Managing a stressed-out cat during remodeling
We are planning to remodel part of our house and refurbish most of the rest. We are hoping to avoid moving out, or at most use a short-term rental.
We're discovering that compared to its predecessors, our current cat doesn't deal well with even minor changes in routine. Any suggestions for how to manage this? She's an indoor-outdoor kitty, and we do have a garage/studio/workshop we could put a cat door into.
Thanks!
Sep 7, 2022
Parent Replies
We recently had exterior siding done. It was all on the outside but it was still a LOT of dust, and a LOT of banging. We have three cats, two kittens and a very sensitive senior cat. We were actually quite surprised that none of the cats seemed to be bothered by the banging. They didn't seem to see it as a threat. The dust though, as another issue. All three got gunky eyes and one got conjunctivitis. The senior cat got a strange allergy on his face that could be dust related, or just stress. Moreover, when we got the new kitten we put her in the bathroom for the first few nights, and she ended up wedged in the hole behind the toilet bowl. We didn't even know there was a hole there. Cats can get stuck in all sorts of places, esp. when walls are opened and pipes are exposed, so you have to be careful of that. You could just see how your cat behaves and go with the flow, or just go ahead and keep the cat in the garage, and don't let it anywhere near the construction. You don't want to be one of those cautionary tales of homeowners who had to put a hole in their bathtub to free their cat who got stuck inside.