Would welcome any tips for moving home with cat

[TwoMonthsOff]

Hi. I have googled of course, but ‘real life’ tips are invaluable
So far so good I think, TwoCat was moved last Friday 24th -hid for about an hour but soon found a lovely comfy spot and seems to have taken to new home nice;y, is scenting everything he can (with his face) I’ve opened all cupboards for him to have a good investigation.
Two Cat is 14 (i assume from chip info) very fit and healthy and very much a free roaming cat but loves sleeping all day, he’s always been lively come evenings
hes not eating much has weed a lot and has done three-five poos since Friday I guess the lack of exercise is affecting appetite and therefore less poos ? He’s normally eats a lot in the evening, loves cat milk so drinking well

I can’t comment about previous poos actually as he did them outside, so not sure if the poo output is normal or not !

he’s getting a bit restless in the evening enjoys looking out of the window, and I do his grooming and play routine
I’ve been told two weeks for lockdown
I’ve got a harness but I don’t think he will take to that so any tips from MN cat people most welcome
😻

If he’s a very outdoorsy roamer keep him in for as long as possible. My old boy cat was King of the outdoors, was kept in for nearly two weeks post move but managed to escape (read: break down the cat flap) and then disappeared for nearly three weeks. Extremely stressful. Once he was home he was back indoors for another full fortnight and then seemed very settled

I wonder whether it partly depends how far you move. We moved counties, 50 miles away. There would have been nothing familiar about the environment.

@A34 could be -that does make sense

Hi positive and brilliant Update
Harness was a disaster hilarious really - two trips to pets at home ‘toy dog’ size harness was a perfect fit but as soon as I went to,clip on the lead in a blink of any eye he’d escaped, test inside so all good. Lucky pets at home refund.
he’s been out regularly now since last Thursday, has really found his feet and knows where he lives and has sniffed and scented everything in sight im so pleased as him being on lockdown was making him crazy, he’s all back to normal now, I know I’m lucky and it was a huge worry but I just felt it was right to let him out
thanks so much to all who replied 😻

That’s great news OP!

My previous cat escaped through the upstairs bathroom hopper window the day we moved. He returned at dawn the next day. I didn’t sleep that night.

I didn’t bother trying to keep him in after that.

I had moved a significant distance from my last house though. I suspect that he may have returned to the old house if it had only been a few miles away.