Moving House With Pets: A Stress-Free Guide for Cats and Dogs

Moving day is a lot for a household to manage — and pets experience all of the chaos with none of the context. Boxes appearing, furniture disappearing, strangers in the house: it's disorienting for cats and dogs alike. A little planning keeps them calm and safe through it.

In the weeks before

• Keep your pet's routine (feeding times, walks) as normal as possible while everything else changes around them.
• Update microchip details and ID tags to the new address before moving day, not after.
• If your pet is anxious by nature, ask your vet about a calming aid well ahead of time — don't trial something new on the day itself.
• Pack a clearly labelled pet box last: food, bowls, lead, litter tray, a favourite toy or blanket.

On moving day itself

The safest place for most pets on moving day is somewhere they're not underfoot — a bathroom with the door shut, a crate in a quiet room, or (best of all) a friend's house or doggy daycare for the day. Open doors, unfamiliar people and a driveway full of activity are a real escape risk, and it's the day you least want a runaway pet on top of everything else.

If your pet must stay on site, keep them in one closed room with food, water, a litter tray or pee pad, and a sign on the door so the crew knows not to open it.

The trip itself

Dogs generally travel fine in a car with a seatbelt harness or crate. Cats do best in a secure carrier — never loose in the car, even for a short trip, since a startled cat in a moving vehicle is genuinely dangerous. Familiar-smelling bedding in the carrier helps.

Settling in at the new place

• Set up one “home base” room first — food, water, bed, litter tray — before opening up the rest of the house to them.
• For cats especially, a slow, room-by-room introduction over a few days beats free access to a whole unfamiliar house on day one.
• Keep walks and feeding times as close to normal schedule as you can from day one.
• Expect a few off days — reduced appetite, extra clinginess or hiding is normal and usually settles within a week or two.

Moving between Brisbane and the Gold Coast?

On a corridor move, plan for your pet to travel separately in your own car rather than with the truck — it's calmer for them and means you're not waiting on the removalist's schedule to let them out for a break. Our crews are used to working around pets in the house and simply ask that they're secured somewhere quiet while we load.

Sorting the rest of the move? See our full moving checklist or get a fixed quote for the human side of the move.