Moving is stressful and difficult for everyone — not just humans.
We may bear the brunt of the burden, but the pets we bring with us aren’t free from the anxiety and uncertainty of a big move. Not to mention the adjustment to a new space, which can take our furry friends far longer to adjust to, particularly when that space is utterly unfamiliar — and unexpectedly large.
Take TikTok feline Pooka, who’s one of the star players in the @twoblackcatsprod TikTok page. Her family recently underwent a move, and it was a big one — they just made the upgrade from apartment to house, but Pooka’s hitting some issues adjusting.
Namely, the poor, apartment-raised pet is used to far, far less space. So, when she was released to roam freely around her new multi-story home, she promptly got lost. Repeatedly. Leaving the poor, unconfined cat to get hopelessly disoriented in the expanse of the house, with no option but to play a little Marco Polo with her humans in order to locate them.
A video from one of Ms. Pooka’s wayward journeys through the home rapidly found its way onto FYPs everywhere, earning it several million likes and Pooka even more in the way of fans. Jokes about the cat’s new predicament litter (hah) the comment section, where viewers make reference to the “LABYRINTH” Pooka’s human’s brought her to and theorized that perhaps she’s simply “testing the echoes” in her new home.
Cats are well-known for their vocal nature, but many of us are more frequently greeted by their abrupt loquaciousness in the middle of the night, rather than during daylight hours. It’s a well-known habit in cats to awaken everyone with a good bellow-session at right around 3 am, but when they get chatty during daylight hours, it’s usually for a reason.
In Pooka’s case, it was likely because she was lost and looking for her humans, as assumed, or because she discovered a new space and wanted to summon her humans to it. She may have required company, or playtime, or simply the knowledge that her humans were nearby and listening. In other instances, however, those yowls could mean something more insidious — in unfixed felines, it could be a mating call, and in those without the ability to reproduce, it could be a sign of dementia, anxiety, or other illness.
None of those seem to be the culprit behind Pooka’s chatty nature, thankfully. She’s just getting used to a new space, and she needs reassurance that her humans are right there with her as she gets adjusted to her new home.