We’ll be living temporarily (1-2 years) in a small apartment in another city due to work. Brought a 10 year old pet cat with us. She’s only lived in one place and seems to be having a difficult time adjusting. Bored. Much smaller digs. Not ‘home’ I don’t know if animals get homesick, but that’s how I’m reading it. Any suggestions?
Is she used to having some backyard access ? Grass?
How about one of those cat trees by a bright sunny window? If not, something she can sit on by a sunny window.
We moved a 12 year old cat to a new home. She’s less active anyway due to age, but she enjoys sitting by a bright window with a tree nearby…and when the weather is moderate, I open the window and she enjoys the sounds, air, smells, whatever!
Cats get attached to their surroundings. Any change in their environment could bring out stress. Is the cat eating OK? Is she meowing too much? I bet she will get used to her new digs eventually. Give her some extra kitty treats and spend some extra time petting her if she likes to be petted. A new cozy or a tree might comfort her.
Thanks all. Eating fine so far. She’s just pacing in circles a lot and LOTS of meowing – which she rarely did before. Getting lots of attention & affection. She has always been indoor only, and could chase throughout the old house, but this apartment is just too small for that. I wish she were leash trained 
I’m not sure how to exercise a cat!
My family moved halfway across the country just over a year ago. We have two cats (they were 11 and 9 at the time) who were adopted from shelters as kittens and had never lived anywhere other than our old house. They did not go outdoors. Moving was a huge hassle. From having realtors over, then having the house packed up, to the actual moving part. We had to stay the night in a hotel in town with the cats and then fly out the next day. It was a four hour flight. The cats hated the whole ordeal and were obviously stressed. We tried to make it as comfortable as possible for them (they were medicated on a sedative which is usually prescribed as anti-seizure by vets for a lot of the time so they wouldn’t completely freak out, we got them really nice travel carriers with disposable “pee pads,” etc.)
When we finally got the cats to our new house, they were really freaked out for about a week. We tried those feline pheromone sprays but I don’t think they helped much, if at all. As time went on, they got more adjusted to it, although one of them did still try to hide in her carrier a lot and would pace around and meow at night. After a month or so of living there, they seemed to actually like it. No problems since then. Your cats will adjust with time.
We moved about 2 months ago. The younger ones adjusted, I don’t think our 12yo cat has yet. There is a wall plug in that’s supposed to help calm them down. Be very careful it doesn’t escape, it could try and make its way back to the other house.
I feel bad mine is prettymuch living behind the couch.