[Hiker]

Sorry for any repeat, but I previously posted this in Introduction, which won't get many responses there. But now that I can post outside of there, I'm doing another run at this...

In about 1.5 months, me and my two cats are moving to a new house. The current owners of that house have two cats and a dog. I went for the inspection last week, and there are poo stains all over the basement concrete, within the last 2 weeks.... one angry cat was down there. My black cat utterly hates the smell of any other cat, and takes revenge by peeing on stuff. So, I'm kind of concerned about the move. Plus, the whole house is going to have cat smells; I can't easily smell them, but my allergies triggered some after being in the house for a few hours so they are there (I'm allergic only to other people's cats, not mine).

Any suggestions on what to do? I want this to go as smoothly as possible, with the least pee and fecal matter outside the litter box as possible.

My thoughts are on moving day to get one of the bathrooms thoroughly cleaned, then stick the cats in that room and lock it so movers don't open it. They'll remain in there for a while. The basement is a disaster thanks to all the current cats, but the mud room looks okay... I'm thinking clean that thoroughly next (that same day after moving in), then lock them in there for days or longer until they calm down a bit. This will give us time to clean the rest of the house before eventually trying to release them into it. The mud room is very nice and has several windows, and a door on either side so they can be locked in. Once the rest of the house is clean, we can introduce them to more of it and see how they react. The basement will be the worst since it requires the most cleaning. And, I'm a bit concerned about the upstairs since that is carpeted (harder to clean, absorbs smells, and is a more inviting target for a cat peeing in anger).

Is this a reasonable approach?

And what's a good cleaning product to deal with the pet smells? I use Nature's Miracle for spots but I'm not aware of it being appropriate for washing entire floors, counters, etc. Other thoughts include Pine Sol, Simple Green or this "orange" cleaner. I don't want to make them angry from cleaner smells either. But, I want to reduce the other cat smells as much as possible.

 

[MowMow]

Perhaps professional carpet/floor cleaning service?

I moved a few months ago with my two cats and the previous tentant had two of them living here. The apartment complex gave me the name of the carpet person they use and I called her to make sure she used animal safe products and asked about how well her solution covered pet stains. She told me that she would use an enzymatic cleaner (sorry, she didn't tell me which one) to be sure cat scent was out of the apartment.

The ONLY spot my two pay attention too are next to the window in the living room, it's a cat nip reaction though so I think she might have had some sort of cat toy there and tiny spot right by the bathroom door... not sure why but they both smell that spot and huff through their mouths... I put some vinegar on it and they stopped doing that.

 

[Lenkolas]

Bathroom lockup sounds great. Also, take them with all of their stuff: beds, toys, same dishes same food, even one of your used shirts or something like that so they can smell your scent. I put my bathroom rugs in a bag and put the same ones in the new bathroom (I also did the bathroom lockup).
You can take some of the same water they are drinking now. If it's tap water, put some in a bottle and give them that during the first days. It may not make a difference, but at lest here in my country tap water tastes quite different from town to town.

Then, maybe try a safe room for the next 2 days? So they can get used to new sounds, smells...

Perhaps professional carpet/floor cleaning service?

This. I agree with Krissy. It could save you a lotta trouble...considering your allergies and your cats stress.

Good luck!

 

[MowMow]

Oh and yes, I did the bathroom thing as well.

While the movers were taking boxes out of the old apartment I had them shut in that bathroom with an old spare litter box, a few beds and their carriers. Then once the movers were settled in and I felt comfortable leaving them, I packed up the cats and left for the new place. In the NEW place I set them up in the NEW bathroom with the same items and shut the door (and put a sign on it reminding the movers NOT to open it).

I had a three hour gap between arriving at the new place and the movers coming (since they also cleaned my old apartment) so I let the cats out of the bathroom to explore the empty place and when I saw the truck pull in locked them up again. They seemed to really enjoy exploring the place empty of all furniture and once the movers left and I let them out again they were fascinated climbing all over our furniture Made the laugh to wonder what they were thinking about the place going from empty to all our belongings appearing.

 

[Hiker]

Those are good ideas. I was planning on locking them up with their pet blankets and some toys. I hadn't thought of a professional cleaner though; I'm not 100% sure how to make that work out, although there is a chance the sellers will vacate before the last day. Maybe something can be worked out.