Plan the move as stages with her needs first
A multi-day move works when the cat's day is designed before the driving day: how many hours in the carrier she can reasonably handle, where the overnight stops are, and which hotels genuinely accept cats in the room rather than in a vehicle overnight. Break the route into moderate driving days with one settled overnight base each, rather than one heroic push, because every night in a new room is easier if she arrives with daylight left to eat, use a tray and rest. Book pet-friendly stops in advance and confirm the cat policy directly, not from an old listing.
Prepare her paperwork and health cover early
Visit your current vet well before moving day for a health check, up-to-date vaccinations, parasite treatment, and a copy of her full records, and ask whether a health certificate is needed for any border or carrier rules on your route. Check her microchip details point to a mobile number that will not change during the move, and research vets near the new home so her care has a destination, not just a departure. If she travels poorly, discuss options with the vet in advance rather than experimenting with anything new on the first long driving day of the move.
Build a travel kit that lives in the car, not the van
Her essentials travel with you, never in the moving truck: several days of her usual food, water from home for the first days if she is fussy, a portable litter tray with her usual litter, familiar bedding, cleaning supplies and spare towels for accidents, and her carrier lined and covered. On driving days, feed a small meal well before setting off, offer water at stops without letting her loose in the car, and keep the vehicle calm and shaded. In each overnight room, set up tray, water and hiding place first, and let her out to claim that small territory before you settle.
Moving day itself is a containment exercise
On packing and loading days, keep her shut in one already-cleared room with food, water, tray and a clear sign on the door, because the commonest moving disaster is a cat bolting through an open door into a half-emptied house or a new street she does not know. Apply the same rule at the new home: one prepared room, set up before she arrives, while furniture moves around her. Count her, literally, at every departure and arrival, and keep her carrier familiar in the weeks before by leaving it out at home with bedding inside, so it smells like rest rather than vets.
The first week in the new home sets the pattern
Confine her to her base room, then open the house gradually, keep feeding and play times identical to the old home, and register with the new vet promptly while her history is fresh in your mind. Watch appetite, tray use and hiding behaviour across that first week, and hold off on any outdoor access until she is thoroughly settled and your vet agrees the timing is right. Arriving with her records gathered in her KinsLe Pet Passport means the new vet can pick up her history, vaccinations and quirks in one clean handover.