Oh man this is such a massive year. My husband and I have had the immense pleasure of seeing one of our closest friends marry the love of his life this year, and have made so many new friends, and have felt the love and outpouring of care from so many people when we were at our lowest.
And now, my husband has found a job that he seems to enjoy, and that actually pays him what his experience is worth, so we've rocketed back towards the green line of debt. Sadly, it's in *shudder* Alabama, so we have to move soon. We've been looking for homes near the Tennessee line, since that's where my sister, brother in law, and nephew live; But in the mean time the hubs and I are basically living separately, and as a couple that's never been apart longer than 3 days at a time, it's been an adjustment.
So, the move has to happen ASAP. The question is, though,how does one move an entire household of belongings and memories, AND a dozen fur babies, sanely and safely, given we only have one driver? xD Anyone have experience with this kind of massive undertaking? I'd love to hear stories, advice, etc :D
Forums General Chit-Chat Moving, with a dozen furbabies D:
@CherryGryffon: Hello. That's great your husband got a new job that pays him better...sucks you have to move though.
What animals exactly are said fur babies? For cats, it might be best to sedate them, especially if your trip is rather long. It will be better for them as they won't panic, which is detrimental to their health, as well as they could accidentally hurt themselves or you/your husband/other animals if they enter fight or flight mode.
What animals exactly are said fur babies? For cats, it might be best to sedate them, especially if your trip is rather long. It will be better for them as they won't panic, which is detrimental to their health, as well as they could accidentally hurt themselves or you/your husband/other animals if they enter fight or flight mode.
Yeah, we'd be bringing ~a dozen kitties with us. I'm a trained feral caretaker [which some of these are former ferals, so they're special cases lol]. For sure, for their sanity, we'll likely have to sedate a couple of them. Unfortunately at least one can't be sedated [his mother died when taken to be fixed, due to the anesthesia, and we haven't gotten the blood work back yet to determine if it's safe for him to be given anything yet] D:
I think our biggest obstacle right now, is HOW to transport them. Individual cages would be more expensive, and might increase the stress, but technically are considered "safer" for transit. But, pairing up siblings or those close to each other would reduce stress, but would mean needing BIGGER cages lol. Which are harder to transport D:
So many options! :vanora_shock:
Totalanimefan: Sadly, they don't. They most they said they could offer would barely be $200. That literally wouldn't even cover the fuel xD
I think our biggest obstacle right now, is HOW to transport them. Individual cages would be more expensive, and might increase the stress, but technically are considered "safer" for transit. But, pairing up siblings or those close to each other would reduce stress, but would mean needing BIGGER cages lol. Which are harder to transport D:
So many options! :vanora_shock:
Totalanimefan: Sadly, they don't. They most they said they could offer would barely be $200. That literally wouldn't even cover the fuel xD
@CherryGryffon: Where are you moving from? How long of a trip would it be?
Also, as a positive, Alabama isn't all bad. I spent a year in Fort Rucker and had a blast.
Also, as a positive, Alabama isn't all bad. I spent a year in Fort Rucker and had a blast.
@Boris: Well as mentioned we have ~ a dozen. Depending on if we will still be caring for the fosters, it's 12-16. :)
@Reanna: It's about a 6 hour trip; And Alabama is one of the worst places I could move to, personally lol. I don't like hot, I don't like humid, and I don't like racists LOL I'd much MUCH much rather move to Oregon, or Washington, or North Dakota or somewhere else where it's cool or rainy :D
@Reanna: It's about a 6 hour trip; And Alabama is one of the worst places I could move to, personally lol. I don't like hot, I don't like humid, and I don't like racists LOL I'd much MUCH much rather move to Oregon, or Washington, or North Dakota or somewhere else where it's cool or rainy :D
Boris:
@CherryGryffon: If you got them from the animal shelter, you should send them back hat is how it works here... slightly accurate. That is a lot of kitties, so I am not positive on what you should do.
@CherryGryffon: If you got them from the animal shelter, you should send them back hat is how it works here... slightly accurate. That is a lot of kitties, so I am not positive on what you should do.
I can't be sure, but I genuinely hope you were trying to joke. :vanora_sweat:
But if you weren't, no, that's not how it works; And no, I did not get them from the shelter. I am a certified Feral cat rescuer and rehabilitator, and ALL of our cats are either former ferals, or the rescued off-spring OF ferals. Most of our cats are considered "semi-feral" in that they would not pass domestic cat adoption tests, and being semi-feral they usually retain partial feral attributes, which includes choosing limited human contact. Meaning they tolerate and thrive with the 1-2 humans they have chosen to trust [my husband and I] and won't extend that trust to any other humans, no matter how often we tried to socialize them to others. :vanora_sweat:
I never moved with that many, usually 4 or 5. Lots of large size carriers with soft dollar-store blankies. A few pit stops along the way for water and portable kitty box use. (We brought litter and a smaller, more shallow disposable pan. We made water available at stops only to fend off spilling and lots peeing in the carriers) We changed out the blankies as they got dirty, which is why we got them cheaply. Puppy pads underneath them helped a lot. I noticed they vastly preferred some moving air to fend off motion sickness, so we kept the window cracked in the back. Otherwise, we kept the music low and relatively easy-listening and just cruised. :3
Oh my love, I know you are my candyman
And oh my love, let us fly to bounty land~~
Közi (“Kouji.”)
He/him
Hmmm.
As for what I would LIKE to do, I'd LIKE to have one large van or truck, filled with XL puppy cages, so I could pair up 3 cats in each cage, with wall-mounted water, gerbil-style, and puppy pads in the floor tray, since we always have those on hand anyway [we have a disabled cat who can't use litter xD]
But, we only have one driver, and it costs roughly $150 in fuel to travel one way; We'd have to drive down once with the cats, come back empty, and THEN however many trips it takes to haul all our belongings D:
That's not really feasible, unless we set aside close to $1000 just for fuel D: :vanora_cry:
As for what I would LIKE to do, I'd LIKE to have one large van or truck, filled with XL puppy cages, so I could pair up 3 cats in each cage, with wall-mounted water, gerbil-style, and puppy pads in the floor tray, since we always have those on hand anyway [we have a disabled cat who can't use litter xD]
But, we only have one driver, and it costs roughly $150 in fuel to travel one way; We'd have to drive down once with the cats, come back empty, and THEN however many trips it takes to haul all our belongings D:
That's not really feasible, unless we set aside close to $1000 just for fuel D: :vanora_cry:
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Having you as a Voltie would be awesome.