When you move to a new house, it’s not just you that might shift across town or even across the country – your pets do, too. Moving can be a massive upheaval for them, and cause them a lot of stress. After all, your pets spend 24/7 in your home and garden, where they are comfortable. Find out how to arrange pet transportation so that your beloved furry friends can come alongside you while the house movers deal with your belongings.
Tips and Tricks for Pet Transportation During a Move
Ensure They Are Healthy
When choosing pet transportation, you need to be aware that there is a risk that your pets will not react well to the stress of travel. Before you even think about taking them with you, you will need to make sure that they are healthy to travel. Set up an appointment with your vet to get your pet checked out and determine whether they are healthy enough for the move.
Note that if you plan on hiring a pet transportation agency, some of these require your pets to be vaccinated. In this case, you can get the vaccines done at the same time when you take them to the vet. Some vaccines require more than one dose, so start planning for your animal to visit the vet a few weeks in advance, just in case.
Choose an Appropriately-Sized Crate
Whether you’re sending your pet on a plane or just taking them in the car, you will need a travel crate for pet transportation. With a range of sizes on offer, it can be tough to choose the right crate for your feline or canine companion. Here’s how to choose: consider how much room your pet needs to sit, lie down, stand, and turn around without bumping into the sides. If a litter box is required, you should have room for the litter box and your pet to still be able to lie down and turn around.
Crates with a hard shell are the best for protecting your pet and are popular with pet transportation agencies. Ensure that the crate you select has a sturdy door latch to prevent the door from flying open and your pet from escaping. Finally, check that the crate provides adequate airflow for your pet’s comfort.
Transport Them Before Moving Day
It’s a good idea to get your pets transported before moving day. On the day of the move, you’ll have house movers coming in and out of the house. Plus, you’ll be completing last-minute tasks and trying to clean the house. It’s a lot going on already without your pet getting under everyone’s feet. After all, when you’re carrying a load of large boxes, you can’t exactly see if there’s a cat sitting in your way!
Avoid any mishaps by transporting your pets before moving day if possible.
Have Friends Pet-Sit
For some families, it’s not an option to move your pets to your new house before moving day because you may not have access to your new place yet, or you might be moving interstate. Either way, you’ll still find it useful to get your precious animals out of everyone’s way until you’re ready for pet transportation. In this case, see if you can leave them with a neighbour or friend for the day. This can also help to keep the animal calm without all the stress of seeing their home dismantled as you remove everything from the premises.
Get Them Settled at the New Place
If you plan on doing a DIY move and just showing up at the new house with your pet and belongings in tow, this can be extremely stressful for your animals. You’ll arrive and need to figure out how to keep them contained and happy, all while unloading the trailer and unpacking your possessions.
Instead, if you’ve had your animals with a pet-sitter, see if you can pick them up after you’ve done some unpacking. Set up a room where they can be comfortable, with food, water, a litter tray, and anything else they might need. As they familiarize themselves with the new home, it’s best to keep them in one room for a while to prevent them from running off. Then, as they are more comfortable, you can introduce them to the rest of the house.
Book House Movers
If you plan on completing the pet transportation yourself, we highly recommend that you book house movers to deal with transporting your belongings. That way, you can focus on your pets’ happiness and safely moving them to the new place while the movers ensure that everything else arrives safe and sound.
Contact EasyMove today to find out more about our range of moving services.
