

[Amphy64]

Same here, good luck with your move, hope everything goes smoothly! ) As long as he has somewhere he feels secure within the cage itself, a place to hide away, I'm sure he'll do fine. Maybe you could give a few toys a few days before the move? That way he'd still have them there as a distraction after the move, without you having to disturb his cage further.

Mostly just bear in mind that no matter how good your chin proofing, he WILL do things you haven't thought of!


Wow, amazing chin room, ticklechin. Is that a board on the lower part of the window, too? That's what I always have trouble with, keeping Henry away from window sills and from trying to chew the plaster, and our new place has a bay window in his playroom that's easily low enough for him to reach straight from the ground. Anyone else have this problem with keeping chins away from windows? (Probably, chins being chins!) I was thinking I could get a window seat for it and just sit in it while he plays, then at least the horror would have to get past me to get at it.

I was wondering about even maybe taking Henry over there to have a look round once we'd got the carpets in, so that way at least it wouldn't be a totally new environment to him when we moved? I wouldn't consider it with a more sensitive or highly strung chin, but he's basically bombproof, nothing fazes him.

What my little window eater did, in the early days when I was still naive enough to think him being quiet meant he was being peaceful and not getting into mischief:

 

[Shenanigans]

I like the toys before the move idea. and i think I'll have to use a play pen to block it at first, I already have one from my dog's younger years.
You all got me wondering if I can convince the boyfriend to build a slatted bench thing to keep air flow going and Yuki out? That way it's not just wire so if he tries to jump on top I wouldnt have to worry about it holding him up... It could have wire/hardware cloth sides for price, and then when Yuki's in his cage I could still slide it away? Thoughts?