Cats and Hotels and Home Renovations-Oh MY!

[MandyCoonie]

We are having major renovations on our house. During the beginning of the work, we have to relocate to a hotel for possibly as long as two weeks while hazards such as lead paint and lead dust are removed from the house before the actual renovations start. The lead abatement is a government program, so they pay for the relocation and they asked if we have pets. The good news is that they always put people in pet-friendly hotels, which makes sense. The bad news is that five humans and four cats will have to survive living in two rooms, and one of the cats is an indoor-outdoor cat who goes insane when he cannot have his outside time.

The only options are having all the kitties stay with us, or some of the kitties stay with Grandma. But, Grandma has a skittish Turkish Angora, Maggie, a cat-terrorizing Shih Tzu and Mad Max the dachshund. Boarding the cats is financially impossible, and I've never done that and think it would be terribly stressful (not that Grandma's is much better) They are used to Maggie visiting, however, and Rose has no problem swiping her in the nose when she acts up.

Cats...hotels...yikes. How do we survive this with everyone's sanity intact???

[Alekto]

oh dear.... I am sorry that I don't know at all - if we had this issue we would be very stuck as well...
how about renting a house instead of a hotel, I mean like a lodge or something? I can't see it being much more expensive than a hotel and at least you wouldn't all be in one room....

[MandyCoonie]

The lead paint removal is done through a government program. That program pays for the hotel relocation, and we're pretty much stuck as far as that goes. We wouldn't be able to afford to rent something else :-(

Perhaps someone who has traveled with their cats before has advice??

Whatever happens, I'm sure it will be quite the adventure for everyone...Stay calm!!!

[donnad]

Hi Mandycoon! My daughter moved back to Minnesota from Arizona and traveled for three day with a border collie and 2 moggies in her car. She stayed at motels and it was not too bad. I don't know if you all have work and school to attend which will get the humans out most of the day. Sounds like the "indoor -outdoor cat" may be better off at grandmas house. It may be hard to keep that one contained to two rooms, hopefully there is a door between the 2 rooms. Good luck with the renovations, that is always a stressful time anyways. We had our family room redone, patio doors and sheet rock and what not, I wanted to kill my contractor! It took three months, but that is another story

[AFK_Matrix]

Ugh what a pain!! I don't know if you have them in the US but we have a feliaway thing that plugs in the wall and sooths and calms cats, could be usefull for the 2 weeks your there. If it is not an option to put the indoor-outdoor cat with your grandmas would he/she accept a harness at all? That way you could let him out but on a harness with you obviously holding it so he could at least get outdoors. Just an idea is all.

[MandyCoonie]

The humans will be at work and school most of the day. If they start before January 16th I will still be there because my semester doesn't start until then. This woul be the best scenario but there's no guarantee.
I've never tried a harness with Sampson but he does wear a coat when it's especially cold. He somewhat tolerates that and I'd think a harness would be better-not so much stuff covering him. Sampson prefers to go outside for "stress relief", but he does use the litter box. He's fixed, but we think it was too late--combine this with his anxiety problems and voila-a cat that sprays. I do know Feliway helps but I've only used the spray to treat his bad kitty areas. I just worry if he doesn't have access to his "spot" (well, honestly his cat latrine) behind our garage he'll go nuts.
I can see now how Sampson wound up as an abused shelter cat--we're the only people on the planet who are willing to accommodate his crap (literally!) a few months into having him I called the shelter, desperate and ready to return him. The shelter said they'd consider him unadoptable and euthanize him because of his potty issues. That same day I let him outside and watched as he marked every corner of the house. After he had "established" himself, he took a catnap in the sun and that was the end of the indoor spraying problems.

I'm thinking maybe the Coonies go to Grandma's and Rose and Sampson go to the hotel with us. They are close buddies and don't stress each other out.

The things we do...for CATS!

[MandyCoonie]

Update!

Laws are a strange thing. According to the law, we should be relocated and not allowed to return to the house until the lead abatement is complete. However, the law also says they can't force us to relocate, and the program director decided that we can stay here.
However, the contractors will be in and out and working with heavy equipment, so the cats will have to be confined in one room as it is. It will be stressful but I still think its better than the alternative! Work is set to begin in about two weeks...

[donnad]

Mandy,
I am glad to hear you wont have to relocate. I would be concerned about the dust, it can not be good for you or you pets. Are they bringing in air filters? Or giving you all masks? I am a worry wort but lead poisoning is nothing to fool with. Good luck with the renovations!

[MandyCoonie]

The children get the bus at 7am and arrive home at 3. Most of their work will be done during these hours, and no one will be home. The kitties will stay on the second floor, and no work is being done there (for now). They use all kinds of air filters and pumps to minimize lead contamination. Most of the worst paint is on the outside of the garage, there is a very minimal amount inside the house. Things may get tricky when they start putting the insulation in upstairs, but we will manage.
I finally got some Feliway plug-ins for the house, hoping everyone will calm down a bit now!