construction and cats

[aligator79]

Hi All!   We are getting ready to begin finishing my parent's basement into an apartment for myself.  We will be doing most of the work ourselves mainly during weekends and will have someone coming in to work on the floor who will be using jackhammers for probably 2 days then put in two egress windows.  We will have a plumber and electrician come in to work too.   We will probably have people in for 6-7 days at once and then plumber and electrician do more later.  

I have a couple of concerns. Lucy is very skittish and does not like people, especially strangers.  Any suggestions to keep her sane during this time? She usually hides downstairs when she needs to, but won't be able to now.  

My other main concern is the litterboxes.  They have always been in the basement and not on the main floor. I had to take down my kitty porch to be able to get through the backdoor with materials so they are able to go in and out but Lucy has a tendency to go out and play then come in and go in the box.   She is very picky and if she doesn't like the condition of the box she will go on the floor somewhere.  She also has expressed her dislike and on occasion stress by going on the floor.  I think I am going to put one in my bedroom (yuck) and may try putting one on the porch. Any suggestions to keep her from going where she isn't supposed to?

I will put a couple of them in my bathroom in the basement when we are done with construction, but don't know how long it will be before it's finished. Should we put a couple down there during construction for them to see if they will use it?  

I'm just concerned about changing their surroundings and it being a long and sometimes extremely noisy process.  Taz and Oliver should be ok- Ollie is kinda nosy and will be exploring.  Taz will generally ignore it and sleep somewhere- inside or out.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.  

[Tinabudde]

Hi aligator, I would say right now before the construction, take Lucy to your bedroom or in a bathroom, spend a little time with here there and leave her in there to see how she does on her own with the litter box.  Get her used to the other area before the noise comes and makes her fearful.  The other 2 I would take to a different spot too, the trauma of the noise may be too much for them, construction and cats don't mix.  We had pipes done in the basement of our apt and the noise freaked my cats out so bad it took weeks after it for them to not jump at the slighest sound and they are not jumpy cats.  I would definitely put them elsewhere and don't stress them with the litterboxes down there, avoid letting them down there until it's all done.

[opus88]

hi you are right to be concern with all the strangers coming and going for a few days...cats easily get upset with a change in routine, it is better to keep them at home if possible...to board them is also a huge stress...
4 years ago I went through something similar(I had 3 cats at that time) my basement flooded and had to be gutted and totally redone....and the litter boxes were always downstairs.

for 2 whole months I had contractors come and go...off and on.
not only was it a huge change in my kitties routine but I also worried about them accidently getting outside and gates being left open etc. Mine are also very SHY cats...with little outside contact with other ppl or pets..

the litter boxes got moved upstairs, one in the  back closet and one in the master bedroom, than I could isolate the cats in that room with the door shut when a contractor was here. cleaning after EVERY use so I had NO issues with smell...
With a room to themselves where they could feel 'safe' even if it wasn't their normal spot....there were no problems.
If that doesn't work for them when all the jackhammering is going on it may well be necessary to take them elsewhere for that time period....can you cage them for a few hours and set them in a garage or out building?..or have a friend?
You will find the noisy part of the construction should be limited to only a few hours or at most a day...

wishing you all the best of luck....keep us posted please..♥

[AnnieBrooke]

Can you board the cats through the worst of it?