MOVING BOXES, PACKING PAPER AND TAPE...OH MY!

The other day I posted about how we finally found the perfect house, so now it's that dreaded time. Time to pack everything up, hope it fits in a truck, hope it fits in a storage unit and hope none of it breaks. I may only have a studio apartment but I somehow crammed a ton of stuff in it. Luckily my friend is here to help me, she is a packing pro! It's been interesting to see how the pets have reacted so differently. Kaya is just cool Kaya. She is somewhat curious but mostly just happy to hang out, chew on her bone and wonder why are not out doing something more fun.

Gina is beside herself. It is kitty heaven. Packing paper to shred, boxes to jump in and stacks of boxes to climb.

And Norman was completely traumatized. If I had known it would be so hard on him I would have planned to have him stay with my pet sitters for a while. First he was scared of the pile of flattened boxes and he hid in the yard with his tail between his legs. I moved the boxes to the kitchen so he couldn't see them and then I had to carry him inside and put him on the bed. He sat there, frozen in one position, for hours until I got into bed with him and he was able to hide behind me and fall asleep.

He was okay for the next couple days when the boxes were already packed and stacked in the kitchen. But the day we moved everything into storage was another bad day for him. The exit from my apartment is through the yard and though he is well trained to not go through the gate when open, I worried that he would go out in fear so I put him in the bathroom with his dog bed, water and a bone. After a while I checked on him and he was still so freaked out so I put Kaya in there with him. I would check on them periodically and Norman was always sitting there wide-eyed while Kaya was chomping happily on the bone. Poor Norman!

We still had to stick around for another day after that and Norman remained out of sorts at home though he was thrilled to go on an outing with Motlie. On the last day when we were putting the last of the things in my car, he had really had enough. Good thing we were leaving that place behind! He was still acting like a worry wart in the car so we stopped at the park on the way to Tahoe. He had a good romp and definitely helped lift his spirits.

I imagine moving in will be a lot easier on him. I can put him in the backyard while we're moving things around and he adapts easily to new places. I think a huge part of the problem this time was that he was already on bad terms with the apartment for weeks because the closet door came off its hinges and fell over a few times. He had been weary of it ever since, along with the bathroom door beside it just because of its close proximity. Since my apartment was just one room it pretty much made the whole place scarey. He would only eat in the far corner of the kitchen, out of eyesight of the evil closet door. He is such a sensitive guy but that's part of what I love about him:)

I know a lot of our blog friends have moved recently, how did your pets handle the move?

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A House is a House for Me
Adventures with Motlie
Kaya & Norman Do Lake Tahoe
I am Hiring a New Assistant...