ladysprite: (Default)
ladysprite ([personal profile] ladysprite) wrote2009-06-21 08:06 pm
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Just A Little Friendly Advice

....because it's better to explain and teach than to just post a foaming-at-the-mouth rant about frustrating clients.

So, here we go: What To Do When You're Moving and You Have A Pet:



If you have a pet, and you're moving, it is incredibly important to establish a relationship with a veterinarian in your new place of residence. Admittedly, this is less important if you're moving across town, and still plan on taking your pet to your regular vet, but if you're going to end up more than an hour away from your previous home, please please please find a vet in your new area and take your pet to go see them as soon as possible - for a getting-to-know-you visit if nothing else. Yes, it's a little bit of a monetary outlay (probably in the $40-60 ballpark), but it's a drop in the bucket compared to the rest of the costs of moving, and it can prevent a lot of expense and frustration later.

Why should you do this?

1) Your new vet can fill you in on local pet ownership laws and risks. Every state is different in their rabies vaccination laws, for instance. Some require it every two years, some every three. Some require vaccinations for cats, some might not. Better to avoid breaking the law if you can.

And aside from legal requirements, every area has different health risks. Maybe your old city was in an area that didn't have a high risk of lyme disease, but your new city does. Maybe now that you've moved to a more rural area, you're letting your cat outside. Maybe the common parasites in your new neighborhood call for you switching to a different brand of heartworm preventive. A local vet can help you figure these things out, and help keep your pet healthy.

2) It will establish a setup for you to continue your pet's health care. If you have a pet with chronic health problems, this is the best way to make sure that there's no break in their care, and no missed doses of meds because you ran out and didn't have a vet to refill them. And even if your pet is healthy, they'll need vaccines and wellness care, and reminders from your old vet may not get forwarded to you.

3) It will mean that there's a vet in the area who has met your pet, and knows them and their health status *before* anything goes wrong. This can be incredibly helpful - if the first time a vet meets your pet is when they're sick, they can be missing a lot of information. By knowing their personality, their physique, and what they look like when they're healthy, they can much better interpret what they see when the animal is sick. Plus, it means that you will know that the clinic exists and where it is before an emergency happens. Nothing is worse than having a medical emergency and then having to deal with a bleeding/seizuring/poisoned/whatever animal while Googling for the nearest vet in your area and praying they're open.

So. There's why to do it. Now here's how to do it:

At least a month before you move (if possible):
Let your regular vet know that you're moving. They can help you look through your pet's records, make sure you have enough of any special foods or medications to make it through your trip and setting yourself up in your new home, and plan a schedule for any health care that needs to happen before you go, including travel requirements.

At this same time, if you can, start looking into a vet in your new neighborhood. If you can have a vet lined up before you move, that can make things a lot easier. If you have any family and friends in that area, ask them who they take their pets to. Ask your vet if they can recommend anyone - we have family in different areas too, as well as classmates and former coworkers who may have scattered to the four corners of the earth. If you can't get a recommendation, peek around the internet and see what you can find in the area. Take reviews with a grain of salt; people tend to post them when they're either very very happy or very very angry.

This is also the time to start getting your pet comfortable with their crate, if you're going to use one. The more time they spend in and around it now, the less stressy and freakish they'll be when it's time to travel.

Two weeks before you move:
Double-check your travel plans. If you're flying, confirm with the airline that you'll have an animal with you, and check what their requirements are. Some airlines require a health certificate, some just require proof of vaccination. As a note, more and more airlines are refusing to fly animals if they're sedated. This is another reason to start getting the pet comfortable with their carrier early on. If you're driving and it's going to be a trip that takes more than one day, double-check with the hotels en route and make sure they allow animals in the rooms.

Ten to seven days before you move:
If any part of your travel requires a health certificate for your pet, now is the time to get it. Most health certificates are valid for ten days, and it behooves you to get it as early as possible. The reason for this is simple: if your pet is, in fact, not healthy, this gives you a week to treat whatever problems exist, then get them re-examined and certified healthy.

DO NOT wait until 24 hours before you leave. Even if your pet looks fine to you, there may be problems that will make it impossible for your vet to write a health certificate. Then you are stuck with one night to either cancel your trip or find a friend who can keep your pet until it's better and then fly it out to you. You will be very mad, your vet will be very sad, and noone will win. Also, if you do wait until the last minute, and then your vet can't write a health certificate, do not take it out on the vet. It's not their fault, and yelling, threatening, or bribing will not help the situation.

At the same time, if you have already chosen a vet in your new neighborhood, ask your vet to fax a copy of your pet's records to them. Also, whether or not you have a new vet lined up, ask your vet for a hard copy of your pet's records. Even if there's a copy waiting for you in your new home, it's safest to have a copy on your person while you travel - that way if there's a problem on the road, you have the necessary information to take care of your pet.

Day of the move:
Make sure that you know where the records are. Make sure you know where the pet's food and any meds are, and that they're packed somewhere that you have easy access to. Once you get to the new home, set up a small, confined area for your pet and let them acclimate to that before introducing them to the entire house. This also helps minimize the risk of them escaping and getting lost as you unpack.

Once you're settled into your new home, within the next month, set up an appointment with your new vet. Even if your pet looks just fine.

Every animal and every situation is different, of course, and this is just a general surface-skimming of the necessary information. But please, at least think things through, and talk to your vets - both at the old home and the new one. It may sound like a lot of unnecessary work, but given the number of catastrophes I've seen when people failed to do this, I can say it's absolutely and utterly worth it.

[identity profile] hugh-mannity.livejournal.com 2009-06-22 12:56 am (UTC)(link)
Very informative. Thank you.

Was it prompted by some Epic Fail?

[identity profile] ladysprite.livejournal.com 2009-06-22 12:58 am (UTC)(link)
Could be. But better to be useful than complainy.

[identity profile] calygrey.livejournal.com 2009-06-22 01:00 am (UTC)(link)
Maybe now that you've moved to a more rural area, you're letting your cat outside.

And chat up the neighbors about the realities for pets in the new neighborhood. We have new families move in fairly often and some of the issues the new pets face are dealing with the current cats/dogs on the street. We have seen some destructive to cat health fights here when new cats move it. - And then there's the new set of predators. Let your pet out; see your pet no more. We have fox, coyote, hawks, fishers, weasels, skunks - everyone one of which have been witnessed killing someone's pet. Find out before letting your beloved pet out at the new place. We try to tell every new neighbor that pets let out at night don't last long.

[identity profile] deguspice.livejournal.com 2009-06-22 02:01 am (UTC)(link)
Definitely find out of there are cat predators in the area. The Arlington, MA town website now has warnings about coyotes.

[identity profile] calygrey.livejournal.com 2009-06-22 02:27 am (UTC)(link)
Very good page. Only one quibble, coyotes can -and do- target and kill prey larger than themselves. They don't eat just "small" animals.

re: As a note, more and more airlines are refusing to fly animals if they're sedated

[identity profile] etherial.livejournal.com 2009-06-22 02:02 am (UTC)(link)
I find this odd. Elaborate?

Re: As a note, more and more airlines are refusing to fly animals if they're sedated

[identity profile] ladysprite.livejournal.com 2009-06-22 02:12 am (UTC)(link)
Odd why?

Sedated animals in the cargo bay are completely unsupervised. There's no way to predict how they're going to respond to the sedation. Also, their blood pressure and heart and respiratory rates are much lower, so there's a serious chance of complications, especially if anything goes even slightly weird with the flight.

I won't prescribe tranquilizers for animals that are flying, because of the risks, and I'm glad to see that some airlines are starting to agree.

Re: As a note, more and more airlines are refusing to fly animals if they're sedated

[identity profile] moonlightgdess.livejournal.com 2009-06-22 02:25 am (UTC)(link)
What's your take on Rescue Remedy?

Re: As a note, more and more airlines are refusing to fly animals if they're sedated

[identity profile] ladysprite.livejournal.com 2009-06-22 03:09 pm (UTC)(link)
Rescue remedy, in general, is great stuff. It's a lot safer than most sedatives/tranquilizers. On the other hand, it also has a less drastic effect, and doesn't work on all animals. In general, if someone wants to try it, I'm all for it, but I still also recommend acclimating animals as well.

Re: As a note, more and more airlines are refusing to fly animals if they're sedated

[identity profile] bess.livejournal.com 2009-06-22 03:35 am (UTC)(link)
What are your thoughts on sedating an animal who is traveling in coach with it's person rather than in the cargo bay -- my sister moved cross country with her cat in a carrier with her so that she could keep an eye on her while she was sedated.

Re: As a note, more and more airlines are refusing to fly animals if they're sedated

[identity profile] ladysprite.livejournal.com 2009-06-22 11:48 am (UTC)(link)
Honestly? I still don't recommend it if at all possible - even if she's there to keep an eye on it, what is she going to do if there's a problem?

People want a magic pill that will make their animals calm but safe, and that doesn't exist. We have pills that will make them groggy, but that doesn't guarantee calm - some animals become groggy and *more* fearful, and for some animals the amount of drug necessary to make them groggy enough to be quiet is dangerously high. I'll accept that it is occasionally necessary, but it's much better and safer to take a couple of weeks and acclimate your pet to its carrier so they're calm and relaxed without drugs.

Re: Odd Why

[identity profile] etherial.livejournal.com 2009-06-22 12:21 pm (UTC)(link)
There are XYZ complications of a sedated animal and PDQ complications of a non-sedated one. Not being familiar with them, I'd've assumed that PDQ was higher, otherwise why bother sedating at all?

Re: Odd Why

[identity profile] umbran.livejournal.com 2009-06-22 01:16 pm (UTC)(link)
We assume a whole lot of stuff that turns out to not be such a good idea.

Times change. Practices change. Medical science learns more. What all parties (owners, airlines, and doctors) see as acceptable risk changes.

Re: Odd Why

[identity profile] ladysprite.livejournal.com 2009-06-22 03:08 pm (UTC)(link)
The risks of a non-sedated animal are barking/meowing and urinating/defecating in the crate. People mostly want to sedate because either they don't want to listen to the noise or they think they're supposed to, usually because it makes life easier for them.

This is yet another reason to talk to your vet beforehand, in order to avoid making potentially life-affecting medical decisions based on uninformed assumptions.

[identity profile] solipsistnation.livejournal.com 2009-06-22 02:15 am (UTC)(link)
So, uh, doggy valium, lots of bubble wrap, and FedEx are right out, then?

(We did plan our cross-country drive around hotels that allow pets. Admittedly, telling them you have pets but they're guinea pigs is usually guaranteed to confuse people.)

[identity profile] aries-walker.livejournal.com 2009-06-22 02:48 am (UTC)(link)
Perfect timing. We're moving in two weeks, and my Better Half has a cat. I'll send her this link.

[identity profile] ianargent.livejournal.com 2009-06-22 03:22 pm (UTC)(link)
We didn't have any of this (moved all of 5 miles within the same town; vet staying the same, etc). But - Puck decided to sit on the next to top step for several hours when we brought him over; then decied at 3 frinking AM to be mighty explorer; and has been in the closet (with occassional diversions to the litterbox) since about 3:30 AM. (the last is not terribly unusual behavior for him when presented with strange situations/people - whenever we had the gaming group over he would spend the day under the bed).

I am glad I took this week off, though

[identity profile] jiggliusceasar.livejournal.com 2009-06-22 04:01 pm (UTC)(link)
Sounds a lot like Saru-chan's move. She took the Children's Benadryl ladysprite suggested for the practice run, but not the day of the move. She got to drive to the normal pet-sitter's for the day (a day they had people over), then to the new house. For a day and a half, she either had us in line of sight or was wailing like a banshee; she couldn't quite reconcile the explorer kitty with the wants to be near the humans kitty, to our sleep schedule's detriment. She's settled in quite nicely now, but the first 36 hours were a bit exciting.

[identity profile] ianargent.livejournal.com 2009-06-22 04:13 pm (UTC)(link)
Other than this behavior not normally appearing when it's just the two of us at home... We suspect he will be a lot happier once the furniture gets here. Until then he'll try and hide under the air mattress and in closets.

He's found the litter box and the food/water dishes. I don't know if I want to put a temporary food/water set upstairs or not. I don't want to set a precendent. OTOH, we lived in a 2nd-floor garden apt, so stairs between living areas is a bit new to him.

[identity profile] wren13.livejournal.com 2009-06-22 07:35 pm (UTC)(link)
Nice write up!