A few of you may have noticed we haven’t shared any photos of our two cats in the last few months. Good eye, and also a teary one at that. I thought I owed you all a bit of an explanation as to why we had to leave our cats in Georgia and not take them with us when we moved back to the Chicago area.
I’m going to note here that it was an extremely tough decision that we made on our part, and in all honesty, it was mostly me that had a more than my fair share of tears when deciding this path for our fur babies.
When Zach and I knew that we wanted to get back to our family in Chicago and after going after a dream of building our own home, we knew the process was not going to be as easy as we thought. In a perfect world, we would have found our dream home, packed all our items in the moving van and drive up with our family and fur babies to our brand new home.
Unfortunately when it comes to building a home ( and it can be a long process ) we had about a 4-5 month gap in between when we were moving to Illinois and officially moving into our new home. If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you know that our Zach had bought Ellie for me when we were in college, about 9 years ago. It was also known that she fully attached herself to me and despised anyone else. It had becoming almost a joke because Zach had rescued her from a shelter at 4 months ago but she could care less about him and only wanted me 24/7.
After college I moved back home with my family to attend graduate school ( Ellie and I lived in the current basement we are living in now ) for two years. Zach and I got married, saved money for our first home and had Lily all within a year and a half. We found out only 3 months after moving into our home that we were getting transferred to Atlanta. We loved our three years down there ( both in an apartment and our amazing home ) and even added another sweet kitten, Belle, for my 30th birthday.
My kids adored having two kitties to play with. It was a bit of process to have Ellie adjust to a new playmate as you can tell, she’s one independent woman, but we managed. When we realized that we wanted to be closer to family, we had a long talk about if we would move our cats as well. Ultimately we didn’t want to because pets are family in our eyes, but we also didn’t want to put them through the stress of moving, being confined to a basement for 5 months and then move again.
They must have sensed us being stressed because both girls behaviors changed overnight. They began peeing outside their litter box in our daughters room, on our couch and everywhere in between. When you’re trying to sell your home and you have that smell everywhere, it was a nightmare. I even brought them to the vet to see what we could do but there wasn’t anything to be done.
If you’re thinking about starting the process to find a new home for your pets, here are a few steps we began to take.
1. Call your local shelter – I began calling local shelters in our county as well as in the city to see if they had any room for our girls. Some shelters and rescue organizations may have posts about your pet as a courtesy listing while your pet stays at your home. Some agencies may even have programs to help you rehome your pet as well.
2. Advise through friends, neighbors and local veterinarians– If you think about your personal network, they may be the best pool of adopters for your pet. We asked many neighbors, work and school friends if they were interested in taking the girls and we were in luck as one neighbor decided to take one, while another friend took our other. I felt so blessed to have kind, helpful people who I trusted and knew would take care of our little ones for us.
3. MakeYour Pet More Attractive To Adopters – Have your pet be vaccinated and checked by your veterinarian. If your pets are spayed or neutered they may be more an attractive adoption
I get a few updates here and here about how they are doing and I truly only advise doing this if you really are at your last resort. We know our girls are doing amazing, are loved and feel that it’s best for them to be where they are at. Have you been through this too on needing to find a new home for your pets and if so, how did you cope?
This sounds like such a difficult situation. I can't imagine how hard this must have been on you and your family!
Having to move without your pet (who is like a family member) must be hard. We have been looking at a site called Get Your Pet for a dog. Wishing you all the best.
It must have been so tough but glad they are doing well. Sounds like it was for the best.
Pets are true companions and like a family member. You shared great tips to find new home for them .
I can’t imagine leaving my cat behind, but at the same time, I know you didn’t make the decision lightly and it was best for everyone. Our cat has moved with us 4 times now including from Florida to Texas! She’s a trooper, we had her before kids and she’s done amazing with them.
Aww Cait, what a touching story!!! That pic of her looking at your blog is the cutest ever! I love your tips and I think making sure your pet will get along with any new pets in their foster home is important too!
That is a really tough situation. I can't imagine doing that. You are brave and I hope your pet feels happy in their new home.
That is the one thing we can never fulfill to own a pet. We need time and space for a pet to be included at home.
I’m so happy you found people you know to take your kitties! I may need to rehome my pets one day (I really hope not, but you never know) and I didn’t even think calling the shelter was a thing? But that’s a great starting place!
This topic is close to my heart! I can’t imagine what you are going through. This is really good information to share with others who are going through the same thing.- Tonya Michelle
Oh I'm sure this was so difficult on top of the stress of moving. I'm gad you found good homes for them
This is such a great post for all cat lovers out there. You've really pinpoint what's need to be done to our pets to feel at home.
It's so hard to be away from these little cuties, I can't imagine having to leave my cats behind. But giving them a new house it's the best solution in this difficult situation!
I think this is a good things to do to make our pets to feel free in the house. I think my cousin need to read it because he have troubles finding a good home for his pet.
I am definitley a dog person and I do miss my fur babies. We're traveling too much now to have more furry friends….sigh
It sounds like a difficult situation that you are making the best of. You are doing good by him.
Awe so sad!! I can't even think about leaving my pets behind, but understand why you had to!
I had to do this with our cat after she strongly disliked the new baby. She ended up moving in with a coworker and resumed her position of queen as was quite happy.
I had to find a new home for my cat when I moved to a new apartment. Luckily she ended up living with my daughter and her family so I go see her often. These are great tips, it's difficult to give a pet away.
Great post! It is extremely difficult to let go of a pet that has become a part of your family. We recently had to find our 2 boys a new home. It was a very hard decision but they deserved better since we travel a lot.
Yes it can be hard decision to make because pets can be family. We had to put down our 15 year old dog, put 4 weeks later we picked up a 12 week old Kelpie from a shelter. She now comes on our adventures with us.
This is such a sad thing to think about. I hope that if we ever do get a pet, we won't ever have to give them up.
I don't even want to think about having to make this decision about my girls. You had to do what was best for your family and kitties.
Finding a new home for our pets is so important. I will consider you tips. Thanks for your advice!
These are definitely some great ideas when it comes to finding a new home for your pet. I would definitely share with friends or our local animal shelter. Also on Facebook or the NextDoor app.
I have a friend who works at a local shelter and I can tell you to please consider that as a last resort. A lot of animals, especially older ones don't fare as well. Definitely hit up friends or family first, especially in a temporary situation like this where you're waiting on your home to be built. =)
Sounds like a tough descision to make. I once had to give my kitty away for adoption and it was not easy at all but I had peace about her new cat mum.
This sounds so tough! I think friends and family are the best bet for things like this.
I dont have pets but one of my friends is struggling with finding a new home for her pet. Will share this post with her.
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